Divakaruni 's Illumination : The True Importance Of Clothing

Clothing has its own meaning in communication. We are being judged by our clothing every time we come in contact with someone. Human communication is accomplished by two ways, one third by words and the rest by nonverbal communication (Hickson, 1989). Clothes serve to be protection, social identification, sexual attraction, and many other services. Someone’s clothing can be different compared to others. Their clothing is based on their age, gender, occupation, personality, and values. According to William Thourlby, there are ten decisions that people around someone make based on their clothing along (Hickson, 1989). The ten decisions are:

After reading “The Myth of the Latin Woman: I Just Met a Girl Named Maria” by Judith Ortiz Cofer, the reader is able to see that her essay focusses on personal appearance choices which she has compared and contrasted with her own early-life experiences. Based on how an individual appears at first sight, it dictates how others socially judge and stereotype us beyond the “beauty” dimension. For example, an individual may think about what he or she is going to wear when going out to eat at a restaurant. If the individual is going to go Buffalo Wild Wings to dine, obviously he or she is going to wear an outfit that fits them in society’s social norms which is a basic t-shirt, jeans, and shoes. However, if he or she shows up dressed up

Black Robe presents the story of a French Jesuit missionary struggling to stay true to his religion while traveling from Champlain’s fur trading outpost to a Huron Native American mission in Nouvelle France during the 17th century. Father Paul La Forgue sets out on the 1,500 mile journey with members of the Algonquian tribe and a young Frenchman named Daniel Davost, determined to convert the “savages” to Christianity. Throughout the film, Father La Forgue faces the Algonquians’ beliefs that he is a demon, calling him “Black Robe”, and even abandoning him for a short period. Later, when his Algonquian guides and Daniel recover him, they are captured and tortured by an Iroquois tribe. Eventually,

“Clothes” is written by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni. It is a short story about an Indian-American woman, Sumita, who is about to embark on a new chapter of her life, marriage. Sumita, throughout the story, is nervous and confused about what is to come next in her life. The story begins in the women’s lake with Sumita and her friends, Deepali and Radha. The groups of friends are preparing Sumita for her big day, meeting her soon to be husband for the first time.

After Somesh is killed in a robbery, Sumita is dressed in a borrowed “White (sari). Widow’s color, color of endings” (271) and attending the bangle-breaking ceremony. Whereas, white is the color used in the west for brides and weddings signifying purity, white is the color of mourning and death in the east. The green or red bangle, which in the Hindu religion symbolizes safety and a happy, prosperous and long married life, is required to be worn by married women. As part of the mourning ceremony, the glass bangles are smashed, “so that the glass bangles I was wearing shattered and multicolored shards flew out in every direction (271).

The Maidu lived in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, in North Central California. They lived in villages with around two hundred people in them. Their homes were made from earth, bark and brush. The land provided animals and plants for them to eat. Everyone work clothes that were made from animal hide. Tools helped them hunt, build houses and survive. The Maidu Indians are an interesting tribe.

In conclusion, the way people dress is indeed important. It has been important from the beginning of the ancient times until today. As much as we would like to believe that Hans Christian Andersen’s interpretation of “dress is not what is important,” there is absolutely no way that this is possible for us. We are shallow as a whole. Much like the Emperor was in The Emperor’s New Clothes. Works Cited

Throughout time clothing has been an important part of individual’s lives often reflecting one’s culture and personality. People use clothing to express themselves and to help others see who they are. One particular group of people that uses dress as a way to express who they are and how they feel are black women. In the seventies black people were finally allowed to attend mostly white universities, although this was a huge step forward, black women did not feel like they fit in. Black women and men decided to turn to clothing and their appearance in order to find a sense of self in a world surrounded by whites. Tanisha Ford presented “Liberated Threads: Black Women, Style, and the Global Politics of Soul” explaining why dress matters to black

Clothing protects, decorates, describes and gives the first impression of a person. It acts as an external symbol of

Fashion reflects the attitudes of a society more than any other art form. Like art, fashion is a material record of the ideals that swayed the nations at the time of their creation. Through examining the styles, and tastes of a particular era, we can realize where the interests and priorities of a time lie. As Frank Parsons wrote in his 1920 study, The Psychology of Dress, "There is surly no better field in which to trace the devious paths of human thought than in that of clothes, where man has ever given free play to self expression, in a way which, thought not always a credit to his intelligence, is yet quite true to his innermost self, whether he will acknowledge it or

“BEFOR I CAN TALK TO YOU, PEOPLE SHOW THEIR SEX, AGE, CALSS, POSITION, WITH WHAT THEY ARE WEARING. ALL THIS IS REGISTERED UNCONCIOSLY“ Those words said by Alison Lurie in the language of clothes (1992), reflect perfectly the main point of my research. The society we are now living is an extremely conscious society regarding body image and the way we are presented to the exterior. We found an obsessive trend on wanting to look like celebrities by having certain items or looks and in relation to that a fear of not being percepted the tight way. This is where we found relation to how clothes are part of a conversation we haven 't started and are a form of expression. As there will be explained further on, we use clothes as a sign of our identity,as a way of representing ourselves and stand out from the crowd and also influence on how we appear in front of others making them (clothes) a huge part of our non verbal communication. This essay will discuss the ideas behind self -expression and the role of clothes has changed in that mater thought time.

In some countries white signifies purity and cleanliness. In others it is the color of royalty or deities. Sumita’s husband owns a 7-11 store in California. He is constantly having to work the night shift to try to earn extra money so that they can move out on their own. One night he is held at gun point and shot to death. To mourn his death Sumita wears a white sari.

Today, there are numerous researches that have been carried out in relation the influence of fashion on self-perception on different people. All these researchers are of the opinion that the way that an individual dresses has a major impact on his self-perception.

As stated before, psychology is a form of self-expression, and a form of visual communication. The way one dresses may put one in a fashion subcategory. These subcategories are thought of as a whole and are subject to judgment and discrimination of sorts. For example, a person with many tattoos and a vintage style of clothing may be viewed as a “hipster”, and hence the viewer may assume many things of the individual. The fit of garments say many things about oneself. Made-to-fit clothing on men in the business world is more respectable than non-tailored clothes. With women, skirt suits create the balance between attractiveness and masculinity in order to appear respectable, much more than the overly aggressive pant suit. One may see the effect of clothing when one researches on how to dress for an interview in order to make an impression upon the hiring manager.

Ever since their invention many centuries ago, clothes have been used as a way of communicating. The message communicated relies on a number of factors including the social background of both the communicator and the receiver, and the context in which the message is communicated. Although at times the exact message or symbolism one is trying to portray may not be clear, it is evident that clothing has long been embraced as one of the best ways to project one’s desired personal image to those around them.