This just promotes a silly stereotype, like the old show "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy". I'm a guy who enjoys shopping for clothes (although I don't shop compulsively), and I know girls who don't.
Of course there are people who could use help with shopping, but why make it gender-specific?
This was my reaction to this as well. Just in terms of personal comfort, I personally would prefer a guy stylist as well.
I don't see why they need to limit themselves to just one gender for customers or providers. They have just cut their market in half before they even began selling anything.
Um, what? Is it only me, or does anyone else see the enormous inherent stereotyping in this as a bad thing?
People who actually like to go clothes shopping shouldn’t be made to feel like they should be categorized as “girls”, or vice versa, someone who finds clothes shopping to be uninteresting shouldn’t be made to feel like they ought to identify as a “guy”.
There’s nothing wrong with the concept, but the conflation with clothes shopper/non-shopper with “girl”/“guy” is bad.
It definitely made me cringe, especially compared with something like Trunk Club: https://www.trunkclub.com/. For lack of a better: something about this site--right down to the hero image--makes me feel dirty.
The copy alone seems like it's either written by (or perhaps for?) the stereotypical adolescent male. Selling it as more of a concierge service would really make it more mature.
That said, I'm a "Guy" who actually enjoys shopping for clothes and dressing like an adult, so take my thoughts with a pinch or two.
No one is making you or anyone else to "feel" anything from this product. Frankly, as one of the stereotypical nerds out there, I'm interested in this product. I know I have no sense of style, pretty much and know there are some ladies out there who do.
Hrm. Interesting concept. There is definitely a problem to be solved here -- I have no idea what to buy.
But I also hate shopping in person. I don't want to go to the mall or stores and wait in line or try on clothes.
I suspect that these two segments overlap significantly (those who need help, and those who hate shopping in person). That's why services like TrunkClub make so much sense - they pair you with a "style consultant" (who could be a guy or girl) and they mail you items. If you like them, great. If you don't, send them back.
I presume this is supposed to appeal to the "i dont have any female friends because i am a nerd" crowd. Speaking from personal experience, this ends around 18-19 years of age. Unfortunately - in my opinion - at that age, an "average" guy can barely afford clothes, let alone a personal-shopper-girl he needs to pay money to for the privilege. For older guys, they almost certainly have a friend or a buddy's sister or whatever.
So, if the younger age group is in fact the target, would the girl also be of similar age? Otherwise, i dont see how a 25 year old can shop well for a 17 year old.
What is the ultimte goal here? to make guys more appealing to the opposite sex? Why not take them to a salon instead? A nice haircut and an eye brow plucking would go a long way for many.
Better yet, why not organize group movie dates or similar instead?
I disagree. Older guys may have female friends, but I don't know any single friends (including myself when I was single) that ask female friends to go shopping with them - maybe they should, but they don't.
I think it's a pretty big thing to ask a non-girlfriend/non-date to go out on a day shopping with you just to help you out.
Maybe it's a stereotype, but it seems based on fact that a lot more girls enjoy shopping for clothes than guys do and have a better eye for guys' clothes than guys themselves.
Lot's of services with stylists (who are mostly women) picking for clothes for guys & sending them to you in a pack are popping up, like The Cloakroom: https://thecloakroom.nl/en/
The only difference with this is that the guy and girl go out shopping in a city together.
But I also find it curious that the idea draws so many strong reactions - positive & negative. I think the name has an impact.
>this is supposed to appeal to the "i dont have any female friends because i am a nerd" crowd. Speaking from personal experience, this ends around 18-19 years of age.
Yeah I guess I transitioned from denial about it being due to my nerd status to "why don't I have any friends at all, am I really that horrible" around the age of 20.
Around 30 I just came to accept being alone, and having given up it matters very little what I wear.
"Shop with a girl" has been a personal mantra of mine for about 10 years now, as it has become glaringly obvious that I can't be trusted to make good clothing decisions (as the fairer sex often reminds me).
