That’s gotta be a pretty cheap suit, right? She rush ordered it on an impulse on a college student’s budget.
I guess maybe she could have picked up a secondhand suit from some kid who grew out of theirs (perk of being small), or maybe Becky embezzled enough from that Campaign Manager gig that she’s got disposable income to burn on a sight unseen expensive purchase for her girl
Based on some of what we’ve seen, it’s distinctly possible that Dina asked her parents “I need money for a nice suit, I’m testing if it will calm my girlfriend’s co-dependent tendencies” and they were like “yea that sounds reasonable.” IIRC they gave her money for romance-related expenses at some point in the past?
I’m sure there’s a good thrift shop or two in Bloomington. Lots of students on modest budgets seems like natural market. If she did buy it secondhand it probably belonged to a teen or tween boy who probably only wore it a few times, so it’s likely still in good shape.
Joe might find something that fits him (maaaybe) in the local thrift stores. I’m about his height, and it took me a few store trips before I found a suitable suit. Pretty good price, too.
Speaking as a bisexual, while a man in a well-fitted men’s-style suit can be quite nice, it does not hit anything like the way a woman in a well-fitted men’s-style suit does.
It’s like how a guy in the right kind of cute pastel stockings just has an appeal that a girl in similar clothes doesn’t quite have. It’s the rebellion against gender norms that does it for me.
So there’s a school of thought that attractiveness is related to distance from the average appearance, but it’s more of a donut shaped ideal than wanting to be exactly average.
So if you are too far from the average, you want to do something that pushes you towards it, and if you are too average, you want to do something that pushes you away from it.
Okay, so… I feel I get your meaning (and I don’t disagree!), but the phrasing is kind of missing with trans people. There are men who are AFAB. It’d probably take a lot more words to say exactly what you mean in an inclusive way, but bringing in a term/phrasing heavily associated with trans people (“AFABs regardless of gender”) and contrasting a group that includes trans men with men as a group is kind of a miss.
When the game first came out, I thought Fuuka was the hottest video game character ever. I was super into nerdy chicks with wonky voices. Still am, but nowadays Fuuka’s too young for comfort.
Hey, let’s not be sexist here. A man who can wear a suit well can be just about as sexy as a woman in a suit. (Admittedly, this is Dina vs. Joe so YMMV.)
Suits are (usually) designed to accentuate the vertical lines of a person. Not the only way to enhance a person’s visual appeal, but definitely a time-tested one.
Asking a het guy if he’s got a suit, is fairly het of Joyce.
But asking it because she saw Dina in a suit, is perhaps maybe ever so slightly not completely het of Joyce.
Maybe. Probably, given other clues, but it’s not that big a leap from seeing Dina in a suit to thinking of Joe in a suit and finding that hot, even at Kinsey 0. Especially given the context of just talking about dressing up for their date.
Joe’s suit should be slightly too small for him so he keeps trying to subtly adjust it throughout the date until Joyce is like, “Let’s just take it off.”
I think Joe can improve his chance of hankypanky if he wears a suit, but I get the feeling something is going to prevent the hankypanky that we never saw coming.
It’s a very neutral “Yeah” he leaves off on. I’m still of the opinion that he’s going to tell Joyce he wants to wait due to their relationship meaning too much to him.
Forgot about the mysterious Brown sibling for a minute, for some reason went, “Jordan? Like, Michael Jordan?” (I don’t even care about sports or shoes.) So, that’s my bet now. That Michael Jordan prevents Joyce and Joe from fucking this night.
I like to imagine that if Dina took her hat off her hair would be shaped like that bowl cut Ethan used to have for a few seconds before it loses its hold.
Verse quoting evil rapey roofieing guy who got his face insufficiently slashed is still alive. But, Becky might defer to Joyce (or even Amber) for cleaning up that loose end.
Have Becky and Dina ever been on a date? Like dressed up and went out somewhere? I’m sure they must have but I don’t remember if we’ve ever seen it. Like we’ve even seen Walky and Lucy go out and their relationship only lasted a week.
I was gonna say there was the time they went to Galasso’s Pizza (and Subs)
But then when I went to find the actual strip I realized they just stopped there for lunch during Becky’s job hunt so I guess that probably doesn’t really count after all
I was thinking of this moment too, and it is hard to decide if it qualifies. It was a planned outing but then Becky starts working so it doesn’t really match the vibe of a nice date I imagine. Maybe planned dating just isn’t their thing. Especially as broke college kids.
