The temperature in New York has risen to 80 and the summer like conditions means everyone moves from their winter outfits to spring and summer. When the temperature rises, it seems as if many women raid their closets of their sexiest club gear and wear it… during morning rush hour! There’s nothing wrong with a woman showing off her figure in the warm weather. There is something wrong when she gets offended when I look!

If you want men to take you seriously, especially during the day, you may want to reconsider your outfits. Being sexy doesn’t mean showing it all off. Knee high boots, stockings, a low cut shirt and a mini-skirt yell’s “take me home, NOW!” If that’s what you want, stop reading and continue to strut your stuff. If you want us to respect you, don’t look like a slut.

Understand, many men know women may wear an outfit because she wants attention. If you have a great figure, there’s nothing wrong with flaunting it. The problem is, you’ll get the attention from every straight man you’ll pass. Don’t be offended if guys ogle you because you’re showing off all of your cleavage during the afternoon rush hour. Men aren’t blind.

I’m not suggesting women should wear potato sacks over their body during the day. I’m suggesting, your options shouldn’t be a potato sack or thongs.

Photo By: Olivia Hotshot

I was never comfortable with accessorizing (wearing rings, wrists straps, etc,) but after my shopping trip a month ago, I’ve become addicted (Laurie you have created a monster!) Over the past month I’ve sought different accessorizes (primarily rings and straps) that would match my new outfits. There’s plenty of ways a guy can accessorize, but it must fit within the boundaries of the style. An example: I’m following a layered casual look, this means scarves, wrist straps, and rings are all within my boundaries. Other styles may include arm straps, chains (which I frown on), and hats (i.e. Kangol’s.) Before deciding on which accessorizes to purchase, take a moment to browse though AskMen’s Fashion section (especially the seasonal fashion preview area) or a male fashion magazine. Pay attention to what people are wearing, the type clothing style and which style you feel the most comfortable. Once you have a style chosen, begin to determine the accessorizes that will compliment the style. In most cases, a ring and wrist wear are necessary; for the colder months, hats or scarfs.

Rings were the hardest for me to understand. My instinct was to get a “cool” looking ring instead of a basic ring that complimented my style. Rings are the male equivalent to women’s earrings, a different outfit will call for a different type of ring and ring color. I now have 4 rings, a silver ring that matches with a brown and blue outfit, and 3 black rings that match with separate black outfits. Silver rings are easy, a simple silver band will do, but this grooved gold plated titanium ring adds an extra flair without going overboard. Black rings are harder as I’m not a fan of plain black bands. I highly recommend a black ring with a small design on it that can used as a story piece. This black ring with Chinese Zodiac signs or this ring with a black dragon design would do the trick. You just have to come up with a story.

Wrist wear, includes watches, bracelets and straps. If there’s a watch you’ve already incorporated into the style, you’re in great shape and may not need any additional accessorizes. If your cellphone has replaced the need for a watch (like it has in my life), keep on reading. Wrist wear can get very complex and scary easily; unless goth is the style, stay away from studs, spikes, or any complex design. Wrist wear should be kept simple and match the outfit and its colors. Something generic like a leather wrist band will do the trick. For additional flair, this Kenneth Cole bracelet is simple and elegant enough to incorporate with many outfits. Remember, the wrist wear must match the outfit, thus a variety will be needed. When I’m not wearing black, I have a black and brown leather cord band like this one that matches nicely with many outfits, but this stainless steel bracelet would make an adequate replacement. For black outfits, gravitate towards simple black bracelets, like this leather woven bracelet or this black braided one.

During the colder months, you may be forced to wear additional clothing (i.e. hats, scarves, gloves.) The rules here are simple, color match. Black with black, brown with brown, etc. Don’t not introduce a third color, unless you know what you’re doing. I will note, I struggle with Navy Blue in the winter. While it may be easy to find matching gloves, scarves and hats, Navy Blue can act as a compliment color if wearing black in my outfit (i.e. black shoes or pants.) A navy blue jacket with black gloves, hats, and scarves would make the navy blue act as a highlight color.

However, if you’re trying the same technique with bright yellow and still single, you may need more fashion help than I can provide in this blog post… or hope you can return the jacket for black or brown one.

(Full Disclosure: Links to products in this post lead to Amazon.com thru the Amazon Associates program. Products were used to serve as examples.)

Image Credit: Frederic della Faille on Flickr

This week, the eFlirtExpert paid a visit to my home to take a look at my wardrobe. I was afraid a completely new wardrobe would be needed. Lucky me, it only required some tweaking opposed to a complete overhaul. Today I spent several hours shopping with Laurie over my shoulder adding these new pieces to my wardrobe. There were several lessons I’ve learned from this entire process, things that will not just help me on a first date but meeting people and attracting women overall.  Here are some of the basics that should help any guy:

1. Layering – I immediately thought of the Williamsburg Hipster when I was approached with this idea but warmed to it quickly. Layering is the combination of different pieces of clothing together to make one great outfit. Jeans, sweater, t-shirt, jacket combination does the trick here. Askmen has a good guide on Layering and eFlirtExpert has some quick tips on what men shouldn’t wear (helpful when layering.)
2. Accessorize – I hate this idea with a passion. However, accessorizing makes complete sense and is a key component to peacocking, which can help garner more attention from women. For us guys this means putting on writs straps, rings, and chains. If your not completely comfortable with this, a good wrist watch would help here. If you can pull it off, an ear stud can help, but there are rules to wearing them which you must find out.
3. Known your colors – Some colors match, others do not. Some colors are great alone and horrible together. Before shopping, known which colors look good on you and which colors go well together. If you need help try searching through some color palettes on colourlovers or use this helpful color scheme generator.
4. Go with a friend – I’m used to shopping with myself, for myself. When I go shopping with a friend, it’s usually a girl and for her clothing (I can’t tell you how many panty dates I’ve been on!) It wasn’t until this shopping trip I realized the benefit of having a friend to help you choose clothing. Going with a friend, who has some fashion sense is very helpful and I highly encourage it. Make sure your friend understands your taste and the direction your heading towards or you’ll end up regretting the trip!
5. Shop often – a lesson I’ve learned from my many female friends. A random trip to The Gap, H&M, or Macy’s isn’t a bad thing. You never know what your going to find and if there’s a sale. Even if your just window shopping it helps to know which styles are in season, what is available and what are the prices. This helps develop a sense of taste, looking at pieces and seeing how they fit is very helpful, it also prevents from having to make huge expensive shopping trips in the future.