Dressing For Others: Clothing as Communication
I’m a big fan of simplicity. I’m no Luddite, by any means, but I do prefer a simple, pared down life without too much stuff. Why? Because I find this frees up my time and energy for the things that really matter.
Because of my interest in simplifying, I read a lot of books, articles, and blogs on the art and science of the simple life. Recently, I came across a post online that discussed simplicity, clothing and image, so naturally my interest was piqued.
The post was short and sweet and at first go-round sounded like fabulous advice. But one little tidbit, buried in the middle of other bits of advice, gave me pause. Essentially the gist was this: You can simplify your life by choosing to dress for yourself and not other people. And how can you tell if you’re dressing for others? If you aren’t wearing now what you’d choose to wear on a deserted island, then you are dressing for other people.
On the surface this statement seems to inspire one of those sought-after “ah-ha” moments. The secret to a simple wardrobe is to dress for yourself. Gone is the anxiety surrounding what others might think of you. Gone is the endless pursuit of the approval of others. Be true to yourself…how liberating!
And yet…
What exactly is so wrong about dressing for others?
Does it really mean that you are not being true to yourself?
Let’s think about this for just a moment. Certainly, if you were alone on a deserted isle, you may eventually forgo the clothes wearing ritual entirely. Does it then follow that unless you choose to go sans clothing once back in the public eye that you are not being true to yourself? Seems a little silly, doesn’t it?
The fact of the matter is that there is this pesky little thing called context. The deserted island is one context, and your “regular” life is another. We’ve got apples and oranges here, folks.
We as humans are social beings with social conventions. In most parts of the world, wearing clothes is part of that social convention. However, when not around other people, many of those conventions are moot. Hence the reason why people rarely act 100% the same by themselves as they do with other people.
Ok, follow me here…
We are social creatures, and social creatures communicate.
And what is communication? According to Webster, it is A process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior.
Oh…my…goodness…could clothing possibly be a form of…communication? An exchange of information between individuals? Well, if clothing is communication, then just who are you trying to communicate with?
Yourself?
Ummm….no. Of course you dress for others. It’s part of how you communicate who you are and what your values are. It’s how you identify yourself with different groups (think Scottish tartans or uniforms).
Let’s go back to that definition of communication. Here we see that we are talking about a “common system“. In other words, to communicate you have to use a language that people will understand. Conversely, your goal is to be understood.
It’s getting interesting now, isn’t it?
Let’s detour just a moment and pick up the subject of art. An artist is attempting, through his artwork, to communicate a certain meaning or message to the viewer. He is expressing himself in a very visible way. And yet there are plenty of artists out there producing unconventional works that no one understands and no one will ever appreciate. Is it wrong that they are expressing themselves in the way that they feel most comfortable? No, of course not. It fills a need that they have to create. But since they are not communicating in a way that others will understand, misinterpretations are bound to happen. They are essentially speaking a different language.
In much the same way, dressing can be viewed as an art form, with each person as the artist of their own appearance. If the goal of dressing is to communicate, and communication depends on a commonality of symbols, then wouldn’t you want to use the symbols that express exactly the information you want others to know?
I see this as the meeting place between being true to yourself and dressing for others. Clothing is a form of communication, whether you mean it to be, or not. You can aspire to dress only for yourself, but why would you want to? Dress for others. Express yourself in the way you want to be understood. Communicate.
Jennifer Skinner
Go Back to the Home Page
Contact Jennifer
|
| |