Discussion
Why does red scream sexy?
Red * Scarlet * Vermillion * Crimson * Ruby * Cherry
Is it conditioning? Because red is often put forward as the colour of love. Cast your mind back to any Valentines’ day display you’ve ever seen and, depending on the shop, it’s all red: roses, lingerie, helium balloons or cakes with red icing or red heart shapes in the decoration.
A heart, which pumps red blood is also red. Arousal makes blood rush to erogenous zones.
Is it linked to ‘Red Light Districts’: a term coined for the areas in big cities where people can engage with a sex worker? In Amsterdam, for instance, a red-light in a window/ on a premises would indicate that a prostitute was available for hire.
Red-light district — Wikipedia
A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theatres are found. … The term red-light district originates from the red lights that were used as signs of brothels.
Strippers, burlesque and other exotic dancers frequently wear red, or black and red.
Browse any sexy clothing ranges and you’ll see that red and black strongly represented colour wise. I’ve heard it quoted that red is the colour of underwear most frequently purchased by men for their lovers … and most frequently returned by the giftees for an ‘easier’ colour to wear.
I was brought up to think that ‘fast women’ wore red. Is this because it shouts “look at me!” and you have to have a certain confidence to carry it off?
Nature has an influence here too — redness or swelling often indicates in mammals that they are primed and fertile. Do we take from this that such a fertility message is projected by red clothing, and becomes a subliminal indicator that it’s wearer was “up for it”? In these enlightened times, we should know that what someone wears is no gauge of their receptiveness to advances, and certainly not permission!
I read a fascinating article recently by a high class call girl. She stated that a manicure in any other colour than pillar box red strikes the wrong note with her customers. Some of my friends were not allowed to paint their nails red in their teens, or wear bright red lipstick.
Red lipstick can be considered ‘classic’ — but it can also be considered tarty or sexually aggressive.
In my own relationship, if he admires my manicure, the other half of the sentence (left unsaid) is that would make your hand look sexy gripping my dick. Similarly if I apply red lipstick (unusual for me) his perky look conveys (unsaid) that he’s imagining me giving him a blowjob, with my vivid red lips around his cock! Lipstick was invented to mimic the full blood-flow to the lips caused by a woman’s high state of arousal/orgasm, so its message of ‘sexy’ is an intentional one based on the reaction nature has planted in us.
I feel no nearer to an answer to my question: why red is considered a sexy colour per se. Who doesn’t think of fast cars (Ferrari, Porsche) in shiny fire engine red as sexy? Also flashy, I’ll grant you, but aren’t we often drawn to that self assured, cocky, I-know-what-I-want-and-I’m-going-to-get-it attitude?
Does red subliminally say hot to us? Or danger? Aren’t most poisonous berries and fungi red to warn birds and mammals not to eat them? Are we subliminally drawn to the danger?
It depends on our culture of course, to the Chinese red represents luck (thus frequently used in decoration). Red also represents power — on crowns and robes worn by royalty. Research seems to show that the message given out by a male wearing red or owning red things is power, which many consider sexy.
Stop — Wait. The connotations of danger is projected using red in the medium of ‘signage’. But when a red ribbon is used as a presentation aid — it becomes the mark of a very special gift or a rosette for first place. In history many key documents / treaties were stamped and sealed with red wax and secured with red ribbon —giving the colour a connotation of importance and gravitas.
In my opinion this takes us full circle to those of us who like to show bravado or rebellion by walking a fine line or flouting the rules, red has an allure, quite possibly sexual.
So, when your lover deliberately dresses for you in shades of red, no matter whether the fabric is satin, lace, leather, latex, lycra or sequins, sit up and pay attention. They are possibly sending you a message of seduction, an invitation to be reckless, a signal that they’re feeling slutty or that the interaction is going to get hot … or maybe you just got lucky!
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