That being said, I'm not sure how this will work as a service. How often does your average man go shopping for clothes, really? I could see personally using this service once, and a small percent of men would maybe use it once a year. And only men without girlfriends/girl friends/mothers/sisters/whatever would even consider this an option.
It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out. Good luck to ya :)
Well that escalated quickly. It is a bit of a tongue in cheek, very early-stage, idea and the name definitely divides opinion, but pretty surprised how strongly people feel about it. Despite all the public negative comments here about how unbelievably sexist it is, private feedback has been positive - from both sexes, and in fact more females are signing up on the site than males at the moment... what does this mean?
based on the other comment, i see you're the submitter? I like the username - i guess thats the next show-nh we should expect? :)
I think the opinions given are very relevant - people just feel strongly about unnecessary stereotypes, most of which either disappear or become a fixable "skill" by adulthood. It would seem that advice given here is: focus on the more mature audience.
As an aside (based on your username and in my humble opinion), party-with-a-local/personal-guide-to-city is a much better idea - in fact, i recently got a related domain name in NYC.
It could certainly mean that people both conform to, and are blind to, prevailing stereotypes. This, however, is not a good enough reason to perpetuate them.
Maybe confusing what people actually feel, with what they post on HN. Righteous indignation feels good, is easy to come up with, and gets upvoted quickly. But does it reflect sober reflection? Probably not.
When I shop, I get the girl in the store to help me. No need to bring my own girl along! Sure, at first some try to simply sell you random stuff, but after trying a few shirts and asking for their advice, they will start to be honest.
It has been a long time (7 years? probably closer to 8) since I went shopping with a girl, but as I remember it, the reason why a male is invited to shop is two-fold:
* romantic interest
* feedback (more valuable the more stylish you are yourself)
In which case this tagline:
> girls - get paid to shop with guys and make them look good.
Seems a bit off.
UNEDITED EDIT
So I just read the about, and it looks like I misinterpreted this entirely. This line:
> Guys - go clothes shopping with a girl who has style and likes shopping with guys.
Is not equivalent to this:
> SOME GIRLS, those with a good sense of Style And fashion knowledge, KNOW WHAT clothes LOOK GOOD ON GUYs AND ENJOY going SHOPPING WITH THEM.
We respect you enough to deliberate solicit, and pay for, your help in choosing clothes to purchase, but we're still going to call you a girl. Maybe we think it's cute, maybe it's a belittling way to smother our inadequacies in this field. Who knows. The fact that we're deliberately seeking out "girls" and eliminating 50% of the world's population, many of whom know a great deal about buying clothes for men, is rather suggestive.
mmm Men only buy clothes when they need it, I mean if I needed a tie right now I would go to a store and buy many ties, nothing else. Of course there are many compulsive shopping males, but those are probably ok with shopping alone, I think the service would be better if it's sold as a makeover service. just my 2 cents
There's also the issue with personal styles. I could never feel comfortable pulling off the hardcore alpha male look with leather jackets, but if the girl thinks that it is good then I'll just be disagreeing with her on it for the whole time. Also unless these girls have experience with how difference clothes look on difference body types, I would not trust some random girl to pick out clothes for me.
[+] [-] gk1|11 years ago|reply
Of course there are people who could use help with shopping, but why make it gender-specific?
[+] [-] akama|11 years ago|reply
I don't see why they need to limit themselves to just one gender for customers or providers. They have just cut their market in half before they even began selling anything.
[+] [-] teddyh|11 years ago|reply
People who actually like to go clothes shopping shouldn’t be made to feel like they should be categorized as “girls”, or vice versa, someone who finds clothes shopping to be uninteresting shouldn’t be made to feel like they ought to identify as a “guy”.
There’s nothing wrong with the concept, but the conflation with clothes shopper/non-shopper with “girl”/“guy” is bad.
[+] [-] codebeard|11 years ago|reply
The copy alone seems like it's either written by (or perhaps for?) the stereotypical adolescent male. Selling it as more of a concierge service would really make it more mature.
