Men Are More Into Fashion Than Women

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By

Saliha Khalid

Fashion is the popular, latest style of clothing, hair, grooming, behavior, and decoration. It is simply a matter of doing and owning based on the latest trends and styles.

There are many statistics that provide evidence that men are more interested in fashion than women. A recent survey has been conducted in American society to come up with the results and statistics about fashion trends in men and women in America. This survey has been directed by the fashion firm “Boutique@Ogilvy”. The market research selected 1,232 men from age 18 and above to answer the questions. The survey pointed out that men spend $85 per month whereas the women spend less on fashion, i.e. $ 75 per month (Shepherd, 2016). Menswear is growing at the rate of 8.3% and it is probable that it will reach the level of $110.3 billion, twice the market size of women’s wear (Cauterucci, 2016).

The report by “Budget Sense” illustrates that the time spent on shopping by men was more than women by twenty percent. Men consumed mostly three hours in this market per week, however the time passed by women was less in 2015 and 2016, i.e. two and a half hours per week. Men were also twice as likley to go online shopping (Shepherd, 2016). The survey was also evident that the men buy 20-30% more than women in shopping worldwide (Shepherd, 2016). A British survey of 2015 also demonstrated that the annual spending of men was more than women, men spending “£660 on clothes, while women spent £612,” (Shepherd, 2016).

The recent e-commerce survey conducted by firm “Ibis World” elucidates that online sale of men’s clothing is highest than any other product. This company has taken the data available form online shopping from 2010-2015. The statistics of the last five years espoused the fact that “Men are into more fashion than women.” The statistics of growth in online sales from 2010 to 2015 are given in the graph below (Bain, 2015).

Mr. Porter, the fifty years old brand, provided the data that their 25% customers are those men who are interested in online shopping in 2015-2016 whereas in 2014 the percentage of online men’s shopping was only 12% (Smith, 2016). Research by Club Monaco illustrates that men are not only rushing towards fashion in clothing but are inclined towards having fashionable headphones, grooming products, cars, home accessories, etc. Club Monaco’s report proved that men are enticed to make unplanned purchases after the time of their checkout from the market.

The reasons behind more spending of men on clothes and fashion are that they earn more money than women. They have enough money to spend on better quality clothes and other necessities and luxuries of their lives. The social cycle of men is too vast, they are required to be in fashion and branded clothes to meet with the demand of their social cycle.

The work wear standards for men have minimized the options of choosing business attire. Men have to go for fast-fashion brands instead of buying cheap outfits from general retailers that cost less than the branded outfits.

The number of men’s new brands and designer outfits, spas and salons has increased in the recent era, raising men’s sense of style. A few years ago there were only 80 brands but now the retailers have 400 plus brands (Smith, 2016). A survey of men visiting boutiques has revealed that ninety-four percent of men have a clear and definite sense of style (Smith, 2016).

The 27% of adult men under the age of 35 purchase those clothes whose value and rates are high and those adults are more influenced by the opinion of sale assistants in their shopping. These young men also like to try on the items in shopping (Shepherd, 2016).

The other factor behind men’s high budgeting is that they are more prone to brand names, as for males, brands matter a lot (Koca and Koc, 2016). The clothes purchasing behavior in men and women differs. Women are also fashionable but in this epoch men are more prone to fashion and brands.

Traditional menswear has been transformed into modern branded fashion trends. The “change in men’s shopping habits reflects a shift in their conception of style. Men are increasingly up to speed on the latest trends and designers, taking cues from style blogs and social media, including Pinterest, men being a fast-growing group” that is prone to fashion.

In the existing epoch men are daring to adopt fashion. They shifted their interests and choices from traditional clothing. They want to have “sporty items, such as hoodies or puffer vests, with tailored clothing, or injecting personality to a suit by adding sneakers or a nylon windbreaker,” (Smith, 2016) in their wardrobes that has lessened their dependence on traditional wear.

Ildiko Szalai manifested that “Traditionally men’s path to purchase has been more linear than women’s” because they adopted a “utilitarian approach” and availed “all options rationally” “based on price and quality” (Smith, 2016). But in the existing era “men (have) become more concerned about how they look, what they wear and products they use, their decision-making beginning to imitate women’s.” The report by Ray Smith provided the fact that men’s spending habits on skin-care products and fashion are increasing day by day.

The beauty survey provided the fact that “11% of 8,354 men started using facial cleansers in the last three years, and 6.1% of the men said they buy facial cleansers” twice to thrice a month (Smith, 2016).

The research of the “Ibis World” also provided the projected growth in online sales from 2015-2020. This is provided in the graph below (Bain, 2015).

From this information it has been concluded that men are more into fashion than women. The statistics and reports provided by different sources revealed the fact that in the existing timespan men’s fashion cannot be ignored. They are more into fashion than woman and in the imminent future it seems likely that the percentage of men spending on fashion will increase. The traditional clothing sense of men has been transformed into a modern fashion sense.

Saliha Khalid

Saliha Khalid is pursuing her Masters degree in Defense and Diplomatic Studies from Fatima Jinnah Women University, Rawalpindi

Bibliography

Bain, M. (2015). Men’s clothing is outpacing cameras, computers, and beer in growth of online sales. [online] Quartz. Available at: http://qz.com/355433/mens-clothing-is-outpacing-cameras-computers-and-beer-in-growth-of-online-sales/ [Accessed 25 Dec. 2016].

Cauterucci, C. (2016). Men Spend More Money and Time On Clothes Shopping Than Women. [Blog] Slate XX Factor. Available at: http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2016/02/04/men_spend_more_money_and_time_on_clothes_shopping_than_women.html [Accessed 24 Dec. 2016].

Koca, E. and Koc, F. (2016). A Study of Clothing Purchasing Behavior By Gender with Respect to Fashion and Brand Awareness. European Scientific Journal, [online] 12(7). Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.19044/esj.2016.v12n7p234 [Accessed 26 Dec. 2016].

Shepherd, J. (2016). Men Spend More Than Women on Clothes, Study Says. [online] The Muse. Available at: http://themuse.jezebel.com/men-spend-more-than-women-on-clothes-study-says-1757076920 [Accessed 21 Dec. 2016].

Smith, R. (2016). Men Are Shopping Like Women. The Wall Street Journal. [online] Available at: http://www.wsj.com/articles/men-are-shopping-like-women-1455657516.