[vxf111]

I made a very strange observation, randomly.

The Dover catalog has 3 types of photos. Some are clearly provided by the manufacturer and the model is wearing head-to-toe that manufacturer's merchandise. Some of "action" show shots of famous riders with particular items of apparel/tack.

And then most of the photos are clearly taken BY Dover. It's the same models and you see them wearing more than 1 manufacturer's merchandise. As best as I can tell, in these shots, NONE of the female and child models have any jewelry or any type on. No earrings, necklaces, watches-- and NO RINGS. But if you turn to the men's section, there's one thing all these photos have in common. Every single man is wearing a wedding band. Some also have watches on. But they ALL have wedding bands.

This can't be an accident, and it's clear Dover has a professional photography team in charge of their catalog. So what does it mean? Dover believes its main demographic to be unmarried women and married men? That's odd...

[Long Spot]

When a woman finds a guy to marry who also rides she demands a horse instead of a ring? And since she found a guy to marry who gives her horses instead of jewelry she makes sure he's tagged for the world to see?

Totally kidding, of course.

I can't say I've ever noticed that. Now I'm super curious how you noticed!

[vxf111]

When a woman finds a guy to marry who also rides she demands a horse instead of a ring? And since she found a guy to marry who gives her horses instead of jewelry she makes sure he's tagged for the world to see?

Totally kidding, of course.

I can't say I've ever noticed that. Now I'm super curious how you noticed!

The train of thought (internal brain dialog) went like this...

:: photo of man on horse::

God, why don't people wear gloves these days? It really completes the picture.

Well, if he could get gloves on with that honkin' big watch.

Gee, why's he wearing a huge watch anyway?

::looking at other photos on the page::

Gee, several of the male models are wearing watches?!

And rings...

::scan of all the male photos::

They're ALL wearing wedding bands, each and every one

::flip back to the ladies section::

No watches, no necklaces, no earrings, no rings either

::headscratch::

Who does Dover think "we" are, exactly??

[JGHIRETIRE]

ROFL - excellent train of thought!!

The train of thought (internal brain dialog) went like this...

:: photo of man on horse::

God, why don't people wear gloves these days? It really completes the picture.

Well, if he could get gloves on with that honkin' big watch.

Gee, why's he wearing a huge watch anyway?

::looking at other photos on the page::

Gee, several of the male models are wearing watches?!

And rings...

::scan of all the male photos::

They're ALL wearing wedding bands, each and every one

::flip back to the ladies section::

No watches, no necklaces, no earrings, no rings either

::headscratch::

Who does Dover think "we" are, exactly??

[jawa]

My DH doesn't ride, but I had horses prior to our dating and getting married. He has always supported my "habit", even to the point of getting me a horse trailer when we got engaged instead of a diamond ring.

My thoughts were that I could move my horses around a lot easier with a trailer than a diamond, and who was I kidding, I knew I get the diamond eventually.

[Xanthoria]

My guess: Women buy stuff from Dover. They show married men because women buy breeches for their husbands.

They show single women because it reminds women of their free-er youth, and they don't want to alienate unmarried women.

[tangledweb]

I think your science might be being undone by the sample size. Given there are only about six pages of menswear in a 200pp Dover catalog, they probably only needed to specifically commission about 8 photos of men, so they were probably all one photoshoot.

[ThirdCharm]

Married men buy horses for their girlfriends, they were too smart to marry horse gals!

Jennifer

[vxf111]

I think your science might be being undone by the sample size. Given there are only about six pages of menswear in a 200pp Dover catalog, they probably only needed to specifically commission about 8 photos of men, so they were probably all one photoshoot.

I know the catalog isn't all shot at once. Some of those photos have been in the catalog for years-- both men and women (the girl riding in the Mountain Horse coat has been a repeat photo for nigh on 5 years and there's a man in TS that's been running for years too as has the girl in tights holding a corgi- whereas all the Ariat photos seem newish to me) so it's true there are many fewer men's photos... but that fact that all the photos, even ones shot at a different time, show the wedding rings suggests to me that it's intentional.

And usually when you model, they tell you to take off your accessories/jewelry-- they want to style you. One female model in the catalog I quasi know (FofaF) IRL and she is married and wears a ring IRL. She does not have one on in any of the photos. Which suggests she was actively told to take it off?

I really don't think it's an accident. The catalog is full of photos shot all different times-- some which had run for years-- others are new. No rings on any women. Rings on all the men?!

[bits619]

My DH doesn't ride, but I had horses prior to our dating and getting married. He has always supported my "habit", even to the point of getting me a horse trailer when we got engaged instead of a diamond ring.

My thoughts were that I could move my horses around a lot easier with a trailer than a diamond, and who was I kidding, I knew I get the diamond eventually.

LOL! Ain't that the truth...! I've made it clear that engagement horse is totally preferable to a ring. But at the same time- sometime down the road, i'm sure one of the anniversary presents would include some bling.

[JumpQH]

Just a quick comment about jewelry - I NEVER wear jewelry when I'm working with horses. Rings interfere with reins for me, plus I'd hate to lose or break something!

[mvp]

It means that Dover is homophobic and wants to make clear to all male buyers that straight men wear their stuff. They do that because so many male professionals in the h/j world are gay.

Just crossing their conservatives Ts and dotting their old-fashioned I's so as to be sure to offend absolutely no would-be buyer.

I can't account for the no jewelry on the female models unless its SOP for models to show up at shoots without jewelry and Dover isn't supplying any.

[vxf111]

My guess about the no-jewelry is that none is being sold and it looks cleaner/less distracting/more workmanlike to have none on. Which is why it seems particularly intentional that the men have some.

[danceronice]

Huh. The point about models not being allowed personal jewelry (either gender) is true-the model is essentially there to be a mannequin with real skin and hair who can change positions, they're not supposed to have a personal style. So there's a logic to the women and children models-they're selling the clothes and boots, not jewelry, they don't want anything that will draw the eye away from the product.

Which means yep, that almost has to be an editorial decision to have the men wearing wedding bands. Huh. Anyone done a comparison with SmartPak, State Line, or the other catalogs (assuming you can find male clothing with pictures) to see if they do the same thing with different models/companies?

[vxf111]

Smartpak= no jewelry on anyone, including the men. Men in English apparel 99% have their left hand in their pocket or behind their back (?!) Western dudes have their hands out, no rings.

Stateline= All stock photos or images of *just* the item, not on a person.

[evenstar]

Well, I've never looked closely enough to notice, but I would assume it's because Dover wants to imply that men who ride horses (at least in Dover-bought gear) are not gay.

I'm thinking that Dover cares more than anyone actually looking at the catalogue to order something they need.

[LexInVA]

Maybe it's because they know that the married men who ride are all having affairs with the unmarried women who ride?

[wcporter]

Um, gay mean can wear wedding bands....and many of them now do.


And I didnt notice the wedding band thing, but did anyone else catch the terrible photo shop job on page 40? The bit is hovering next to the horses face! lol
(BTW - I'm assuming we're referring to the most recent catalog with the little spotted pony on the cover..?)

[vxf111]

Um, gay mean can wear wedding bands....and many of them now do.

No disagreement from me on that. But still... why only show wedding bands on the men?

My catalog came yesterday and has a child hugging a chestnut pony?

[Emryss]

It means that Dover is homophobic and wants to make clear to all male buyers that straight men wear their stuff. They do that because so many male professionals in the h/j world are gay.

Just crossing their conservatives Ts and dotting their old-fashioned I's so as to be sure to offend absolutely no would-be buyer.

I know married gay gents who wear matching wedding bands. I wonder if that occurred to the advertisers...