That said, I'm a "Guy" who actually enjoys shopping for clothes and dressing like an adult, so take my thoughts with a pinch or two.
[+] [-] victorduffel|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Brushfire|11 years ago|reply
But I also hate shopping in person. I don't want to go to the mall or stores and wait in line or try on clothes.
I suspect that these two segments overlap significantly (those who need help, and those who hate shopping in person). That's why services like TrunkClub make so much sense - they pair you with a "style consultant" (who could be a guy or girl) and they mail you items. If you like them, great. If you don't, send them back.
[+] [-] drglitch|11 years ago|reply
So, if the younger age group is in fact the target, would the girl also be of similar age? Otherwise, i dont see how a 25 year old can shop well for a 17 year old.
What is the ultimte goal here? to make guys more appealing to the opposite sex? Why not take them to a salon instead? A nice haircut and an eye brow plucking would go a long way for many.
Better yet, why not organize group movie dates or similar instead?
PS: Serious thoughts above - really...
[+] [-] partywithalocal|11 years ago|reply
I think it's a pretty big thing to ask a non-girlfriend/non-date to go out on a day shopping with you just to help you out.
Maybe it's a stereotype, but it seems based on fact that a lot more girls enjoy shopping for clothes than guys do and have a better eye for guys' clothes than guys themselves.
Lot's of services with stylists (who are mostly women) picking for clothes for guys & sending them to you in a pack are popping up, like The Cloakroom: https://thecloakroom.nl/en/
The only difference with this is that the guy and girl go out shopping in a city together.
But I also find it curious that the idea draws so many strong reactions - positive & negative. I think the name has an impact.
Interested to hear more thoughts from people.
[+] [-] skizm|11 years ago|reply
Bad assumption.
[+] [-] genericuser|11 years ago|reply
Yeah I guess I transitioned from denial about it being due to my nerd status to "why don't I have any friends at all, am I really that horrible" around the age of 20.
Around 30 I just came to accept being alone, and having given up it matters very little what I wear.
[+] [-] Dewie|11 years ago|reply
And I suppose the purpose of this sentence is to shame them?
[+] [-] grub5000|11 years ago|reply
Is this really a thing?
[+] [-] SheepSlapper|11 years ago|reply
That being said, I'm not sure how this will work as a service. How often does your average man go shopping for clothes, really? I could see personally using this service once, and a small percent of men would maybe use it once a year. And only men without girlfriends/girl friends/mothers/sisters/whatever would even consider this an option.
It'll be interesting to see how it all plays out. Good luck to ya :)
[+] [-] partywithalocal|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] drglitch|11 years ago|reply
I think the opinions given are very relevant - people just feel strongly about unnecessary stereotypes, most of which either disappear or become a fixable "skill" by adulthood. It would seem that advice given here is: focus on the more mature audience.
As an aside (based on your username and in my humble opinion), party-with-a-local/personal-guide-to-city is a much better idea - in fact, i recently got a related domain name in NYC.
[+] [-] teddyh|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JoeAltmaier|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Raphmedia|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] hadoukenio|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] arenaninja|11 years ago|reply
* romantic interest
* feedback (more valuable the more stylish you are yourself)
In which case this tagline:
> girls - get paid to shop with guys and make them look good.
Seems a bit off.
UNEDITED EDIT
So I just read the about, and it looks like I misinterpreted this entirely. This line:
> Guys - go clothes shopping with a girl who has style and likes shopping with guys.
Is not equivalent to this:
> SOME GIRLS, those with a good sense of Style And fashion knowledge, KNOW WHAT clothes LOOK GOOD ON GUYs AND ENJOY going SHOPPING WITH THEM.
[+] [-] EliRivers|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] kitwalker12|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] pacofvf|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] aaronpk|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] listic|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] partywithalocal|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] guidopallemans|11 years ago|reply
this is SO silicon valley
[+] [-] iamraymondc|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dang|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] partywithalocal|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] unknown|11 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] torkable|11 years ago|reply
[+] [-] JoeAltmaier|11 years ago|reply