That is understandable.
I read a survey done by a women's magazine back in the 80s that said that when women dress up to go out, 90% of women dress for the other women, not for the men. The implication was that a compliment on our appearance coming from another nice-looking woman is more reaffirming and we hold their opinion in higher esteem.
And as we all know men are pigs and will leer at cartoon characters, so their opinion doesn't really matter.

(Just kidding. Guys are so adorable when they fall all over themselves).
But a compliment from another woman has a lot of value. I don't think you were fishing for compliments, but it was the same sort of thinking when trying to decide what to wear. At least that's what I think was happening.