2. The Art Of Seduction
Online dating, unreasonably high standards, coma-inducing drinking and regretful mornings-after; Dating isn't quite what it used to be, that's for sure. If you believe the media, Disney movies have left women expecting a line of princes that tick every possible box on their impossible checklist as it coils onto the floor, while internet pornography has left men expecting...well...I'll leave it there. Is this too black-and-white? Possibly. Am I just bitter and cynical? Probably. But there's no denying that things used to be distinctly different, and much like everything else come with a touch of class and a side order of style. Mad Men shows us how in the 1960s the men dressed to impress with a sharp suit and tie, hair carefully styled and a splash of cologne that'd make their girl melt when he leaned in to kiss her. The women were attractive and demure, their feminine curves hinting at what might lie beneath rather than showing it off as they engaged a man in an evening of flirtation and fun. An evening out, be it the cinema, dinner or drinks came with a little more tension and edge, the thrill of the chase a defining part of the game. He might offer to light her cigarette as she made eyes at him over it, or she might just tell him with them that she liked the way he was doing things. An approach at a bar could be so much more than a drink, but with a certain, fallacious innocence. Without doubt there was far more opportunity for a gentleman in a sharp suit to charm the beautiful girl with a playful cocktail and such a stronger air of romance and inexplicable cool.