Via Put this On comes this waaaay-inside baseball men's fashion blogging discussion at Park & Bond about whether men are dressing for themselves or dressing for women or dressing for other fashion bloggers.

via www.sippey.com

Here's my pet hypothesis about men's style blogs: guys do it to get thanks and congrats from someone, anyone.

Hear me out: if you're schlubby 35 year old guy that wears t-shirts and cargo shorts, and you suddenly go out and buy $150 shirts that fit right and look nice and you start wearing tailored pants and smart shoes, barely anyone will notice. You might get some jeers from coworkers at suddenly becoming a dandy and/or your significant other might say you are looking nice, but for the most part, deciding to dress like a grownup doesn't result in much of any instant gratification, because HELLO: 35 YEAR OLD MEN ARE SUPPOSED TO LOOK LIKE ADULTS NOT TEENAGED SLOBS.

It's kind of demoralizing at first, because if you make a huge change in your life and you think you are looking better, you expect instant results and a night/day difference, but the changes are more subtle and take months to even notice. Strangers will respect what you say more, people in restaurants and shops will treat you better, and yes, possibly people will flirt with you a bit when they never did before. But it's not an overnight sea change, and might be too subtle for most guys given the expense and effort that goes into ironing your shirts every day and picking the right things each morning.

Guys in the US don't have a good culture of supporting each other or being comfortable in general with telling each other they look nice, so men's style blogs (at least the ones I've browsed) that show lots of photos of a headless guy wearing "today's look" and are filled with positive back-slapping comments serve a definite purpose: reassuring dudes that they are making the right choice, they look great, and yes, we noticed you are wearing those special french-made striped socks that you can only buy online.