My first essay in years was on who are we under our Clothes. This was an assignment the class was asked to write after studying a unit on Identity. In this peticular unit we talked about if what we wear actually tells others who we are? After much thought and discussion with other classmates, it was determined that clothes tell a lot of about someone. People dress certain ways for many different reasons and occasions. Just because we have to wear a uniform to work, doesn't mean that we are an uptight person. We tweak our clothing to fit needs. Whether it is social, work, peers, etc. With this being my first essay in years, I defiantly found benefit from revision. It is amazing how you can read something again after 2 months of English class and find many areas in which you have improved over the course. There is always room for improvement, but it is always rewarding to see growth.
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ORIGINALPeople choose clothing for many reasons. Some as simple as "to protect and cover", "to keep warm", or to avoid being arrested for streaking in public. The more common known reason would be to conform to societies expectations. Sometimes doing this we have a tendency of not revealing or loosing touch with our true identity and personality. You can't always tell a person by clothing alone, just like you can't judge a book by its cover, however, it can say a lot. Who are we under our clothes?
There are many reasons why people conform to societies expectations, one of them being your place of work. In some jobs you are required to dress to an image that identifies your position at work. People will wear certain styles & colors, business suits, Carhart, uniforms, etc., to identify them as a part of a group.
"Society, which the more I think of it astonishes me the more, is founded upon cloth.” Thus Thomas Carlyle in 1836. “Little less astonishing today is some of the cloth objects chosen by their wearers. But when such objects become, like uniforms, obligatory and regulated, with implications of mass value, they are irresistibly fascinating.” (Excerpted from Uniforms: Why We Are What We Wear, by Paul Fussell)
We are not always given an option to what we wear in the work world. Which leaves us wondering,” Is that person wearing that suit, an uptight person?” “ Are they a person of responsibility and/or power?” Or, “Are they just fitting the image?” They could be or maybe they go home and “rip” off their suits and put on those jeans they are most comfortable in. There is a lot of misleading of identity when you are out in public, when it comes to what people wear.
A person always looking for the newest, coolest outfit, with the newest, coolest accessories are often considered conforming to societies expectations. They want to be accepted by others so bad, that they will do whatever it takes to fit that image with their clothing. If the new Abercrombie & Fitch sweatshirt is $90, it doesn’t matter as long as it fits the image the person is trying to convey. There is an understanding that a lot of this begins at a very young age. Volunteering in the school system around young kids really has opened my eyes up to what has become a growing problem. The majority students are wearing name brands at very young ages. We as adults have enforced our ways of dressing onto our children, by buying clothes at Nordstrom, Macys, etc., and boycotting the more inexpensive stores such as Target & Sears because they don’t carry all name brands. Really, babies don’t care if their first shoes, say NIKE. So as we instill these beliefs into our children we are possibly opening up an issue that could continue on through their lifetime. Yes, it is great to get something nice to wear and feel good about ourselves, but are we doing it for the right reason or are we trying to fit in?
As children become adolescences it becomes a challenge to integrate with peers at school. Often children are grouped at school and socially separated in status by their clothing. This is a major contributor in peer pressure related problems. Most children want to "fit in" and be "popular". In order to achieve this station in school, children will dress in accordance with the "clique" they wish to be a part of. This problem only gets worse as they get older. Some children will dress in opposition to protest the popularity struggle. Even by doing this they are grouping themselves. It seems most people are either afraid to be themselves or uncomfortable being different. Other children dress to hide who they are because they are embarrassed of their selves. I decided to ask my 12-year-old daughter, who is in 6th grade, why she wears what she wears? I made sure to tell her that I want her to tell me exactly how she feels, and that there was no right or wrong answer. This is what she quoted to me. “I like to wear clothes that express who I am and ones that are more expensive, better brand, because it is most likely the “in thing”. When she stated the “in thing”, she used her fingers as to making quotation marks. I was a little surprise for she doesn’t always show that “attitude” when shopping for clothes. But as I contemplated a little deeper over her answer I remembered that adolescences quite often don’t tell their parents “everything” they are thinking. Truthfully, I do take my kids to certain stores to shop for their clothes, because I don’t want them made fun of at school. I just didn’t think they always caught on. It is a trap! Even as a 35 year old, I am still confined to social expectations.
As I did a little further research I found some quotes from Middle and High school students regarding how they feel about their selves and what they wear.
“I have been bullied about how I dress, and so have others at my school. I think that every kid in the world should be encouraged and treated with kindness every day of the year.” JORDAN at Evansville Christian School, http://www.courierpress.com/
“Female teenagers are very concerned with the way they look. They have the influence of all the models and movie stars. Female teenagers feel they have to look like the latest "hot celebrity." These young teenagers often believe that they have to wear a certain kind or brand of clothing.” CAMERON at Evansville Day School, http://www.courierpress.com/
Now we have to ask ourselves if how we dress really reflects our personality or are we trying to fit an image or “picture” that we think is acceptable to society? To answer this question, we have to ask that question of ourselves. From work clothes, to everyday clothes, from young kids to adults, we all are caught in the clothing trap to some degree or other. All we can hope is that we recognize this trap and try to find a way to be true to our identity.
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