October 13, 2006
Real Guys Go Shopping
Not liking to shop is part of being a guy. Everyone knows that. But, lately it seems many have forgotten one of the basic laws of guydom.
According to NPD Group, guys are going shopping a lot more and they’re not just heading out the door to pick up some beer, automotive supplies or power tools. No, guys are going out and buying, gulp, clothes.
Today, guys are spending about 10 percent more on clothing than they were two years ago.
“Now it’s not uncool anymore to pay attention to fashion,” said Melissa Payner, chief executive officer of Bluefly, told the Contra Costa Times. “Think about the increasing amount of men’s shopping magazines. It’s socially and culturally OK to care about fashion.”
Clarissa Nicosia, who teaches about consumer behavior at the Art Institute of San Francisco, said, “Shopping is another outlet for men to feel more special and unique in the world. Men don’t like to admit to it, but subconsciously they will spend an extra dollar on products, clothes, materials and experiences that will make them feel accepted, loved and unique.”
The clothing Jones does not appear to be relegated to any one portion of the male population, according to industry experts.
Lee Petersen, executive director of the retail design firm WD Partners, said men between 20 and 40 are looking for trendy, hipper styles while older guys are trying to look younger and stylish at the same time.
While males of all ages may be buying more clothes, they are still guys when it comes to how they go about shopping.
“Guys are more serious; even if they are avid shoppers, they want to get in and get out,” said Jay Underwood, owner of Atlas, a men’s clothing store in Walnut Creek, Cal.
“The main key is to know your customer,” he said. “Find out what they’re shopping for and then give them outfits and items so that they go into the fitting room and then be done.”
Mr. Underwood, who opened his shop four years ago, has seen annual sales grow by at least 30 percent every year since then.
“Guys are individualistic,” Mr. Underwood said. “In the 1980s and ’90s … everyone wanted to have the same look. Today that look is different. … Each guy wants to stylize himself so that he looks different from his friends or other guys on the street.”
Discussion Questions: Are male consumers different today than they have been in the not too distant past? What is driving male consumerism today?
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The evidence is anecdotal. There are no hard numbers that show “guys” are spending more on apparel. Market researchers never produce valid info in regards to shopping, so throw that piece out. Some stores are seeing more men not because they want to be there but because their women no longer have the time to do all their shopping for them. Give 50 guys the choice… football game on TV or shopping and you are still going to get 48 saying “football”….case closed!!
Fashion cycles come and go. Why are men allegedly shopping more? Maybe the newest merchandise turns them on. At the end of the current cycle, they’ll get turned off. Men’s clothing trends don’t change as often as women’s, but when they do, men react.
Although most adult males below 40 (I can’t speak for those above 40) may not be fashion conscious or go shopping for fun such as women do, once we decide that we need clothes then we start paying attention to what we like.
With adults waiting to get married later in life and business casual allowing more wardrobe freedom, men are wanting to project an image with their clothes more nowadays. I believe that most men also want function over fashion so no faux pockets, etc. for the average male.
Any retailer that can provide these products in an environment that we like should do well.
The 80s were mentioned before and I’d like to point out a failure of The Gap at that point. It could have just been me but there was no completely obvious division of male vs. female section in one of their stores and on more than one occasion I wandered into the wrong section. Although courteous sales staff pointed me in the right direction, I eventually stopped shopping there.
Most of the successful stores (that I shop in) have completely obvious menswear sections.
Momma — in any incarnation — isn’t shopping for them. Wait, that’s too simple. Let me try again. Today’s metrosexual males informed by the rash of “laddie” magazines have developed a heightened sense of self reflected in a complex drive to express their inner soul and externalize their masculinity. This has manifest itself in many ways including a growing emphasis on fashion and the confidence one gains by dressing oneself in the morning. Wait, that’s too complicated. Let me try again. I was right the first time. Since they are marrying later (if at all) and divorcing with more regularity — the poor boys have nobody to pick out their clothes for them and have to do it all by their little selves.
Stereotypes change and evolve over time. At time, earrings in males were anathema to many. Today, earrings are no big deal. As with all trends, it is the adoption of something by opinion leaders which tends to change larger societal group actions.
Movie stars, athletes, recording artists…all of these are influential to subsets of young men. And all of them dress with style. We may not always like their style, but dress with it they do. On top of that, we have the very epitome of supposed non-traditionalism, rap artists, authoring their own lines of clothing and accessories.
Is it any wonder that shopping, particularly for apparel, is something the men have begun to embrace? Is it a social activity on the scale of stereotypical female behavior? No, and it won’t be in the near future. Too many things guys like to do more. However, it isn’t WRONG to shop for yourself anymore. This is the trend. Self expression through apparel is a given for men. As the current twenty-something generation ages, many of them will continue to express as thirty-somethings, which will change that segment’s profile.
Guys have always been potential shoppers. In the early 80’s there was a young men’s chain called Merry Go Round. Most of the sales staff were young, attractive, and cool young women. Guys had no problem shopping there. And they did it alone. Duh. Awesome for a few moments, but uncool once you had a girlfriend. (It’s important to note that MGR is no longer in business, so be careful about irritating the girlfriend.)