I think Becky and Dina aren’t really the ‘go out somewhere’ date kind of people. I imagine they’re more “any time we spend together is a date, even if that’s just in our respective rooms”. Dina sometimes has a low threshold for socializing and crowds so I imagine that could be part of it.
I don’t know about bi-women, but as a bi-man I think suits can be very sexy. Of course it varies from person to person, and it depends on how well the suit looks.
My ex found them very sexy. My metamour (her bf) and I set up a triple date for Valentine’s day and wore matching suits with bow ties (and bow ties for the dogs too). We did not get around to eating dinner.
As a bi woman, literally anything that can be perceived as “uniform for bosses?” is incredibly attractive to me. The bar is actually so low on what that constitutes that a polo shirt with a company logo fits the bill.
But yeah, suits are hella attractive. Not sure why everyone is acting like women don’t wear pantsuits and that it’s a break of gender norms though. Maybe it’s because I was in DECA back in high school, but I tend to think of them as gender neutral. Nobody back then was trying to rock a pencil skirt, it was pantsuits as far as the eye could see—even at ICDC. As an adult, almost everyone I’ve ever met either owns a pantsuit or rents one when needed.
Not everyone lives in a place where women are even allowed to wear pants. I think it’s safe to assume there’s a variety of experiences where suit-wearing for women counts as a break of the gender norms.
This is true, but the setting of the comic is in the US. Which, despite everything terrible happening right now, is a place where women wearing pants isn’t presently unusual or subversive. My experience of every woman owning or renting a pantsuit comes from a state redder than Indiana even, so that’s where my confusion came from. It’s not breaking a gender norm significantly in the US, I suppose I could’ve been clearer in my original comment.
“Pantsuit” and “suit” hit differently. Pantsuits for women are very normal now (though still criticized by some), but they’re often styled differently than what one might think of as a “suit.” Often this is in a way where it’s like, “But not too masculine!” A suit might have more of a “traditional masculine” style, regardless of who’s wearing it.
It’s hard for me to explain because I’m not much of a fashion person, but “woman in a pantsuit” and “woman in a suit” refer to different things. The lines are becoming narrower and blurring and all that, but there’s still some distinction in the general ideas.
Suits cut for women are pretty different, although I wouldn’t go so far to say that they are always feminine.
Where I live its pretty rare to see *anyone* dressed in a suit, so I honestly couldn’t say how common it is for women to wear men-styled suits like Dina is. I would certainly notice it in the street.
I wonder, is sort of reaction simply due to something about a suit per se or is it cultural? If so is it the association with wealth or status, or formality and responsibility, or important revelries like weddings?
In other words, if Dumbing of Age was set two millennia ago, would Dina get the same reaction in a toga?
That is a fantastic question. My guess is yes. Prostitutes were expected wear togas (or faux-gas) of a different color of the type to the political elite, which to me suggests that the garment was considered not unattractive. It would hardly surprise me at all if wealthy men didn’t enjoy their lovers dressing in formal togas privately.
And yes, Dinosius would absolutely be the hottest girl in the rhetor’s class for rocking that toga.
uhhh I used the opposite word here. “didn’t” should be switched to “did”. Also only wealthy men were meant to own white togas, hence why I said wealthy men only. Wealthy women too I suppose, money bought anything back then as long as you were ‘respectable’ in public.
also I’m getting ads for womens formal shirts, lmao
The customs relating to wearing a toga, as well as the size and shape of the garment, varied widely over Roman history, but in the classical period (late Republic and early Empire) that we usually think of when we think of ancient Rome, every citizen male would be expected to own a toga and to wear on official civic occasions, like voting in elections. The specially whitened toga, toga candida in Latin, was worn by those running for office, hence the English candidate. Togas were not worn by women except for prostitutes, and for a non-prostitute to wear one in public would be extremely shocking.
I am maybe the worst person to answer this because suits don’t do it for me at all, but I think that attraction to men wearing suits and attraction to non-men wearing suits function very differently.
A suit is such an incredibly gendered piece of clothing, and like the quintessential symbol of patriarchal power (think of ‘suits’ being used to refer to the executive class, businessmen etc.). So I think when it comes to people who aren’t men wearing suits the main draw for a lot of people is the subversiveness of that expression.
