Use of Psychology in Fashion Essay

How does somebodies attire effects other people’s judgments of them? More specifically, how does attire of women influences others judgments? These are questions that take root from evolving problems in the world today. It is hard to give an honest answer because it is an opinionated argument. However, appropriate attire policies is a growing problem for society, there is a growing demand for equality in male and female attire. The argument is expressed in an article written by Laura Bates called, “How School Dress Codes Shame Girls and Perpetuate Rape Culture”. The problem is that women are expected to dress in a way that is socially acceptable. Socially acceptable means that, females must dress in a way that protects and covers the female anatomy. This argument that Bates explains, expresses a pathos appeal because you are allowed to understand the point of view of those who have been victimized by dress codes. The article also gives an ethos appeal because the article makes a person question their morale value. Questioning whether dress codes are equal or unjust and sexist. Reading the argumentative peace it is obvious that Bates stands against sexist dress codes.

Clothing today is seen as easily assessable and creative, but that was not always the case. We are lucky to live in such a modern world of clothing. Over the course of time, the development of clothing has changed drastically as well as the style.

During our life we construct many different identities of who we want to portray ourselves as to the rest of society; fashion plays a vital role in generating who we are. With the ideas from Storry and Childs they state that “the way that we dress can either serve to confirm or to subvert various facets of our identities, such as our gender,

        Clothing and appearance send a message to everyone, sometimes they can communicate our occupation, or in some cases an occasion we are celebrating. Clothing can communicate about some one's socio-economic status, as well as our values, and character. In some religions, people are clearly recognizable by the way they are dressed.

“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.

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:

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

Fashion is an art that has influence mankind throughout human history, and it has played an important role in shaping society. Beauty has always been a motive for men to do something radical for women in order to be noticed. Both beauty and fashion have always been key elements to an artist’s paintings and other works. Fashion has always changed throughout history and it will continue to do so as long as people continue to live on the earth. Humans possess certain characteristics that separate them from animals, and clothing is one of those features. Clothing has kept mankind warm through harsh winters, and cool during blistering summers. Basic clothing allowed people to advance further into the future, then they decided that clothing could be used to portray beauty.

“Real style is never right or wrong it’s a matter of being yourself on purpose,” G. Bruce Boyer. A person may wake up and try one set of clothing then another, and they are just not feeling it. By the time they notice, everything they own is on the bed or on the floor instead of hanging neatly in their closet. Clothing is connected to the person’s personality, mood, and memory, and it conveys in its own language, a message to the wearer and their audience. Hence, some days it is easier to select clothes and other occasions it appears as if there is nothing to wear in the closet. However, through purpose, thought, and choice, clothes gain entree into the person’s closet.

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

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.

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.

1. Go to a public place and OBSERVE the community of people in that place for at least 30 minutes; perhaps as long as 60 minutes. In your report, describe the setting and note the date and time of your observation. Describe the element of “community” that you observed.

To gain knowledge of how we communicate to others through the way we dress, we have to first understand what identity is. Identity is what we choose to represent ourselves as, be that a gender identity, a sexual identity; it is completely up to the individual as a person to make that choice. Identity forms the basis of one’s pride and being accepted socially only adds to that ego and integrity. The psychology of the matter is the way we dress is more or less based on our moods, habits, inspirations, past, present and future. The character of a person is reflected in the way that they dress, Clothing can act as a simple glance into someone’s life, as we are already know that different clothing can represent different means of culture; Clothes are used a language to communicate with society and to commonly let them know what you want to be viewed as.

Everyday, we see hundreds of people. Whether we see them on the street, at work, at school, or on television, people pass through our visual field. Fortunately or unfortunately, we judge these people. It may be intentional, it may be unintentional, or it may be somewhat intentional, but we form opinions about people based on their style of dress.