What Do Our Clothes Say about Who We Are or Who We Think We Are - Coursework Example

What Do Our Clothes Say About Who We Are Or Who We Think We Are? How Does The Way We Dress Communicate Messages About Our Identities? Introduction In his book Fashion, Culture, and Identity, Fred Davis sets out to find answers to various intriguing questions in what has been considered to be a provocative look at what people do with their clothes and exactly what that can do to them. Among the questions that Fred Davis asks include those concerning what clothes can do about who we are or what we think we are, how the way one dresses communicates messages about his or her identity whether the desire to be in fashion is universal or whether it is unique to the western culture. Additionally, the author raises concerns about how fashions change (Davis, 1992). It is worth noting that both people and culture have in the past and still continues to leave a mark on clothes people wear. What this basically implies is that people and culture in this current age leave the strongest impact on somebody’s style in addition to presenting an individual’s identity in the best way possible. To this regards, this study will seek to analyze various questions like what our clothes say about who we are or who we think we are and just how we dress communicate messages as regards our identity (Wolfendale, & Kennett, 2011). Additionally, the study will seek to find what identities is and the role that clothes play in the creation of identity while employing the use of two examples from fashion to clearly make illustrations. Fashion and Identity Fashion Fashion can be generally understood as a currently popular style or practice especially as regards clothing, foot wear or accessories. Fashion can also be said to be a reference to anything that is the current trend not only in look, but also the dress up of an individual. An interesting aspect of fashion would be costume which has publicly been linked with fashion. However, it would be worth noting that while costume may basically imply to things like fancy dress or masquerable wear, fashion on the broader sense basically refers to general clothing and its study. Identity Identity in the context of social sciences has been employed to offer a description of the conception and the expression of an individual. From a review of numerous literature on the subject, it is evident that the term identity has been employed and more specifically in the field of psychology and sociology where the term has been widely employed with respect to place identity. While from the psychological perspective identity may relate to self-image as regards the mental model of an individual in addition to self-esteem and individuality, gender identity forms an integral part of identity in psychology and determines to a large extent an individual’s views to him or herself either as a person and to a large extent also regards the other people, ideas and nature. Consequently, identity in the context of cognitive psychology refers to the capacity for self-reflection and also the awareness of self. Fashion and Identity For long, most people put some messages mostly on the differently types of clothes worn with some wanting to stand out from the crowd by being different from others especially on how they dress. It should be understood that it is the popularity of this stand out hence being followed by more people which further led to the emergence fashion. However, the unique aspect of this is the fact that any type of clothing wholly depends on the individual wearing it which to a large extent becomes a reflection of an individual’s perception of himself hence a justification of the term personal identity. Davis in the book in as much as most individuals assume to be individual preferences argues there need for deeper reflection on social cultural forces. Additionally, he postulates that ours is not but an ambivalent social world that is constantly characterized by tensions over the roles of gender, issues to do with social statues and the expression of sexuality. Owing to this, making predictions about what people will wear has continually become a risky gamble owing to the existing link between ones private self and public persona which can be so unstable. Therefore, it is evident that the clothes one wears can go a long way in showing the culture to which an individual belongs, the social statues of an individual and other aspects like the kind of music and individual listens to (Wolfendale, & Kennett, 2011). On the other hand, the choice of an individual’s clothes have the ability presenting an individual’s unique self while also communicating that very important first impression. All in all, it is worth appreciating the fact that as opposed to passing judgment based on an individual’s clothes, we ought to enjoy the creativity and the individuality of the clothing choice of an individual. Fashion as communication The recent past has seen the world broaden their view as regards how people define communication. As opposed to the past when communication was only defined in the context of verbal communication, the recent years has seen the definition broaden to other forms like art, music, poetry and dance. To this regards, the body has become a tool for not only creating, but also conveying and representing messages. However, it must be understood that by the body being an instrument of communication, we will analyze the nonverbal aspects which brings fashion into perspective. Just like the other forms of communication, fashion also has its own grammar which comprises of its unspoken rules regarding what matches, whatever is appropriate and whatever to wear under certain situations and whatever is acceptable and that which is not acceptable. Additionally, just like the other forms of communication with different accents and dialects, fashion too has its own language and dialect. Just like the normal communication where there are formal and informal means of communication, fashion similarly plays the same role. Certain outfits, hair styles or using certain types of make-up may be appropriate for