Sexy fashion parade

[LargoKitt]

I've noticed that certain stories, primarily lesbian erotic, often take the time to trot out the details of a woman's wardrobe, oftening mentioning luxury brand names. Pussy bows? Manolo Blahniks, pencil skirts. It does add dimension to the character, especially if you are a reader who can visualize or identify with the character because of their outfit. But sometimes it just seems like a gratuitous listing. And I would prefer to see it used as something that fleshes out the character, perhaps literally, like, "Magda was waiting for her impatiently, so she grabbed the blue Halston, but the zipper caught on her slip at the hips, so she trashed both of them, going for the floucy semi-transparent Lilly Pulitzer. Fuck it, she wanted Magda to see her ass because she knew she couldn't have it." But a fun question is: Is the 'dressing up' aspect of the story in itself erotic? And what makes it so? In a straight male story would one have, "Jaden pulled on the raspberry thong briefs because he could imagine Emily's eyes as he tugged down his stretch Tommy Bahama beach pants, the one's that tantalized her with just a little treasure trail. Was the tight sleeveless Celtic's jersey too much? She said she loved his 'guns'..."

 

[AwkwardMD]

The easy, uncharitable answer is that men don't care enough to recognize fashion in the course of an erotic story, which would be borne out by gay stories also not spending a lot of time on the same thing. In my limited experience, I've never come across brand names in GM the way I have in LS. If knowing fashion was important to a woman they were pursuing in their personal life, that might be a cross to bear, but for a story the audience gonna read once and get off to those are superfluous details for creator and reader both.

This is further borne out by the recent thread on how to complement women. One of the more popular answers ran along the lines of "say something nice about a choice I've made rather than about me directly." Other women obviously know some things about women's fashion, would know enough to hear Louboutin and associate that with the red leather sole. The familiarity is baked in.

That being said, I know I have lots of male readers in my LS smut. (I was about to say I don't usually engage in brand mentions but immediately realized I probably mention a lot of footwear (even though I'm not much of a foot gal (this probably requires some thinking))) I've never had any complaints. I think that many, or even most, men understand what's being referred to or can get there through context.

TL;DR Female LS authors are projecting the thing they wish would happen to them more often.

 

[NotWise]

If I wanted to make something erotic from what a woman was wearing I'd probably describe it while it was coming off, but not so much while it was going on. You can also describe her clothes to set a scene or add character without the description itself being erotic, and I'd try to incorporate that description with the action in a scene: the way she moved, the way people react to her, etc.

Whatever you do, keep in mind the audience you're writing for. Male readers may not make many associations with high-fashion brands. Women may not make many associations with sports teams.

 

[EmilyMiller]

"Jaden pulled on the raspberry thong briefs because he could imagine Emily's eyes as he tugged down his stretch Tommy Bahama beach pants, the one's that tantalized her with just a little treasure trail. Was the tight sleeveless Celtic's jersey too much? She said she loved his 'guns'..."

Man thongs? This Emily is gonna take a rain check.

But yeah, when I write a male narrator, I often get comments that they focus on clothing way too much. If it’s a female narator, no one seems to mind.

 

[ElvieG]

I like to describe the garments that my characters wear in detail, because it gives you an idea of what sort of person they are, and helps to set the scene. If I describe someone as wearing lots of brand names, it's usually because I'm making fun of them.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

It's certainly something you can over do. Like many aspects of writing it all just depends. If you are just name dropping, like in your example, that's poor writing, if it adds depth to a character, then do it.

 

[Cagivagurl]

Actually, I don't believe the LS category is that heavily populated by over zealous descriptions including brands....
If you like that, then read in CD, or TG categories, that's where you find the details in attire.... It's important..,,
LS, not so much..,.
IMO...
Regardless of the category, 80% of the readers are male... As are the authors....

Cagivagurl

 

[FrancesScott]

In my lesbian stories, it depends on the character. Dyhani, an accountant with Indian heritage is quite into clothes, and guesses that the other protagonist is wearing Chanel.

But Harriett ‘Harry’ Johnson is a high school teacher and Summertime pool lifeguard, she noticed the color and cut of clothing, but never mentions brands.