The appeal of men wearing suits I genuinely just have no clue about though tbh, maybe it’s the kind of people who like leaning into that sort of thing of masculine power? Which I am kind of trying not to judge them for, but also I’m kind of judging them for.
First of all I accidentally hit report comment trying to hit reply on my phone screen. So my apologies on that if it leads to problems later!
Honestly the suit appeal leans more into a love of authority types no matter the gender. And that is typically broken down into two thought processes.
1 You want someone in charge and running the show for you. So someone in a suit, military or law enforcement uniform just clothing that represents power in some regard.
2 You want to strip that feeling of power away from people wearing such garments. A lot of patrons of Dominatrixes and such often visit them while wearing suits or similar clothing attributes to success and such. Said patrons like the idea of being reduced to nobodies during sessions of that kind.
The language of clothing often has dual meanings for each garment and it’s quite fascinating
>You want someone in charge and running the show for you.
Not just power but competence. We expect someone in military fatigues to have gone through rigorous physical and mental training; therefore we expect them to perform well under pressure, and that sort of thing. This is quite like what we expect of dominant sexual partners.
Yup. And most dominant partners I’ve had have usually been confident and classy dressers even on their days off. Women who rocked simple button downs and skirts or good looking casual but not fanservice dresses.
Men who refused to wear graphic shirts or damaged bluejeans during downtime.
Stuff that most people nowadays would consider being overdressed and intimidating. So you get these types in suits or uniforms and you can’t help but want to see what happens when you get involved with that.
I’ll be honest, casual friday has ruined the fashion game and by extension the payoff of putting in effort towards anything really.
Thank you all for the thoughtful and historically educational responses. However, I think geology rather than archeology may be your strong suit. After all, you guys rock.
unrelated to today’s strip, I’m reading yesterday’s comments and saw the one from Jeremiah saying they don’t like me personally but defending my question for clarification. First of all thanks, but I am curious as to why you don’t like me personally. I don’t recall arguing with you (Jeremiah) in particular. of course no one is obligated to like me, I am just curious
It was, in fact, in that movie. 4th episode, 1st to come out, later to be retitled. Denizen of the bar of scum and villainy, got himself his arm sliced off.
But you’re good. Since you’re not hanging out in a den of scum and villainy (I’m assuming).
There are some people I see regularly in these comments who I don’t like, but I don’t intend to tell them anytime soon. I try to avoid getting into the arguments that happen a lot in the DoA comments.
Joyce saw the way Dina’s shoulders look more square and her shape looks longer and her brain thought of her sweetheart Jewish Chris Hemsworth and went “JOE I HAVE A REQUEST TO MAKE”
FGOLBLOTD, no really and with my back it hurt. Why laugh so hard, last panel. Becky’s hair, got FLUFFIER. And Dina’s eyes, looking to joe. To quote the great B. Bunny “I’m dyin’ heah!”
Joyce, in her (to be determined) sexiest sweatervest. (maybe a button or two undone)
Joe, in his suit (if he has the one).
Romantic talks in the gazebo.
Looking forward to Willis’s full page depiction!
Honestly insane the difference a suit makes. I’m a redneck looking motherfucker, but I’ll dig out the suit for weddings and funerals, and it always surprises me how sharp it looks.
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Dina Fancy!
She rockin’ it!
And, Joyce gets it.
Only partly.
If she really got it, she’d be the one wearing the suit for Joe.
yeah, that was my thought too.
Or… Joyce gets Becky’s perspective, and wants to see Joe in a suit.
I’m thinking it’s this one. Joyce wants Joe to dress up.
Joyce hasn’t thought things through enough to realise that Joe’s suit won’t fit her.
Plays Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This) on hacked muzak.
Just for Annie Lennox, of course.
Joe would absolutely serve in a little red dress
Date-o the Great…o
Maybe he and Dina could get a two for one offer at the same place they got their ‘BONE’ T-shirts.
she got that suit from Amazon, pretty sure
That’s gotta be a pretty cheap suit, right? She rush ordered it on an impulse on a college student’s budget.
I guess maybe she could have picked up a secondhand suit from some kid who grew out of theirs (perk of being small), or maybe Becky embezzled enough from that Campaign Manager gig that she’s got disposable income to burn on a sight unseen expensive purchase for her girl
Or, ,she walked into a mens clolthing store, tried on a suit, and walked out un-noticed. This is Dina we’re talking about.