certain times and places while also being offensive at others. Instances where a good impression is required like in an interview setting cannot be achieved by wearing mini skirt, high heels and heavy eye shadow. Therefore, passing out the desired impression is just as important as finding the appropriate words to pass out a given message. Just like in normal grammar where there is breaking or rules, it is worth appreciating the fact that fashion has equally had its equal share of most people stepping outside the norm just to create something that is different and unheard of resulting from the latest trends on the street (Wolfendale, & Kennett, 2011). However, there are certain rules in fashion that are not acceptable like women walking topless and men walking around without pants on. Consequently, other cultures like the Amish and religious Jews have in place very strict dress rules that cannot be broken. More often than not, the rules stem from deeply rooted religious beliefs and always aim at serving as a form of identification for a particular group of individuals’ members of a given community (Froemling, Grice, & Skinner, 2011). Just like Alison Lurie rightly puts it in her book The Language of Clothes, “In dress as in language, there is a possible range of expression from the most eccentric statement to the most conventional.” A great example would be woman who is not capable of properly constructing sentences and stringing together words incongruently have a higher possibility of also having deranged and with outfits similar to the speech. Additionally, she may be characterized with having mismatched and random articles of clothing and messy hair an explication of insanity. It is therefore evident that whatever one wears instantly portrays the gender, the age or class and could also communicate about one’s profession, ethnicity, mood and background. If fashion is a language, then we would be justified to conclude that clothing is the actual medium through which the messages are sent to other people (Wolfendale, & Kennett, 2011). The truth remains that most people dress with than intention and in disregard to whether the message others receive was what was intended or not. Another aspect worth considering is that while a designer may a given intention for creating a cloth, and an individual buys it with another intention drastically changes the meaning that was put into clothing during production. Therefore, all clothing send a message whether intended or not and it expresses every aspect of an individual hence in order for people to respond to ones expectations, then it is important to understand the representation of an individual and what is communicated through what is worn. Discussion To have a better understanding of the subject under discussion, we will employ the use of two examples to further understand fashion. The 1950s was mostly influenced by film, television, magazine and rock music scene which then created a new market segment called teenagers. The teenagers mostly with cash from paid work formed not only their fashion, but also music, cafes, own milk bars and even their own transport mainly in the form what was popularly referred to as scooters. Amongst what the teenagers dominated in included style in clothes, haircut and their travels abroad. Back then, this teen offspring was viewed as rebellious which when closely considered was what was referred to as anti-fashion and anarchic movement though innocent. It was evident that the influence of American on European teenagers was huge with the likes of Elvis Presley, Bill Hayley, Marlon Brando and Jerry Lee Lewis setting fashions that were almost unwittingly with the main popular looks back then being greasers and preppies (Froemling, Grice, & Skinner, 2011). The Greasers were mostly characterized with the standard black leather and denim jeans looks that had been set by Marlon Brando in The wild One (1953) which was latter emulated in the 1978film titled the Grease where there habit of racing about town on motorbike was considered outrageous. The qualities associated with Preppies were not only neatness, but also tidiness and grooming with the girls wearing dirndl or circular skirts marked with large appliqués on their clothing. Another notable feature was the fact that their pleated skirts were made from a new fabric that was referred to as Terylene (polyester) that was helpful in helping to maintain the razor sharp sunray pleating. Additionally, the skirts were supported using bouffant paper nylon or neat petticoats with the teens wearing scoop neck blouse with back to front cardigans and tight polo necks or three quarter sleeve white fitting shirts which often had scarf knotted cowboy fashion at the side neck (Wolfendale, & Kennett, 2011). The clothing fashions whose origin was in America latter spread out to Britain though in watered down fashion. Conclusion In conclusion, it is evident that clothing serves various functions with the most common being that it is worn for modesty mainly to protect the body against environmental elements and also provide comfort. However, the recent past that has seen clothing serving as a way of communicating with others has proved to be intriguing. Clothing allows one express parts of themselves that they want one to see while also revealing different aspects of their character every day. Just like verbal language is able, fashion has shown capability of evoking emotion, telling a story, conveying a message, revealing an identity and could also communicate a sense of belonging to a given community. Therefore, just like Luria postulated, fashion is indeed free speech and constitutes one of the privileges of not always one of the pleasures of a free world. Reference List DAVIS, F. (1992). Fashion, culture, and identity. Chicago, Univ. of Chicago Press. FROEMLING, K. K., GRICE, G. L., & SKINNER, J. F. (2011). Communication: the handbook. Boston, Allyn & Bacon ROACH-HIGGINS, M. E. (1995). Dress and identity. New York, Fairchild Publ WOLFENDALE, J., & KENNETT, J. (2011). Fashion: philosophy for everyone : thinking with style. Chichester, West Sussex, Wiley-Blackwell. . Read More