The Ultimate Body Language Book

The skirt hike is an interesting body language cue because it happens completely subconsciously with
little, and usually no awareness at all. It is so subtle though that only those looking specifically for it
will actually see it.
The “skirt hike” happens by fingering and play with the bottom ridge of the skirt. Other times, the skirt
hike happens in a more pronounced way by grabbing the bottom of the skirt and pulling it up a few
inches or more, to reveal more leg. This motion is usually done toward a man of interest and followed
by eye contact, but other times like the parade, happens as advertisement of the woman’s availability. If
she catches someone else notice this gesture which she isn’t interested in, she will quickly force it back
down and break eye contact.
Any gesture like the skirt hike that exposes more skin can be a sexual signal. We are all familiar with
the cliché scene in movies where the woman suggestively says that she’ll return in something more
comfortable. As always, she reappears in sexy lingerie. Most times, men don’t get such an obvious cue
of interest but women still remove clothing to peek interest. Removing a heavy shirt or jacket to be
more comfortable, or loosening buttons from a shirt, or even removing shoes or dangling the shoes
from the toe, all show comfort at worst, and interest at best. “Shoe play” is also a great indicator of the
level of comfort experienced between a man and women and is a way for a woman to get noticed
because movement draws attention. Movement is the opposite to the fear-freeze response when people
are scared. While in conversation, if the man does something to startle the woman, she’ll pull her shoe
back on in short order! It’s also a good way to measure a cold approach because she’ll slip her shoe
back on immediately if she doesn’t like the approach. She’ll make her displeasure more salient by
slightly or fully turning away, holding a fixed gaze with her friends or across the room or pretend to be
distracted. Her movements will also minimize so as to become less noticeable in the hopes that her
“male predator” moves onto new prey.
Chapter 13 - Courtship Signals
Loving Tight Jeans, Short Skirts And
Ornamentation Means You’re Shopping
Dressing sexy is not a sexual invitation by itself, but it does give us clues to the intensions and attitudes
present. In most cases, overt cleavage, short skirts and heavy make-up tells us that women are available
and shopping. Women who dress sexily all the time appear as non-cues though, because it is just what
they do. Their baseline says that nothing new is happening, although it does tell us something about
their general baseline, doesn’t it. These women appear “dressy” and always put together, but if we
notice extra dressiness, or as we shall see extra frills or “ornamentation” we know she’s probably
feeling receptive. Conversely if we see a lack of dressiness, we know that maybe she’s particularly
down and unreceptive. The research supports this. Women, at around the time of ovulation, will display
more sexually, they will break out their high heels, tend to dance more, talk more suggestively, and
even walk differently near ovulation.
In one such study by Martie Haselton and her colleagues of the University of California in 2006 it was
found that women chose more revealing outfits, and outfits containing more ornamentation when they
were close to their peak fertility. In other words, as women near ovulation, the most fertile phase, they
tended to dress “to impress.” This particular study had a panel of judges rate a pair of couples
throughout the women’s fertility cycle. This allowed the researchers to create a baseline by which
subjects could be compared to themselves. If they noted any differences in dress, they could then