Based on some of what we’ve seen, it’s distinctly possible that Dina asked her parents “I need money for a nice suit, I’m testing if it will calm my girlfriend’s co-dependent tendencies” and they were like “yea that sounds reasonable.” IIRC they gave her money for romance-related expenses at some point in the past?
IIRC they gave her $200. For dinner with her girlfriend.
That was a pre-Trumpflation $200 too, that’s like $300 in today’s money.
Dina has rich or fairly well-off parents who support her readily. I wouldn’t put it past them to buy a suit for her.
I’m sure there’s a good thrift shop or two in Bloomington. Lots of students on modest budgets seems like natural market. If she did buy it secondhand it probably belonged to a teen or tween boy who probably only wore it a few times, so it’s likely still in good shape.
Joe might find something that fits him (maaaybe) in the local thrift stores. I’m about his height, and it took me a few store trips before I found a suitable suit. Pretty good price, too.
Or Men’s Wearhouse. (There’s one in College Mall.)
That’s definitely some expensive stuff.
confirmed Amazon in first panel with the smile logo on the box, was an expedited package :p
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2025/comic/book-15/03-me-and-who-you-say-i-was-yesterday/shifts/
Who gives a shit if Joe owns a suit? He’s not a woman.
Joyce might be attracted to people who aren’t women
Further testing is required to verify this hypothesis
That seems incredibly farfetch’d.
Absol(ultely) not! how could mew say this?
ditto that :p
It’s the Sleep agenda, I tells ya!
Speaking as a bisexual, while a man in a well-fitted men’s-style suit can be quite nice, it does not hit anything like the way a woman in a well-fitted men’s-style suit does.
Speaking as a heterosexual, if I were allowed to write one (1) sumptuary law it would be that only women are allowed to wear tuxedos.
What!? No monkeys in tuxedos anymore?
Monkeys are beyond our mere human laws
Literally!
It’s like how a guy in the right kind of cute pastel stockings just has an appeal that a girl in similar clothes doesn’t quite have. It’s the rebellion against gender norms that does it for me.
This. Absolutely this. Genderfuckery hits different.
My contribution to this: Women in corsets are hot af, but men and enby people in corsets hits on a DIFFERENT LEVEL.
Thinking from farther down about what one might picture for “suit” vs “pantsuit,” I’d also be about a man in a pantsuit. (A colorful one!)
Same!
For example, i think bald men are nice and all, but women (all AFABs regardless of gender, too) with a shaved head are HOT AF.
So there’s a school of thought that attractiveness is related to distance from the average appearance, but it’s more of a donut shaped ideal than wanting to be exactly average.
So if you are too far from the average, you want to do something that pushes you towards it, and if you are too average, you want to do something that pushes you away from it.
Okay, so… I feel I get your meaning (and I don’t disagree!), but the phrasing is kind of missing with trans people. There are men who are AFAB. It’d probably take a lot more words to say exactly what you mean in an inclusive way, but bringing in a term/phrasing heavily associated with trans people (“AFABs regardless of gender”) and contrasting a group that includes trans men with men as a group is kind of a miss.
indeed.
What if he rolls up his sleeves.
Big if true
Holy shit your icon has such a pretty gradient. Is that a specific character? I wanna go paint something teal now…
looks like Eureka from Eureka 7, Greatfuckinnganime
I’m fairly certain it’s actually supposed to be Fuuka Yamagishi from Persona 3
Yes.
I wanted to compliment it yesterday, but couldn’t find a good spot to and forgot.
Fuuka great.
When the game first came out, I thought Fuuka was the hottest video game character ever. I was super into nerdy chicks with wonky voices. Still am, but nowadays Fuuka’s too young for comfort.
Hey, let’s not be sexist here. A man who can wear a suit well can be just about as sexy as a woman in a suit. (Admittedly, this is Dina vs. Joe so YMMV.)
Hard disagree
Yeahhh no, absolutely not
Yeah, i refer the Court to the MIB International promotional materials.
It’s not sexist to find different genders hot in different ways. Also disagree that men in suits are as sexy as women or enbys in suits.
This, preferences aren’t sexist.
Sexist is when you disrespect people based on gender, whether you’re into them or not.
“you’re not my type” or “i’m not into guys in suits” is NOT sexist!