In the 80s there was a specific style of business dress that men were expected to wear. With the advent of “business casual” there is much more variety along with a set of questions: What works? What’s appropriate? What’s stylish? What’s trendy? And with more men entering the workforce in their early or mid twenties and single, they have to determine what to wear to work. It makes sense that they are reading magazines and shopping. However, retailers need to cater to their unique shopping style.
Ryan made me laugh out loud and I immediately started designing a new color coded-hang tagged clothing line, Garanimals for men. My apparel friends have 3 different unprovable theories to explain guys dressing up and shopping more.
Theory one. After watching an older Regis on TV’s “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” combine 3 shades of the same color and then be called a fashion maven, men said, “I could do that.”
Theory two. It all started with the proliferation of men’s beauty aid products and treatments for aging male baby boomers. If you are going to spend a fortune on facial scrubs, pomades, mud packs, pec implants and botox, you have to dress the part and protect your investment.
Theory three. Men’s magazines, guys on Desperate Housewives and Sex in the City and TV shows like “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” have raised the minimum acceptable standard that women are now willing to accept from the available male gene pool.
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The evidence is anecdotal. There are no hard numbers that show “guys” are spending more on apparel. Market researchers never produce valid info in regards to shopping, so throw that piece out. Some stores are seeing more men not because they want to be there but because their women no longer have the time to do all their shopping for them. Give 50 guys the choice… football game on TV or shopping and you are still going to get 48 saying “football”….case closed!!
Fashion cycles come and go. Why are men allegedly shopping more? Maybe the newest merchandise turns them on. At the end of the current cycle, they’ll get turned off. Men’s clothing trends don’t change as often as women’s, but when they do, men react.
Although most adult males below 40 (I can’t speak for those above 40) may not be fashion conscious or go shopping for fun such as women do, once we decide that we need clothes then we start paying attention to what we like.
With adults waiting to get married later in life and business casual allowing more wardrobe freedom, men are wanting to project an image with their clothes more nowadays. I believe that most men also want function over fashion so no faux pockets, etc. for the average male.
Any retailer that can provide these products in an environment that we like should do well.
The 80s were mentioned before and I’d like to point out a failure of The Gap at that point. It could have just been me but there was no completely obvious division of male vs. female section in one of their stores and on more than one occasion I wandered into the wrong section. Although courteous sales staff pointed me in the right direction, I eventually stopped shopping there.
Most of the successful stores (that I shop in) have completely obvious menswear sections.
Momma — in any incarnation — isn’t shopping for them. Wait, that’s too simple. Let me try again. Today’s metrosexual males informed by the rash of “laddie” magazines have developed a heightened sense of self reflected in a complex drive to express their inner soul and externalize their masculinity. This has manifest itself in many ways including a growing emphasis on fashion and the confidence one gains by dressing oneself in the morning. Wait, that’s too complicated. Let me try again. I was right the first time. Since they are marrying later (if at all) and divorcing with more regularity — the poor boys have nobody to pick out their clothes for them and have to do it all by their little selves.
Stereotypes change and evolve over time. At time, earrings in males were anathema to many. Today, earrings are no big deal. As with all trends, it is the adoption of something by opinion leaders which tends to change larger societal group actions.
Movie stars, athletes, recording artists…all of these are influential to subsets of young men. And all of them dress with style. We may not always like their style, but dress with it they do. On top of that, we have the very epitome of supposed non-traditionalism, rap artists, authoring their own lines of clothing and accessories.
Is it any wonder that shopping, particularly for apparel, is something the men have begun to embrace? Is it a social activity on the scale of stereotypical female behavior? No, and it won’t be in the near future. Too many things guys like to do more. However, it isn’t WRONG to shop for yourself anymore. This is the trend. Self expression through apparel is a given for men. As the current twenty-something generation ages, many of them will continue to express as thirty-somethings, which will change that segment’s profile.
Guys have always been potential shoppers. In the early 80’s there was a young men’s chain called Merry Go Round. Most of the sales staff were young, attractive, and cool young women. Guys had no problem shopping there. And they did it alone. Duh. Awesome for a few moments, but uncool once you had a girlfriend. (It’s important to note that MGR is no longer in business, so be careful about irritating the girlfriend.)
In the 80s there was a specific style of business dress that men were expected to wear. With the advent of “business casual” there is much more variety along with a set of questions: What works? What’s appropriate? What’s stylish? What’s trendy? And with more men entering the workforce in their early or mid twenties and single, they have to determine what to wear to work. It makes sense that they are reading magazines and shopping. However, retailers need to cater to their unique shopping style.
Ryan made me laugh out loud and I immediately started designing a new color coded-hang tagged clothing line, Garanimals for men. My apparel friends have 3 different unprovable theories to explain guys dressing up and shopping more.
Theory one. After watching an older Regis on TV’s “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” combine 3 shades of the same color and then be called a fashion maven, men said, “I could do that.”
Theory two. It all started with the proliferation of men’s beauty aid products and treatments for aging male baby boomers. If you are going to spend a fortune on facial scrubs, pomades, mud packs, pec implants and botox, you have to dress the part and protect your investment.
Theory three. Men’s magazines, guys on Desperate Housewives and Sex in the City and TV shows like “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” have raised the minimum acceptable standard that women are now willing to accept from the available male gene pool.