By Leo Ward
Is quality what makes the outfit, or is it defined taste? Fashion is such a personal experience. So many things contribute to the way we dress our canvas, from trends to culture, height, weight, and even age.
From monochrome outfits to pops of colour, everyone has their own unique way of dressing, and it can say a lot about a person. But is an outfit only good if it’s expensive?
Image by ArtisticOperations
There is a large desire to brand your clothes, but why? It all stems down to meaning within society, a race to be seen as cool and important. The Guardian simply states that all brand fanatics are “morons” and they are “brand snobs” wanting to look cool, but is there a psychological aspect, or is it just a one-dimensional desire for appearance?
“Cultishly ubiquitous Emporio Armani” – Guardian
The Guardian used the word “cultishly ubiquitous Emporio Armani”, but I think that’s too harsh. I believe it all stems down to film culture, and capitalist advertising and in certain situations, the presentation of how hard you have worked your way up in life to become something people would say you would not amount to.
Sharron Hall, age 48, who works in marketing, says colleagues would be “really going over the top to dinner and feeling self-conscious”, so sometimes fashion is not a reflection of who you are but instead who you force yourself to be and using clothes to reflect your goals in the future, there’s nothing wrong with a brave outfit.
“Studies have shown that people often perceive individuals wearing designer clothes as more successful, intelligent – Ayerhsmagazine.com
When you wear what was just on the runway, you feel connected to that lifestyle that is displayed; it’s like the feeling of when you wear something, and then it becomes a trend, and it makes you feel noticed. But where do you draw the line between clothing snob and self-confidence?
”Logos has the power to evoke strong emotions and feelings of belonging”- Pause
When you come from a poor background and do well as an adult, the feeling of wearing something so highly wanted creates the feeling you belong where you are; it heals the wounds of when your family couldn’t even afford rent, the internet bill couldn’t be paid, or the house was in disrepair.
Clothes reflect who you are, but also who you wish people would see you as, so who are we to judge the brand lovers? If we still live in a classist world?
If people have wounds to heal, and clothes fill the void, then we should fix the issue that causes the void, not judge the outcome.
Clothes simply are the paint to our canvas, film uses colour and silhouette to show anger, fear and betrayal, Andy’s whole character development in Devil Wears Prada is based on her clothes, and clothes take that shape in life too.
Pause says that there is a connection between clothing and self-image, that it makes you stand taller and brighter. “Your clothes can transform your entire demeanour”, and I completely agree. If you’re wearing what everyone else has, you feel uniform with society, and when you wear what people can only dream of having, you feel tall, proud and a role model.
Image by tokatlian
Clothes aren’t just clothes; they are identity and armour of what you want to not be seen.
There is much that goes beyond cotton and linen, the colours we pick are based from the events of our life’s, it’s a symbol of your strength and character, not just anyone can wear hot pink in mid-winter, men who used to be overweight don’t just wear hoodies in summer because they are cold, there is always more beyond the eye.
Rose, 23, who studies at UAL, says clothes “can elevate and associate you with femininity”, so dressing is not only about your mind but also your DNA – we can see fashion in links to our family heritage, our gender and our lifestyle.
Sometimes life didn’t work out, but we still want to look like it did, and maybe you did hit the promotion and work, and you want to prove you did, there is always more beyond the eye, and fashion is a true example of that.
So, if people want to be plastered in brands, maybe it’s not a fashion choice, but a statement to those who doubted them.
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