You are correct. Preferences are not sexist. I was trying to be humorous and missed badly. Apologies to anyone I offended.
All depends on the individual’s taste. I agree with ya: A man can wear a suit just as well and sexy as a woman in a suit.
Yeah, let’s not go crazy here, Sanji still exists after all!
Clearly Joyce needs to find a suit that will fit her. It’s the only way to be sure.
Ooor, time to prove men can rock heels and a dress, I think a red lacey piece would look good on Joe
I like the way you think
Yeah but where tho?
I’m sure the school has plenty of unattended rooms.
sex gazebo
Speaking of someone who sure as shit ain’t a 0 on the Kinsey scale….
Heyyy no imitating lol
I like that Dina in a suit just automatically causes anyone who sees her to question their orientation no matter what it was.
*plays “Puttin’ on the Ritz” by Taco on hacked muzak*
Anyone up for watching Young Frankenstein?
See, even Joyce gets it, everyone looks good in suits
Nah, they just don’t suit men imo 😉
Suits are (usually) designed to accentuate the vertical lines of a person. Not the only way to enhance a person’s visual appeal, but definitely a time-tested one.
I hope they cleaned that suit
What for?
They fucked the suit, obvi.
To be fair, the suit probably came off for that part
Probably Dina took it off. Probably.
With those shoulders? Joe would ROCK a suit. Get this man some cuff links!
Very contingent on it fitting well to be fair. A poorly fitted suit would just have his shoulders stretching it in unflattering ways.
Joe spends the whole time Joyce is in class reading the menswear guys threads.
That’s how you end up getting flayed alive by menswear guy
tbf, Derek Guy seems to only really go to town on assholes in ill-fitting outfits
Quickly, someone get Derek Guy!
I picture Joe in a suit looking a lot like B:TAS Bruce Wayne
I was thinking a beefier incarnation of James Bond, but that would be Joe in a tuxedo.
not an especially kinsey zero thing to say, Joyce
Yeah, that wasn’t very Kinsey Zero of her
Asking a het guy if he’s got a suit, is fairly het of Joyce.
But asking it because she saw Dina in a suit, is perhaps maybe ever so slightly not completely het of Joyce.
Maybe. Probably, given other clues, but it’s not that big a leap from seeing Dina in a suit to thinking of Joe in a suit and finding that hot, even at Kinsey 0. Especially given the context of just talking about dressing up for their date.
Joe’s suit should be slightly too small for him so he keeps trying to subtly adjust it throughout the date until Joyce is like, “Let’s just take it off.”
I like the way you think
Feller prolly is not used to wearing suits. Guys his age rarely are. Yeah, he’ll be a bit fidgety.
I think Joe can improve his chance of hankypanky if he wears a suit, but I get the feeling something is going to prevent the hankypanky that we never saw coming.
It’s a very neutral “Yeah” he leaves off on. I’m still of the opinion that he’s going to tell Joyce he wants to wait due to their relationship meaning too much to him.
Wild bets:
5 to 1: Dorothy
8 to 1: Carol
15 to 1: Jocelyne
25 to 1: Malaya
50 to 1: Jordan
100 to 1: Joe’s parent(s)
203849205829 to 1: Zombie Toedad
I got a hundred bucks on Jordan
Forgot about the mysterious Brown sibling for a minute, for some reason went, “Jordan? Like, Michael Jordan?” (I don’t even care about sports or shoes.) So, that’s my bet now. That Michael Jordan prevents Joyce and Joe from fucking this night.
I don’t think a 50:1 payout is fair for that one.
I’ll take it simply for the insane rush I’d get if I were somehow right.
2 to 1: Joe himself due to hang ups from when that other woman turned him down suddenly due to upbringing
What odds would you give me for Ryan?
Fuck it. $1 on Zombie Toedad. You can hold me to this, I’ll actually pay out.
But will you actually collect?
You bet your ass I will.
Offer to go halvies with Willis if he has zombie toedad interrupt their date 😛
Still calling Dottie popping in to explain her UST and its just as Joyce is putting on a cowgirl hat.
I’m actually really hoping Joyce *is* over the roofie’ing now and doesn’t have a freakout though…
We haven’t seen Penny around in a while. Any chance she’s been assembling a team of ninjas?
