I remember the outrage generated a few years ago when my colleague Phil 'Oh, Man!' McCombs offered an ode to male 'stare masters,' which consisted of interviews with men on construction sites and their comments about female passersby. 'Now you're asking me to make judgments beyond fashion,' McLaughlin replied. Then, out on the street, reality sets in.īut here's the real question: Why do women want to make the leg look long and thin? I mean, exactly who is supposed to notice, and what is supposed to be the appropriate response? My guess is that women do think about it, but mostly in the privacy of the dressing room, where their fantasies of flashing can be indulged without consequence: So what if the wind blows the dress open? 'When you purchase it, you really aren't thinking about what happens when the wind blows.' 'In the office, the dress splits beautifully and makes the leg look long and thin,' she said. Marni McLaughlin, public relations manager for Victoria's Secret, tried to help me understand the female rationale for wearing provocative clothing, such as dresses with splits up to the waist.

Not for myself, of course, but for the fellows hanging out at all the construction sites around town who spend their lunch breaks urging women to 'let it all hang out' and cheering when they do.Īctually, their expressions of desire make a lot more sense to me than all the contortions women go through to keep otherwise revealing springtime attire covered up and clamped down. I raise the question in hopes of receiving updated guidance about what constitutes appropriate responses to such sightings. Why would a woman even put on a dress with a split up to the waistline and then feel so self-conscious that she'd have to use her hand as a safety pin? I tried not to stare, but I couldn't help but notice that the woman was struggling with great discomfort to keep the dress from blowing

On my way to work the other day, I saw a woman wearing one of those dresses with a split up to the waistline - a 'wraparound,' I think it's called.

Peekaboo gown