Peacocking

Who would you be more likely to look at in a crowd: the guy dressed in a plain white shirt and tan khakis or the guy dressed in the flashy floral shirt?

I had never heard of peacocking until I had looked at a website which mentioned it. At first I thought it would be a waste of time to write about it but looking back at some of the guys I’ve dated and some conversations I’ve had with women, I’ve noticed peacocking streaks here and there.

What is peacocking?

The peacock is a male bird that attracts its mates by unfolding its long, beautiful, gemstone-style feathers into a huge fan-style display. A peacock spreading its tail feathers is truly an awesome sight.

Peacocking in men occurs when a man wears some type of attractive or garish article of clothing which is designed to draw attention to himself and initiate conversations.

The downside is that it also opens the peacocker to jokes at his expense but this can also be turned into a benefit: those guys who make fun of peacock wardrobe are doing so as a sign of low self-esteem. The minute they open their mouth to make a joke, they put a LOSER sign on their forehead. But you still have to be able to take the heat of this ridicule and strut the wardrobe. Even if a comment is bad, it attracts attention and initiates conversation. A peacocker sitting alone is just a loser. Lastly, peacocking only works if there is one peacock in the crowd. I’ve noticed more guys with tattoos and more women with piercings all over their face: this is probably an attempt to peacock that is slowly becoming passé because now all the guys have ink and all the women have piercings – all these tattoos and piercings actually anti-peacock.

Peacocking is more than just attraction, it’s a value system. The less you conform in your wardrobe, the more you show yourself an independent and desirable person. You don’t care what others think about you. You can strut and be proud.

What to wear is generally up to individual tastes. A clown outfit is not going to work; some minor but eye-catching artifact works better. An old boyfriend of mine was a subtle peacocker: his peacock artifacts consisted of a small diamond stud earring, an earring in the shape of an eye, a beautiful tattoo on his leg, an ankh necklace, and this outrageous Hawaiian shirt that would stop people in their tracks when they saw it. We’d be out and sometimes as many as three or four people would stop at once asking him about his shirt. Each of the above items would be worn by themselves, not as a whole ensemble, so he would never mix earrings or his earring and shirt (with the tattoo, he would often cover it up with long pants and wear shorts when he wanted to display it).

Jewelry, a simple slogan or artwork on clothes, or an expensive piece of wardrobe can all act as simple peacock artifacts.