I like to imagine that if Dina took her hat off her hair would be shaped like that bowl cut Ethan used to have for a few seconds before it loses its hold.
by the Joyce’s reaction, the gay-diation level is already off the charts!
if Dina really took her hat off, the output would be explosive! :0
as a Trash Goblin who craves mess (and empirical data points), I really wanna see that happen >:D
Becky should commit a murder for Dina.
That guy working at the front desk was a bit harsher than he needed to be.
Verse quoting evil rapey roofieing guy who got his face insufficiently slashed is still alive. But, Becky might defer to Joyce (or even Amber) for cleaning up that loose end.
joyce you are REALLY not beating the bisexual allegations on this one
I would love that Joyce is actually bi, but is not attracted to Becky or Dottie.
She’s a butch chaser regardless of gender.
Have Becky and Dina ever been on a date? Like dressed up and went out somewhere? I’m sure they must have but I don’t remember if we’ve ever seen it. Like we’ve even seen Walky and Lucy go out and their relationship only lasted a week.
I was gonna say there was the time they went to Galasso’s Pizza (and Subs)
But then when I went to find the actual strip I realized they just stopped there for lunch during Becky’s job hunt so I guess that probably doesn’t really count after all
https://www.dumbingofage.com/2016/comic/book-7/01-glower-vacuum/applications/
I was thinking of this moment too, and it is hard to decide if it qualifies. It was a planned outing but then Becky starts working so it doesn’t really match the vibe of a nice date I imagine. Maybe planned dating just isn’t their thing. Especially as broke college kids.
Yeah it’s weird realizing we’ve never seen them on a proper date.
The only other thing I can think of is a bonus strip where they get lunch with Dina’s parents, but I’m not sure I’d count it either
At least in my experience formal planned dates were pretty rare in college. The setting makes it easy to just casually hang out instead.
I remember Dina’s parents gave her money for a date, but don’t recall if there was a date that followed.
Agree. These two need to dress up and travel together.
I think Becky and Dina aren’t really the ‘go out somewhere’ date kind of people. I imagine they’re more “any time we spend together is a date, even if that’s just in our respective rooms”. Dina sometimes has a low threshold for socializing and crowds so I imagine that could be part of it.
Joyce-bi unlocked
Pretty sure that was unlocked long ago.
If not before the dranks outing with Dorothy, then during that.
Hope it will be canon
‘…might be a two.’
Everyone looks good in a well-tailored suit.
Particularly Dina.
Now, of course, Willis must draw for me, er, I mean, us, the entire cast, all in well-tailored suits.
Damn right. I wore a suit for my class reunion dinner dance a couple of years ago and was told by more than one person that “you clean up good”.
But is it Masamune?
Why would Joe be the one to wear the suit? He’s not the top.
A fair question.
I for one am more attracted to submissive men in suits.
Because Joyce wants to see him in a suit. Before she tops him.
Are suits actually that attractive to bi women? Asking for a friend.
I don’t know about bi-women, but as a bi-man I think suits can be very sexy. Of course it varies from person to person, and it depends on how well the suit looks.
Dina is rocking it.
thank you, this is very valuable information.
I’m ace and I find suits insanely attractive on whoever wears one-
note’d
My ex found them very sexy. My metamour (her bf) and I set up a triple date for Valentine’s day and wore matching suits with bow ties (and bow ties for the dogs too). We did not get around to eating dinner.
As a bi woman, literally anything that can be perceived as “uniform for bosses?” is incredibly attractive to me. The bar is actually so low on what that constitutes that a polo shirt with a company logo fits the bill.
But yeah, suits are hella attractive. Not sure why everyone is acting like women don’t wear pantsuits and that it’s a break of gender norms though. Maybe it’s because I was in DECA back in high school, but I tend to think of them as gender neutral. Nobody back then was trying to rock a pencil skirt, it was pantsuits as far as the eye could see—even at ICDC. As an adult, almost everyone I’ve ever met either owns a pantsuit or rents one when needed.
Not everyone lives in a place where women are even allowed to wear pants. I think it’s safe to assume there’s a variety of experiences where suit-wearing for women counts as a break of the gender norms.
This is true, but the setting of the comic is in the US. Which, despite everything terrible happening right now, is a place where women wearing pants isn’t presently unusual or subversive. My experience of every woman owning or renting a pantsuit comes from a state redder than Indiana even, so that’s where my confusion came from. It’s not breaking a gender norm significantly in the US, I suppose I could’ve been clearer in my original comment.
