Red = Passion, Right?

Red is a very popular color. Red cars. Red Dress. Red Shoes. The color is everywhere, and it’s related to the word “Hot”.

What does Men’s Health think a woman is thinking when she wears red?

“I feel confident—and I want to be noticed”.

Red stands out, it draws attention, and it says “hey look at me”. That’s one of the reasons that if you’re driving a red sports car you’re more likely to get a ticket—or so the conventional wisdom goes¹.

Honestly, I don’t see a lot of people wearing a solid red color around, but when they do it’s hard not to notice them. Which is the underlying issue—how we compare ourselves with others.

It was funny. I was writing a story in high school where the characters were in Hawaii and they were about to go buy bathing suits to go out to the beach. In typical guy, I had them go buy suits in matching colors.

When I let my grandmother proofread my work, she wrote a comment on this section, saying that this would never happen. No girl, she said, would want to wear the same thing as someone else. So I had to go back and change it.

First Lady Laura Bush had this happen to her at a White House Holiday Reception. Three different ladies wore the same red dress at the party² and so she went to change her dress half way through the party.

Women want to stand out and be noticed. They want to be seen, and red is a great way to get attention.

Is This Modest?

Yes, I know the picture on the right is “Cherry” and not “Red”, but you get the idea!

To me, modesty is more than simply making sure skin is not showing. At its basis, it’s a internal guide that’s reflected externally. It’s a desire to be looked at as who we are on the inside, rather than focusing on the outside.

To that end, red could be an immodest color since it draws attention to yourself—but for that matter so could anything that’s not normal, so purple, etc.

I have a hard time condemning “anything in red”, but would ask before you wear red, why are you wearing it? If you’re out to get attention, then your heart’s not right—and that’s immodest.

1. In the attempt at full disclosure, my first car was a two-tone Red/Grey Saturn SC2 sports car, and the only ticket I received was when I was in an accident with that car and it was totaled. [↩]
2. Christmas time is probably the only time when red is not immodest, since it’s part of Christmas colors. Everyone, it seems, is in red, green, gold or silver. [↩]