Omg people. How about "I love your outfit." It is nice to compliment people. I care about my personal style and like when people notice. Sounds like she does too. Just say you like her outfit or say "you have such great style." You aren't going to offend anyone. Sheesh

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I felt so awkward when I complimented a woman's "dress", and she said "well it has another name".

That's when you respond, "Oh, I'm so sorry! What is its proper name? Thank you so much for telling me!"

and then you file away that piece of information.

But we just addressed above that it is "rude" to mention that the item is cultural. So if 2 weeks later you say, "Your sari is gorgeous" that is "rude"???


Or the person being complimented could just be gracious and say "thanks".

If I'm Jewish and wear a wig, when someone says "I like your hair", its not gracious to correct them by saying "Umm... its a wig... I'm Jewish and don't show my hair."

I think "that's a great color!" Is fine even if you're a man. But when you veer into "it makes you look beautiful" or "you always look so good", it comes across as creepy if you are a hetero man (and maybe if you're a lesbian woman--I think the latter would depend on other context).
Guys I work with compliment my clothes pretty regularly and it's fine because they don't do it in a creepy way. One guy asked where I got my shirt so he could get one for his wife.

Stick to complements about ...Work. "great presentation! Etc. This goes double if you are a superior of either gender or a man.