“Pantsuit” and “suit” hit differently. Pantsuits for women are very normal now (though still criticized by some), but they’re often styled differently than what one might think of as a “suit.” Often this is in a way where it’s like, “But not too masculine!” A suit might have more of a “traditional masculine” style, regardless of who’s wearing it.
It’s hard for me to explain because I’m not much of a fashion person, but “woman in a pantsuit” and “woman in a suit” refer to different things. The lines are becoming narrower and blurring and all that, but there’s still some distinction in the general ideas.
Consider what circles you move in. Someone in your same town has probably never met a woman with a pantsuit.
Suits cut for women are pretty different, although I wouldn’t go so far to say that they are always feminine.
Where I live its pretty rare to see *anyone* dressed in a suit, so I honestly couldn’t say how common it is for women to wear men-styled suits like Dina is. I would certainly notice it in the street.
pan-to-lesbian (depends on people’s definitions) enby person here: Suits on everyone is hot, but on a woman or enby person it is extra good.
For many of my generation, it was Annie Lennox (Eurhythmics) who taught us The Way.
I fully expect that he does, if only for this precise reason.
… that is an interesting response from Joyce
She is wanting to dress up (to get her sexiest sweatervest). It’s natural she wants to see Joe suitably (ahem) attired too.
I wonder, is sort of reaction simply due to something about a suit per se or is it cultural? If so is it the association with wealth or status, or formality and responsibility, or important revelries like weddings?
In other words, if Dumbing of Age was set two millennia ago, would Dina get the same reaction in a toga?
That is a fantastic question. My guess is yes. Prostitutes were expected wear togas (or faux-gas) of a different color of the type to the political elite, which to me suggests that the garment was considered not unattractive. It would hardly surprise me at all if wealthy men didn’t enjoy their lovers dressing in formal togas privately.
And yes, Dinosius would absolutely be the hottest girl in the rhetor’s class for rocking that toga.
uhhh I used the opposite word here. “didn’t” should be switched to “did”. Also only wealthy men were meant to own white togas, hence why I said wealthy men only. Wealthy women too I suppose, money bought anything back then as long as you were ‘respectable’ in public.
also I’m getting ads for womens formal shirts, lmao
The customs relating to wearing a toga, as well as the size and shape of the garment, varied widely over Roman history, but in the classical period (late Republic and early Empire) that we usually think of when we think of ancient Rome, every citizen male would be expected to own a toga and to wear on official civic occasions, like voting in elections. The specially whitened toga, toga candida in Latin, was worn by those running for office, hence the English candidate. Togas were not worn by women except for prostitutes, and for a non-prostitute to wear one in public would be extremely shocking.
Sorry, I’m a major ancient history nerd.
I am maybe the worst person to answer this because suits don’t do it for me at all, but I think that attraction to men wearing suits and attraction to non-men wearing suits function very differently.
A suit is such an incredibly gendered piece of clothing, and like the quintessential symbol of patriarchal power (think of ‘suits’ being used to refer to the executive class, businessmen etc.). So I think when it comes to people who aren’t men wearing suits the main draw for a lot of people is the subversiveness of that expression.
The appeal of men wearing suits I genuinely just have no clue about though tbh, maybe it’s the kind of people who like leaning into that sort of thing of masculine power? Which I am kind of trying not to judge them for, but also I’m kind of judging them for.
First of all I accidentally hit report comment trying to hit reply on my phone screen. So my apologies on that if it leads to problems later!
Honestly the suit appeal leans more into a love of authority types no matter the gender. And that is typically broken down into two thought processes.
1 You want someone in charge and running the show for you. So someone in a suit, military or law enforcement uniform just clothing that represents power in some regard.
2 You want to strip that feeling of power away from people wearing such garments. A lot of patrons of Dominatrixes and such often visit them while wearing suits or similar clothing attributes to success and such. Said patrons like the idea of being reduced to nobodies during sessions of that kind.
The language of clothing often has dual meanings for each garment and it’s quite fascinating
>You want someone in charge and running the show for you.
Not just power but competence. We expect someone in military fatigues to have gone through rigorous physical and mental training; therefore we expect them to perform well under pressure, and that sort of thing. This is quite like what we expect of dominant sexual partners.
