Sample-sale shopping online and in stores is a hobby for many women. But not so for men, especially in the online world. Though statistics show men like shopping online — where no one can physically see them shop — only small chunks of memberships of sites like Gilt Groupe, Rue La La, and HauteLook are dudes. Of Gilt’s 2.5 million members, 75 percent are women; of HauteLook’s 2.7 million, 90 percent are women; and of Rue La La’s 1.8 million members, 70 percent are women. Why are men so opposed to the fabulous online sport of sample sale-ing?
Probably for the same reason they don’t get their bros together on Saturday morning to line up for the John Varvatos sale: It’s not a very manly thing to do. Lots of men want to look good and have nice clothes, but plenty of them don’t want to be openly metrosexual about it. And while no one might know that they bought a Lacoste polo on Gilt Man, it’s still not traditionally manly. Lots of men — straight ones especially — are much more concerned with preserving their manliness than dressing well. Shopping on Gilt Man with any regularity doesn’t exactly say, “I CUT DOWN TREES WITH DULL AXES AND EAT RAW EGGS IN MY PROTEIN SHAKES. I CAN FIX YOUR FENCE BLINDFOLDED. MAN ROAR!” But we’re chicks, so what do we know?
