 According to Joseph , " Freakum Dress " is thematically similar to " Bills , Bills , Bills " ( 1999 ) and " Say My Name " ( 2000 ) , from the Destiny 's Child era . Ann Powers of Los Angeles Times noted that " Freakum Dress " celebrates showing off . Jon Pareles of The New York Times viewed the concept of the song as not merely having a nice wardrobe to entice men , but it also serves as " a means of self @-@ assertion . " In the song , the female protagonist pulls out her best dress to remind her potentially wandering mate of what he is leaving at home . <unk> Rosen of Entertainment Weekly added that Beyoncé also seemingly gives professional advice to women on how to hold a man 's attention in a long @-@ term relationship . She sings : " I think I 'm ready / Been locked up in the house way too long / It 's time to get it , [ be ] cause once again he 's out doing wrong [ ... ] Wear very skimpy clothes ... " . Joseph commented that in the song , Beyoncé is capable of wearing anything to keep her man by her side rather than dumping him . Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe added that after having <unk> her best dress , Beyoncé eyes other guys in dance clubs to make her own man jealous , in the hope of regaining his attention but she also makes sure that he really pays when he does her wrong . Beyoncé later refers to her " freakum dress " in " Jealous " , a track from her fifth studio album Beyoncé ( 2013 ) . 
