Men in Pink Pull Profuse Paychecks

Men who wear pink shirts earn £1,000 more, a new study finds.

Photo from photoXpress

Pink is unusual for men, isn’t it? It is a question of a man’s masculinity. The color is too pretty for a gallant character he portrays.

But it takes confidence to wear light colors. Men in pink don’t have insecurities having a pink bearing above his skin.

A new study reveals that men who wore pink earns £1,000 more yearly. Compared to those who wear the traditional colors, these men are better qualified yet half of them take the public transportation to work, leaving a lower carbon footprint.

The same study reveals that men in pink are twice as likely to hold a Master’s degree. 10% of pink wearers have a PhD extension on their name.

And the ladies love the pink color. Men in pink get more compliments and romances from female colleagues.

Pink is historically a man’s color. Men, for centuries, dress more elaborately than women.  The noble knights and celebrated kings wore exaggerated clothes. In the late 18^th century, pink was common shade for a man, says Bronwyn Cosgrave, author of Costume & Fashion: A Complete History.

Today, men are coming back to a freer fashion.  One in four men feels more attractive when in pink. “Pink is a colour more men have been embracing recently and it’s encouraging that they are not afraid to experiment with brighter colours”, added Stephanie Thiers-Ratcliffe, International Marketing Manager for Cotton USA.

Another color deemed feminine before was purple. But in today’s society, men in purple shirts get the most pay raise, and are more likely to drive a car worth £20,000 or more.

The generalization that “pink is for women and blue is for men” is diffusing. Pink, blue and any other color is now for men and women.

What color of clothes you look best with?

Sources:
Men in the pink; BBC News
The power of pink: Men who wear shirts of that colour earn £1,000 a year more than those who don’t; Daily Mail UK
Men in pink shirts are “better qualified and have more office romances”, says study; London loves Business

Perfectionism Ruining Your Health?

The pressure to be perfect can be often overwhelming.
by Lisa Boyle of Fashion Hungry

Photo from Bùi Linh Ngân’s flickr

When conjuring up the image of a perfectionist, what often springs to mind is an immaculate, glossy-haired woman with a spick and span house and an impressive career to boot. However while many perfectionists may seem perfectly in control on the outside, on the inside they might be telling a whole different story.

I have always been a bit of a perfectionist. Whether it comes to work, keeping fit or organising work events, I get utterly frustrated if things don’t go as planned. To paint a clearer picture – when things don’t go seamlessly, I often end up a crumpled, neurotic mess. I’m not sure what drives my need to get things perfect – but I am sure there are many women out there who can relate.

In today’s society, we are continually met with women who appear to have flawless lives – the perfect body, husband, career etc. Despite knowing that perfection is simply impossible to achieve, it can be difficult not to feel inadequate when it seems everyone else is doing great.

It is not just women who suffer feeling this way. After tennis player Andy Murray’s tearful loss against Roger Federer at the Wimbledon men’s single final, Murray was criticised for being ‘dour-faced’ and miserable. However more so though than anything, I believe he is just another extreme perfectionist.

Now through social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, people have the opportunity to create a life that they want people to see. Today already I have witnessed a slew of posts by people bragging about their great lives are – which is all very well mind you – but in my eyes, most of them seem highly invented.

The pressure to be perfect can be often overwhelming.  There have been many times in the past where I have felt like a complete failure if I haven’t got the job I wanted, if I’ve ate too much chocolate or if someone has criticised me. Drastic I know, yet I can’t seem to shake off the feeling that I could do better.

One of the positive things you could say about perfectionism is that it gives people the incentive to strive for what they wish. This is what I believe spurs my desire for independence and ambition. However perfectionism doesn’t always result in good, as a teenager I suffered from severe anorexia nervosa, an illness where sufferers usually possess personality traits such as anxiety, low self-esteem and of course, perfectionism.

Not all cases are the same – however studies have shown that a majority of people with eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder and depression all suffer from acute perfectionism. Those who suffer from perfectionism are also less likely to sleep well and tend to work their bodies harder physically as well as preventing them from forming healthy relationships with others.

