They do it more to compete with each other than to get our attention, IMHO
"They do it more to compete with each other than to get our attention, IMHO"
Some might; I don't.
I've always dressed as nicely as I can and done what I can to make my appearance attractive (without much makeup or fuss) because I care about myself and was raised to keep myself clean and neat (unless doing chores that require getting dirty). The way I look in public is a statement about me, not about what I might attract, but, of course, it is lovely to have a man remark, in a dignified way, on how nice I look. It builds one's confidence. People generally want to know they are accepted by their peers, and such feedback is helpful. It's especially important for teenage girls to hear these things from their fathers.
I once dated a guy who remarked (this always amazed me), "You always look nice for me." This just plain shocked me. Of course I would look nice for him. But I looked nice for ME, first. It's a self-respect issue. BTW, this same man told me he really liked the way I walked. He said, "You just walk. You don't do anything to draw attention to yourself." (I decided in fifth grade to "just walk." I'd noticed that some of the girls had begun strutting and posing and didn't want to be like that.) As he considered me to be very attractive and didn't like the idea of other men getting too interested in me, he really appreciated the modesty. He said something else that I found interesting: "You don't act sexy. You don't try to BE sexy. You just ARE sexy." I had no idea this was the case and his comment sort of put me on a quiet alert and helped me to be more understanding toward normal male reactions.