Dressing for who

Why do women spend hours over what to wear,how to look etc.Do they dress for comfort or do they dress to please others or is there something like dressing for oneself.I for one dress for comfort,to feel confident and yes to feel good about my self.If others approve so be it.Sometimes we dress for the occasion.All in all the decision takes some considering.
I wonder why women in Islamic countries dress up.In most of the middle east one will find that women spend money on designer wear and the best of cosmetics and all for what.They are well covered with only their eyes showing so why bother.Frankly I would love to dress like them.What bliss to be able to throw on a t shirt and shorts and the bhurka and ready to go.Who is to know.
This afternoon the discussion was on the same subject.Some of the women felt that it was a waste of time to spend so much time and effort when no one could see what one was wearing.The other woman thought that they were making an effort to look good for their husbands after all that was accepted.As usual I wondered aloud if they had ever stop to think that these women loved beautiful things and liked to look beautiful for that simple fact.They were dressing for themselves,they were being who they were and not what someone wanted them to be.The shocked looks that the well healed women threw in my direction was a sight to see.It never occurred to them that it was possible to dress for oneself.Prejudice I thought,here we were educated women so caught up in the media brainwashing of how women in Islamic countries are kept in the shadows and not allowed to express themselves.Here was a classic example of uncovered women who could only think of pleasing their husbands or society and on the other hand were the covered women just being themselves.So who is liberated I wonder.Ponder the thought