Clothing color might not be something that most of us think about. Sure, there are some guys who have made certain clothing colors their “look,” so to speak, which helps people identify them or who decide that it looks best on them — like Johnny Cash wearing all black. But, for the most part, a lot of dudes just slip on whatever sits on top of their dresser, regardless of it actually being clean or not.
Regardless of how guys decide what clothes to wear each day, we all know that most girls spend a lot of time primming and prepping themselves; even if it’s just to go to work. Whether that’s laying out an outfit the night before, or changing a couple times before leaving the house, clothing color usually means a lot to girls — and it’s because, as it turns out, certain colors look more attractive to men.
Thanks to an article from Psychology Today — which explains this phenomenon a little bit — we now understand why certain clothing colors make men swoon more than others. For instance, there’s a reason why red seems to look hot AF on a girl, no matter what her skin tone or hair color. And since we came across this info, we figured it’d be pretty cool to share with you, too, so keep on reading to see why you always seem to go for the girl in the hot pink bikini over the all-white one.
What makes clothing color such a factor in attractiveness?
A lot of what we wear depends on how we feel, right? For instance, if it’s a bright, sunny, warm day out, you may be more prone to wear a shirt that has more colors than that of a day when it’s cold and gloomy — just look at all the Tommy Bahama floral shirts your dad wears on vacations as a prime example. For that reason, the clothing color you have on can increase your attractiveness in some cases because your personality may also be more colorful, so to speak.
An example of this is how you might be more outgoing in a colorful shirt, or how you might come across as more approachable in a shirt that’s one color as opposed to something plain white or black. In addition to that theory, depending on the color you’re wearing, there may be a stigma in the brain that makes people instantly feel more attraction to you — as research showed when people wore the color red.
You know the saying, “look good, feel good,” and, in some cases, it really does hold true depending on what clothing color you decide to go with.
Are there certain clothing colors that are known to make girls hotter?
Absolutely — and it may not be what you think it is.
Sure, we all seem to flock to the girls wearing pink bikinis around the pool deck every summer, but, according to a separate article then the aforementioned one from Psychology Today, red is the color that most men find makes girls appear hotter. Why? It’s a psychological thing, so here’s what the Psychology Today piece had to say.
Kayser, Elliot, and Feltman (2010) evaluated the effect of women wearing red on the feelings and behavior of men. In two experiments, men were asked to interact with women wearing a red shirt, or one of another color (green or blue). Men talking with women in red asked more intimate questions and sat closer. Overall, women wearing red were more sought-after and seen as more attractive too.
So why is red such a favorite of so many guys on girls? It’s due to a “red-sex” link, which is basically the idea that the color red has a psychological effect on people, symbolizing sexiness. From the being the color of Cupid’s arrows to romantic hearts at Valentine’s Day, red sends a signal to the brain that associates it with love — just as black or gray symbolizes sadness or grieving — which means that, when a girl’s in red, she’s more likely to get the attention of guys around her.
What clothing colors are the ones that girls find most attractive on men?
In a study published in the journal Evolutionary Psychology in 2010, researchers performed three different studies to help them figure out how and why clothing colors impacted attractiveness. One of these specifically involved finding out which colors girls rated as the most attractive on men. Here were some of their findings, per Real Men, Real Style.
When Females rated Males, Red and Black were rated as more attractive than the other colors. In descending order (from most to least attractive), the colors were rated this way: Red, Black, Blue, Green, Yellow, and White. White was the least attractive.
However, there’s more to the study results than just the clothing colors that men were wearing, because, of course, other factors played a role.
For instance, according to the researchers, girls were more prone to say a man was more attractive in a certain clothing color if they found his face and body physically attractive. There were several things that researchers did to try and alleviate this, but, still, red and black were the colors most associated with attractiveness.
There are some theories as to why red and black rated the highest, with the most plausible being that those clothing colors are looked at as most dominant, with the researchers giving an example of a male politician in a debate wearing a Black suit and a Red tie, with these colors communicating dominance, attractiveness and aggressiveness — the exact message you want to send in a debate with a political opponent. Turns out these colors can help get a girl’s attention, too.