Having such high-expectations for yourself can also be mentally deteriorating, particularly when original plans fail. Perfectionists tend to berate and exhaust themselves to the point where they end up giving up, which can be emotionally and physically damaging in the long run.

If the above describes you to a tee, then it may be time to cut yourself some slack. After all, imperfection is what makes us human, regardless to what your Facebook status reads.

Lisa Boyle is a freelance journalist, music writer, fashion correspondent and researcher based in Scotland, United Kingdom.

Hairstyles Experiment

This decade has experimented on hair more than any other.

Photos from Paul Waite’s and Lindsey Gee’s flickr

The 100,000 to 150,000 hairs on our scalp have an evolutionary purpose. It is our natural sun-block as it protects our head against the sun. It regulates our bodily temperature by trapping heat from escaping our head. But the more important prospect we root on is, it makes us look good. It is our extension of self-expression and fashion.

You remember that oceanic expanse of hair that’s aggressively intruding a personal space? Everybody looks like that in the 80’s; but now, people are more creative in stressing distinction through their hair.

It dazzles me how women can change hairstyles in a blink. One moment my sister’s hair is shoulder short, then on a different place it was way down her back. And I have to beat myself because I know how hair extensions work without researching about it. Women can switch hair colors too, braid it, put a hole in it, cut it shorter than men’s hair, and shape it like a ribbon or a horse.

Men started to care about their hairs as well. It used to be 5 mins lapse time between bath and going out of the house, but now we have to style our hairs. A man will give permission to touch anything in his body but not the hair. We hated spending so much time for beautification and we won’t risk anybody messing with it. There’s a serious trouble to place a finger on men’s hairstyles, including artful shaves, emotive spikes (that comes along with flat emotion), mohawk and doll-head wig.

I spiked my hair upward like a pointed weapon. What experimentation did you do with your hairstyle?

Perfect Imperfections

Scars, moles, and extra nipples are all subject to cosmetic correction unless the owner regard them as beauty marks.

The popular notion of beauty is perfect all throughout, hair to heels. Makeup and cosmetics are invented for human’s need to conceal the perceived mess in their body, that is, the ‘imperfections’. But really, who defines a part of you as imperfect? These people are focused on camera but they won’t care:

Madonna’s teeth gap

Photo from static.gigwise.com

Kiefer Sutherland’s & Mila Kunis’s heterochromia (different eye colors)

Photo from kanbyamadworld.wordpress.com

Photo from 4.bp.blogspot.com

Joaquin Phoenix’s lip scar

Photo from i2.listal.com

Mariah Carey’s facial mole

Photo from dirrtyinc.com

Mark Wahlberg’s third nipple

Photo from justjared.com

Mila Kunis could just wear matching contact lenses, or Mark Wahlberg could pay a doctor to scrape off his extra nipple. But they haven’t, and it shows that they are not ashamed to carry the ‘imperfections’ themselves. The tricky truth is, a perfect human has imperfections.

I love that these people didn’t succumbed to the demands of hypocritical beauty. I have a scar on my cheek. What imperfection in your body are you proud of?

More Moments for you:
Deceitful Digital Enhancements
Perfectionism Ruining Your Health?
What If.. You Sell a Body to a Chemist

What If.. 80’s Prevail

What if we’re still living the decade of 80’s..

Photo from eatliver.com

Now that’s fashionable. Great style, groovy artists, era of true icons, classic films and TV, and chilling activities. Plus, people are not yet slaves of technology.

In 80’s people see the best of the Smurfs, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and GI Joe (and Hello Kitty, whatever); heard the best of Madonna and Michael Jackson; and tasted the best of bubblegum flavors. How can we forget the roller skating fad and multi-colored slouch socks (like, really 80’s??). Those are good times.

What do you miss most about 80’s?

More Moments for you:
What If.. No Harry Potter
What If.. Earth is Purgatory
Such Perky TV