The Reverse Ick thread…

[Firefly2009]

What inconsequential things (or not so inconsequential!) have you done to embarrass yourself and caused a partner or date to get the ick? Perhaps you got dumped or he was never seen again. or perhaps you died of embarrassment and just went into hiding.

Wore harem pants. (It was the early 90s)
A bit like this, but mine were brown with blue ditsy flowers on.
He told me that was the reason too.

I had an amazing date lined up and went out of my way to get well groomed for her. We were in a restaurant and in the middle of our main course she placed her knife and fork down, folded her napkin onto the table and simply said “I can’t do this anymore. From the side you look like an Alpaca.”

As you can imagine I was deeply hurt, even though it’s true. I am an Alpaca. I haven’t dated a woman since.

😂

Did you have the shoes too ? 😂

An ex-boyfriend told me about a year into our relationship that he nearly dumped me after one of early dates, when we watched a horror film at his house and I was being 'too silly'.

It actually gave me pause for thought, because I remember that date, and feeling like it was nice to be playful and ridiculous with a guy. I guess I felt like - oh, perhaps you're not really a long term thing, if I can't be me.

I broke up with him a few months later, and he was pretty sad about it. Who's silly now?

I had a good job and it hurt his ego. I literally saw his face expression change when I mentioned what I did. He had spent, like, 40 minutes telling me about his ‘start up’ up to that point.

(The start-up never got off the ground. He was all talk.)

Those harem pants are triggering my moth phobia

You've reminded me of a hideous episode when I was a student and for reasons I can't now really remember for about a term I adopted a edwardian gentleman's wardrobe, all cravats and tuxedos and patterned brocade waistcoats - think Marlene Dietrich meets YSL tuxedos with a dash of Oscar Wilde - except sadly I didn't really have Marlene's figure or Oscar's panache! It was the 70s is all I can say. Cooincindentally this was the term I was dating my first proper boyfriend who I was of course deeply in lurve with - until one day a beautiful velveteen smoking jacket in the local charity shop caught my eye and I wore it out to the pub with him, where he very earnestly took my hand and explained it was him or my wardrobe, he just couldn't be seen out in public any more with someone who perpetually looked like they were in a third rate touring production of the Importance of Being Earnest. Sadly although I had enough dignity and self confidence to accept there was no coming back from that and didn't sob and plead to him too much I did let a man's opinion change my fashion sense and the jacket went 😪wish I still had it tbh, I'd style it out today and DH would have to lump it!

@Shortpoet My dad refused to leave the house with me the one and only time I wore harem pants. He said he wasn’t going to be seen outside with me wearing my pyjamas 😂

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Pyjama shirts were briefly a thing in early 90s. Then for an ever briefer period so were pyjama bottoms. My sis misinterpreted the trend and got ready for a teenage disco in full matching men's pyjamas that she bought in a charity shop along with full makeup and styled hair. My parents completely lost the plot, lots of 'you are not going out looking like that young lady'. They smelt musty and were 1970s style.

Sorry slightly off point of the thread but the harem pants made me think of it.

A friend set me up on a blind date with her boyfriend's brother, I bought some sexy (to me anyway) red heels and he whined that I was wearing them on purpose to make myself taller than him. He was very sensitive about his height. He told my friend afterwards that I was fake and trying to make myself into something I wasn't ie a tall person 😂

In my 20s I put off many dates by having a PhD, a decent job and a car.

Imagine being on a date with a woman in nice heels and then seeing it as a personal attack on him!

What an absolute bellend! Lol

I was on a date with a man who knew I had a degree and professional job but then got the ick with me (and fully ranted at me over it) because in my free time I enjoy playing PlayStation and apparently it’s not appropriate for someone in a professional job.

What’s worse is that I put it down to him being a dick but there was a ‘turn off’ thread not that long ago on MN and I was shocked at how many posters said that gaming would be a big ick to them.
😢

My ex, who I'd been with for 3 years, started having an affair with the very young receptionist from his work shortly after finding out I'd gotten a new job that would mean I earned double what he did.

He dumped me, moved her in and they got a puppy within about 6 months.

I got a 4% pay rise just for passing my probation.

It's a def 'ick' for me as well I'm afraid. My H is autistic and had many special interest phases (triathlon, woodwork, 3d printing) and none of them gave me the ick except the 'Fortnite' phase. It gives me the ick now just to think about it (we're separated now).

Boyfriend got the ick with me when I got better GCSEs than him. It was the first time I’d ever thought that being smart and hard working would be a bad thing!
Never again did I ever go out with anyone who wasn’t as hard working or clever as me. I know that sounds big headed and it’s not, I’m not a genius or anything, but I hated at that moment where I felt embarrassed that I was clever.

When I was a teenager a rather attractive lad started chatting to me in The Body Shop. He tried to start a conversation based on what I was looking at, essential oils. I got nervous and went on and on, and on, and on about the delights of these oils. It's like I was the number 1 sales rep for them. Until he started not too subtly edging away from me.

I was dumped once by someone very outdoorsy who was appalled that I had never owned a fleece.

On a date with a arty farty photographer type, I told an anecdote about seeing a toddler ruin an art installation made out of sweets by diving on it. I told it in the context of- cute toddler's innocence skewers grown up's/artiste's pretentiousness. He recoiled back from the table and looked like he'd smelled an awful smell and that was that.

I remember wearing mean's PJ trousers in the 1980s, tucked into long boots. A complete stranger (male) tapped me on the shoulder in Covent Garden and asked if I was aware I was wearing men's paisley PJs. I said yes. He said, 'But why? Just why?' He was so baffled by it. He really wanted an answer and I couldn't give him one he approved of. He wandered away so confused.

I said I didn’t like the Big Bang Theory and he said, in all earnest, that we should probably break up.

I wore heels on a date with a man who was my height exactly, making him shorter than me on our date, which pissed him off.

He said I was "too much woman" for him and he dumped me. 🤣🤣