Don't leave it up to the guys to approach you. Be a flirt! Make the first move. Trust us, a guy will be so relieved that he'll usually flirt right back, buy you a drink or ask you out. But don't take our word for it, read real stories from real guys about women who have picked them up, successfully!
1. "One of the loves of my life walked by me and pretended to trip into my lap. A woman can do that and seem charming. If a man did it, he'd be a creep. But seriously, women have it easy. The actual line isn't so important. And it's not because guys only think about sex. It's just so rare that we're the ones that get the good lines. Just say anything!"
2. "In my experience, women's pick-up lines have usually been physical. Reaching by me for something with a slight (or firm) brush of her arm or breast, as though it's unintentional, works great at many levels. Hey, maybe it is unintentional. But I'd rather think of it as a pick up."
3. "This contact happened after extensive eye contact (read: after obsessive staring on my part). One woman walked up to me and said, 'So, are we going out or what?' She and I went on to date for almost a year and are still very close friends."
4. "This woman at a restaurant sent me a note via the waiter, to be delivered after she left, asking if I wanted to get coffee sometime and leaving her phone number. I loved it."
5. "I was at a party and this very attractive, stylish Midwesterner, with whom I had a torrid three-month relationship after, approached me with a mischievous look in her eyes and a glowing smile and said, 'You look like a real challenge.'"
6. "Not sure if this line is my favorite, or if it's because the woman who delivered it is so memorable, but she walked over to me at a friend's engagement party and said, 'That annoying guy over there seems to think I should meet you because we'd be perfect for each other.' We dated for four months, and I almost married her."
7. "'Hi' is a favorite—nothing quite as simple and direct as a friendly 'hi.' I've received that a couple of times at parties, shows."
8. "At a wedding, an easy line, and one that I've had success using as well as receiving is, 'Are you friends of the bride or the groom?' Obviously only for use at a wedding."
9. "As a photographer, I consistently get comments when I'm out shooting photos. Usually, the initial comment is about my camera—something like 'Now that's a big lens.' I know, that sounds like a double entendre. Maybe it is. Conversationally, it works."
10. "The best lines I've gotten have been at the park with my dog Marley. A dog at the park works all the time. I'm not talking about 'the guy with the cute puppy using it as a babe magnet' scenario either. My dog Marley is a very large German Shepherd mix with abnormally long legs. Women (as well as men) are always commenting on him. 'That's a big dog—what breed/kind/mix is it?' or something like that. Follow-up is real easy after that."
A version of this story originally appeared on iVillage.