# If I wanted to dress like a prostitute, I would shop at the Ho Store. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 5, 2002, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541 "2002-06-05T21:43:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/61 "2002-06-25T17:53:31Z")
I dunno **Princhester** , I’m still a spring chicken (24) and I have a hard time finding tasteful, non-Grandma clothes to wear. Halter tops, etc. are fine for weekends and parties, but I want cool, classy clothes I can wear to work. **trishdish** , I’ve had luck at Lerner New York. Most of their clothes are office-acceptable without being really boring. Plus, they make clothes for shorties like me. ---
**Author:** ![trishdish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d2c977/32.png) [@trishdish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trishdish)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/62 "2002-06-25T18:18:01Z")
Oh yeah, I like Lerner’s too. And whomever mentioned Inc, which I think I find as a section at Nordstroms, also has some decent stuff. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/63 "2002-06-25T18:46:58Z")
Wow, did you mean to mention Banana Republic? I’d say about 75% of my wardrobe comes from there lately and I never see Ho Wear there. Eve, dear, get thee to Loehmanns! ---
**Author:** ![Squish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8797f3/32.png) [@Squish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squish)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/64 "2002-06-25T19:07:28Z")
Geez, there are advantages to being Goth, it seems. Not wearing “popular” clothing at all, I don’t have to worry that all I have to choose from is the skimpy or the frumpy. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/65 "2002-06-25T19:25:33Z")
I just spent my lunch hour walking up and down the length of Third Avenue, looking for a cool, cotton summer dress that didn’t make me look like Jolly Olly, the fat lady at Barnum’s Museum. I think I will try Orvis on Fifth tomorrow . . . ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/66 "2002-06-25T19:59:50Z")
[Coldwater Creek](http://www.coldwatercreek.com/)? Their catalogue descriptions are totally cringeable (“Just look at you…So radiant, will anyone notice the dinner you spent hours preparing? His teasing brings a smile to your face, lovely above the V’d neckline of your plumberry dress…” Bleagh), but some of the clothes look pretty. I’ve never bought anything from them, though. ---
**Author:** ![burundi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burundi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burundi)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/67 "2002-06-25T20:10:24Z")
Oh, god, **Kimstu** , those Coldwater Creek catalogues crack me up! It’s a matronly-looking sundress, fer goodness sake, not a lifechanging experience! Bleah. All the clothes look very PTA mom to me. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/68 "2002-06-25T20:28:20Z")
Oh, god, how I miss J. Peterman . . . ---
**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2002, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/69 "2002-06-25T22:13:23Z")
I was planning to go shopping Friday for summer office wear, but now I’m not so sure. Y’all have me worried. ---
**Author:** ![ouisey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9fc29f/32.png) [@ouisey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouisey)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2002, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/70 "2002-06-26T01:17:08Z")
I hear ya Trishdish. My uniform at work now consists of my gap jeans, a tank top and a sweatshirt wrapped around my middle. I wear the sweatshirt round my middle to keep my butt crack from showing every time I bend over. Clothes these days are not \* practical \*. Guys can wear fashionable clothes without worry about their balls popping out. UNFAIR. thx Ouisey ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2002, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/71 "2002-06-26T01:19:05Z")
This is why I want to sew. If you have a Fashion Bug in your area, they might be good. ---
**Author:** ![celestina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/258eb7/32.png) [@celestina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/celestina)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2002, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/72 "2002-06-26T13:12:21Z")
[celestina scratching her head] 😕 Where are y’all shopping? I’m difficult to fit, but I don’t have trouble finding nice professional clothes. Most moderate to upscale stores have departments that have business suits, pant suits, and their accessories, and casual wear that most decidedly is NOT hoochie mamafied or grannized wear. Yes, if you go to the junior departments–Despite my age, I do sometimes get things from there–it does seem like lately they are the one stop section for hoochie mama clothes, and _that_ I do find disturbing, but then I just take my business somewhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Silentgoldfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@Silentgoldfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silentgoldfish)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2002, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/73 "2002-06-27T11:13:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\* > > Uh oh…that’s immodest and you’re just asking for trouble, you _Skandalon_! > > 😛 > > Of course, I wear bikini bathing suits. They’re more comfortable, more convenient when using the ladies room, and the fresh summer air feels good on my skin. > > Plus, any one piece makes me look frumpy. \*\* Likes Star Wars \*and \* wears bikinis… hmmm… CRAP! was I typing out loud? [um, /hijack] ---
**Author:** ![Aphthartadocetist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@Aphthartadocetist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aphthartadocetist)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/74 "2002-07-04T19:19:57Z")
OK, this one’s a bit long, but bear with me… Fashion is all about each generation forming a WE group. As behavior goes, it’s getting harder and harder to offend your parents. Turning Protestant, dancing, Punk music, piercings, interracial dating have all come and gone as one generation or another’s way of expressing their sense of self but not totally being shunned from society (like by having illegitimate children, becoming criminally inclined, cultivating a drug habit or AIDS). The current skin fashion upsets older people who no longer or perhaps never were capable of expressing themselves in this way. It’s also fun and enpowering in a narcicistic sort of way. Also, as things get easier in society, women no longer have to show how well they can sew, cook, haul firewood and endure winter to snare a husband. We can screw around and have fun for MUCH longer before the need to breed sets in. Afterall, we expect to live to 75 or so, rather than 45 or 50. And most of our kids won’t die by age 4. You don’t need to get married to be accepted by society, nor to cook and clean, which were both much more difficult and time consuming just 70 years ago. So what’s left? How do you do the 2002 equivilent of quiltmaking? You look damned sexy! Appearing to be talented at getting the wick out of the candle is way easier than taking tons of cooking lessons. It’s kind of the easy way out, although it can go too far if women expect to be catered to without putting in any effort other than looking desireable. A flat stomach also shows you don’t eat and eat and eat and probably are pretty physical. Good for sex and ultimately pushing out that next package of replicated DNA! So much for the sermon. I’m sure the men around you are happy watching you stride into the office, grocery store or gym, without the whore attire. Afterall, a confident woman, pleasant to look at, talented and who is not going to give me crap all the time is way better than a whore! ---
