Dye my eyes and call me pretty

I feel like I may have broached this subject before, but I'm not entirely certain. If I have, I apologize.

In the cafeteria this morning, a man approached the woman next to me and patted her on the back. Thanks to our positioning, this brought his hand very close to my face. He had long fingernails. I don't mean oops-forgot-to-do-my-usual-Sunday-trim kind of long. We're talking just-had-these-babies-shaped-and-buffed-at-a-salon kind of long. Girl nails, if you will.

I was completely revolted.

This is weird on several levels. First, I'm not the kind of girl that pays attention to that crap. I like a pretty face and a hot body just as much as the next person, but my criteria for "attractive" is pretty loose* and, more often than not, based on personality. Second, and the impetus for this post, I typically find a little bit of cross pollenation downright sexy. Give me a guy with hoops in both ears (arguably a stereotypically feminine look) or wearing a kilt (let's face it, people: it's a glorified skirt) and my hormones start registering on the richter scale. Long hair on a guy can have the same effect, but dear sweet Jesus only if it looks good that way**. But long fingernails, which should be a logical substitute in the men+a touch of feminine styling=happy Renee equation, have the exact opposite effect. Why?

I find the subject of physical attraction fascinating. Why do certain features elicit a response for some people, but not for others? What drives those responses in the first place?

Care to share your thoughts on the subject or, perhaps, what quirky (or not) features have you picking someone out of a crowd?

*Incidentally, Dawn Metcalf wrote a really interesting post on a similar subject today. Check it out here.
**Thin, stringy, split ends? Not attractive. Greasy? Ditto. Long hair on a face that looks better with short hair? Cut it, baby! P.S. All of this ranting goes for girls as well as guys.