Why do we dress the way we dress?
Class tomorrow………..
What am I going to wear?
A majority of people wouldn’t worry too much about how they look as long as they’re comfortable. Dressing for comfort is logical and easy because it doesn’t take much to accomplish a “comfortable look.”
But I am not talking about comfort. I am talking about why we dress the way we do when we go out with our friends, go to class, go to work, run errands, etc. Besides the fact that you’re going to a certain setting and you have to dress appropriately according to where you are going, you wouldn’t wear a tube top and mini skirt to your job at the movies, would you?
I am talking about when you decide to put on a certain pair of jeans with that top, paired with those shoes, that necklace, that belt, those earrings etc.
Why do you do that?
Because it looks cute, duh.
But WHY does it look cute? What about those pants are cute? There is no right or wrong answer. Depending on who you idolize and who/what you are surrounding yourself with plays a factor in why you dress the way you do. I went around campus and asked a few people the same question.
Their responses were:
“My mood that day”
“To be comfortable”
“I don’t care”
“It’s trendy”
“I want to look appealing for myself and other people”
“I want people to like me.”
These are all responses that I can confidently say I agree with. All of them and all of these things play a part in why I dress the way I do. If I am having a bad morning, you already know I’m rocking leggings and a giant sweatshirt with no makeup to class. If I am feeling good in the morning and I just bought a cute new sweater, then I will be looking cute with my hair and makeup done. Mood plays a huge factor. Dress in this situation is a form of communication and without it……. well, we would all be naked. Lol. But we use it to make sense and judgment about somebody without even talking.
“Because it’s trendy?”
What makes something trendy?
This goes back to when I said it contributes to who you idolize and surround yourself with. Social media has dramatically influenced our society in the way we dress. Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, we use these platforms to communicate with each other. Influencers that use these platforms and have a very large following are extremely influential. This will impact the way we dress because our society looks up to people who are idolized by other people. We can thank marketing teams for this one, but it truly impacts our style. We use each other as inspiration, and this can lead to why some girls dress the same. They don’t actually dress the same. Have you ever walked through campus and seen two girls wearing a denim jacket layered over a sweatshirt with leggings and sneakers? This is a cute and easy look that is currently trending among this age group of college women. We are all dressing similar because it is accepted and doesn’t draw too much attention to ourselves. As said in the interview, “I want to appeal to other people.” You want to look good, but not cause too much attention because some people fear judgment. This is why they decide to fall into the trends, but yet they still personalize the trend which differentiates us and causes those differences even when others think it looks similar.
Confidence. Most people have experienced putting on an outfit and everybody is telling them they killed it and look amazing, yet they’re still unsure about their outfit selection and just don’t feel good in it. This is because sometimes we just aren’t feeling ourselves that day. These emotions are normal. Our confidence plays a factor in what we wear because if we think highly of ourselves and embrace our bodies we will wear just about anything. Feeling uncomfortable in your body can alter your opinions on what you choose to wear that day. Fearing the opinions of others is a waste of time. The judgments from others are due to their own insecurities. Why let other people who aren’t even satisfied in themselves have an effect on the way you feel about yourself? Wear what you want, whenever you want. In my opinion, dress is a form of art and expression. Do not hold back, because when you dress good, you feel good.
WHY. There is no reason. You’re you. And you dress the way you do because you are your own person.We can be influenced, we can get inspiration from others, but we will still never be the same because we as individuals are all different which is why fashion is constantly evolving because people will always be changing and inspiring others.