Yup. And most dominant partners I’ve had have usually been confident and classy dressers even on their days off. Women who rocked simple button downs and skirts or good looking casual but not fanservice dresses.
Men who refused to wear graphic shirts or damaged bluejeans during downtime.
Stuff that most people nowadays would consider being overdressed and intimidating. So you get these types in suits or uniforms and you can’t help but want to see what happens when you get involved with that.
I’ll be honest, casual friday has ruined the fashion game and by extension the payoff of putting in effort towards anything really.
Thank you all for the thoughtful and historically educational responses. However, I think geology rather than archeology may be your strong suit. After all, you guys rock.
>crowd booing
(Said jokingly)
unrelated to today’s strip, I’m reading yesterday’s comments and saw the one from Jeremiah saying they don’t like me personally but defending my question for clarification. First of all thanks, but I am curious as to why you don’t like me personally. I don’t recall arguing with you (Jeremiah) in particular. of course no one is obligated to like me, I am just curious
I don’t like you either. — Guy in Star Wars 4 who gets his arm sliced off.
Or maybe not. It’s been too long since I’ve seen that movie and sometimes my mind makes stuff up.
Please don’t slice my arm off with your light saber.
It was, in fact, in that movie. 4th episode, 1st to come out, later to be retitled. Denizen of the bar of scum and villainy, got himself his arm sliced off.
But you’re good. Since you’re not hanging out in a den of scum and villainy (I’m assuming).
The comment section doesn’t qualify?
I’m doing it wrong.
There are some people I see regularly in these comments who I don’t like, but I don’t intend to tell them anytime soon. I try to avoid getting into the arguments that happen a lot in the DoA comments.
Panel 3 would be ten times funnier if Joyce had asked what Becky DID all morning
“What” and “Who”. But Joyce already knows the answers to both questions.
dang it, I meant “who” blast my brain.
(I am bogeywoman- the name differs on my computer and phone)
Should pair with a dinosaur bowler hat
Dina is rocking that butler position. Good for her.
Not sure Becky would like that.
Dangit; wrong place for response. 😛
Double date?
Double date.
Not sure Becky would like that.
Well I’ll be damned. Dina’s suit survived. That or she bought a second one knowing Becky would shred the first one off her.
Always have an emergency suit ready!
Did Dina get even hotter? Yes, yes she did.
She is absolutely Marlene Dietriching the hell out of that suit.
Huh, a shared unspoken language of what gets them hornt. How telling.
I’m so glad others have the same response to their partners in suits. I feel seen.
Joyce saw the way Dina’s shoulders look more square and her shape looks longer and her brain thought of her sweetheart Jewish Chris Hemsworth and went “JOE I HAVE A REQUEST TO MAKE”
FGOLBLOTD, no really and with my back it hurt. Why laugh so hard, last panel. Becky’s hair, got FLUFFIER. And Dina’s eyes, looking to joe. To quote the great B. Bunny “I’m dyin’ heah!”
Becks: oh, you know, making a mess of this dapper gentlewoman over here!
Dina: I have demonstrated that I “clean up nicely”. Twice.
*ZZTop furiously scribbling notes* Every girl crazy ‘bout a sharp-dressed woman…
So which one is hankie and which one is pankie…. /j
Joe: hanky and Joe: panky.
Becky: hanky and Dina: panky.
Joyce, in her (to be determined) sexiest sweatervest. (maybe a button or two undone)
Joe, in his suit (if he has the one).
Romantic talks in the gazebo.
Looking forward to Willis’s full page depiction!
Becky: Joyce I’m happy for you but it’s very oppressive when you remind me that heterosexuality exists
very heterosexual joyce moment
Gazebo, sexy sweatervest, sexy suit… Sounds like a wacky wedding
Just an amalgamation of ideas, nothing more, nothing less
Now we need to put Dorothy in a suit. For science!
Honestly insane the difference a suit makes. I’m a redneck looking motherfucker, but I’ll dig out the suit for weddings and funerals, and it always surprises me how sharp it looks.
Suits look nice on most people, but I’ve always found them very uncomfortable to wear.
same here, for me anything like that is a sensory nono T_T
Date-O
Daddy-O
Steve-O
Suits are designed to make men look good, and it turns out they make a lady look pretty sharp too! Everyone looks good in a suit.
…unless it’s a poorly fitted suit. That is a thing.