**Author:** ![Aphthartadocetist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@Aphthartadocetist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aphthartadocetist)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2002, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/75 "2002-07-04T19:29:37Z")
OK, this one’s a bit long, but bear with me… Fashion is all about each generation forming a WE group. As behavior goes, it’s getting harder and harder to offend your parents. Turning Protestant, dancing, Punk music, piercings, interracial dating have all come and gone as one generation or another’s way of expressing their sense of self but not totally being shunned from society (like by having illegitimate children, becoming criminally inclined, cultivating a drug habit or AIDS). The current skin fashion upsets older people who no longer or perhaps never were capable of expressing themselves in this way. It’s also fun and enpowering in a narcicistic sort of way. Also, as things get easier in society, women no longer have to show how well they can sew, cook, haul firewood and endure winter to snare a husband. We can screw around and have fun for MUCH longer before the need to breed sets in. Afterall, we expect to live to 75 or so, rather than 45 or 50. And most of our kids won’t die by age 4. You don’t need to get married to be accepted by society, nor to cook and clean, which were both much more difficult and time consuming just 70 years ago. So what’s left? How do you do the 2002 equivilent of quiltmaking? You look damned sexy! Appearing to be talented at getting the wick out of the candle is way easier than taking tons of cooking lessons. It’s kind of the easy way out, although it can go too far if women expect to be catered to without putting in any effort other than looking desireable. A flat stomach also shows you don’t eat and eat and eat and probably are pretty physical. Good for sex and ultimately pushing out that next package of replicated DNA! So much for the sermon. I’m sure the men around you are happy watching you stride into the office, grocery store or gym, without the whore attire. Afterall, a confident woman, pleasant to look at, talented and who is not going to give me crap all the time is way better than a whore! ---
**Author:** ![whiteboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d6d6ee/32.png) [@whiteboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiteboy)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/76 "2002-07-05T01:23:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Slainte \* > \*\*[Help is on the way](http://www.usatoday.com/money/covers/2002-05-20-gap.htm) \*\* Coming from your resident, oh so trendy teenage boy, it doesn’t matter what they do to the clothes. The BRAND is out of style. You heard it here first, Old Navy / Gap OUT, American Eagle / A&F IN. You’re so very welcome, my lovable square friends. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2002, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/77 "2002-07-05T01:49:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by shrew \* > \*\*They’ll pry my cutoff (mid thigh) khakis and old softball t-shirts off my cold dead body. I am not wearing hookerwear. > > And to teach in? Well, the Maude section hasn’t lured me in yet, but I manage in regular khakis, corduroys, linen button downs, and the like. \*\* Shrew, tell me more about your cutoff khakis. I killed the knees on two pairs this year (working with preschoolers involves a lot of crouching) and I wondered if I could make them shorts… did you hem where you cut them, or just let it fray like you would jean cutoffs? ---
**Author:** ![Aphthartadocetist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba8739/32.png) [@Aphthartadocetist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aphthartadocetist)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2002, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/78 "2002-07-06T19:47:32Z")
OK, this one’s a bit long, but bear with me… around and have fun for MUCH longer before the need to breed sets in. Afterall, we expect to live to 75 or so, rather than 45 or 50. And most of our kids won’t die by age 4. You don’t need to get married to be accepted by society, nor to cook and clean, which were both much more difficult and time consuming just 70 years ago. So what’s left? How do you do the 2002 equivilent of quiltmaking? You look damned sexy! Appearing to be talented at getting the wick out of the candle is way easier than taking tons of cooking lessons. It’s kind of the easy way out, although it can go too far if women expect to be catered to without putting in any effort other than looking desireable. A flat stomach also shows you don’t eat and eat and eat and probably are pretty physical. Good for sex and ultimately pushing out that next package of replicated DNA! So much for the sermon. I’m sure the men around you are happy watching you stride into the office, grocery store or gym, without the whore attire. Afterall, a confident woman, pleasant to look at, talented and who is not going to give me crap all the time is way Fashion is all about each generation forming a WE group. As behavior goes, it’s getting harder and harder to offend your parents. Turning Protestant, dancing, Punk music, piercings, interracial dating have all come and gone as one generation or another’s way of expressing their sense of self but not totally being shunned from society (like by having illegitimate children, becoming criminally inclined, cultivating a drug habit or AIDS). The current skin fashion upsets older people who no longer or perhaps never were capable of expressing themselves in this way. It’s also fun and enpowering in a narcicistic sort of way. Also, as things get easier in society, women no longer have to show how well they can sew, cook, haul firewood and endure winter to snare a husband. We can screw better than a whore! ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/79 "2002-12-10T22:46:52Z")
Like[\*\* Angel of the Lord\*\* I cannot find shorts for anything, and am down to one pair of white denim shorts, one of the few things i own without a _vivid_ onkstain. I may cut a pair of black jeans if i cannot find anything else. ---
**Author:** ![anya\_marie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@anya\_marie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anya_marie)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2002, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541/80 "2002-12-10T22:49:57Z")
a vivid inkstain And I even have my glasses on today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-wanted-to-dress-like-a-prostitute-i-would-shop-at-the-ho-store/112541.md?page=5)