All these dressing styles are
categories of their own, however, they can be mixed and matched leading to sub-categories
which in turn create more specified sub-categories of their own!
The results and outcomes are limitless.
I, for one, am the sophisticated
and sporty, with a hint of trendy and a sprinkle of preppy.
If you were to portray yourself
through your clothing and your clothing only, how would it speak for you?
Today, we see more then ever, the
array of ways we can choose to express ourselves.
Clothing, nonetheless, has been a
staple way to demonstrate our constant shift in emotions.
If we are feeling joyful we find
clothing that portrays this; maybe an expressive T-shirt the color of sunshine
and pants with patterns of flowers. If we feel gloomy we do the same; we wrap ourselves
up in XXL sweaters the color of cadavers, sweatpants, and a pair of fuzzy socks
to keep the blues out.
Not only do we express our
emotional state of mind, but the brands of clothing we buy, show the world our
status. Do you buy Emilio Ferragamo, Tory Burch, Urban Outfitters, Forever 21,
Goodwill or Salvation Army?
It is automatically assumed that
those buying high end brands are wealthy to affluent, those buying commercial
brands are middle class to lower-middle class, and those buying hand-me-downs
are un-favored to being extremely limited.
Here, it is practically human
nature to organize ourselves and others into categories we wish to place
ourselves and others in.
If their clothing expresses a
certain idea to us, we automatically accommodate this information into current
schemas of what being rich, average or poor is.
What an unfortunate thing to assume
others are anything but human.
Yet, we unconsciously judge others
on trivial aspects such as these.
In a more macro- overview of our
current world, this is also done.
We judge others on the products
they buy and the clothing they wear and label them in several ways:
Bad or good
Animal lovers or killers
Republican or democrat
Affluent or poor
Etc., etc.
Its easy to forget, however, that
with the desire to express yourself through your clothing and other things, you
must be at some economic level stable enough to sustain a changing emotionally
expressive lifestyle and people’s perceptions of you.
If how we dress is really who we are and who we wish to show
the world, given the fact that we have a way to afford this, who are those who
cannot afford to express themselves the way they want to? Is it fair to place
them under a label they did not create for themselves?
For instance, I remember when I was
a little girl I was told I was pretty. I was constantly conflicted whether to
consider this a compliment or an insult because I believed I was strong and
that is what I wanted to demonstrate to the world. Though my clothing was not
as expressive here (due to the fact that my mother would dress me) my actions
during recess were suppose to compensate for this. I would cross the monkey
bars back and forth hundreds of time, I would jump rope like no other kid on
the block, I would run at the speed of light and bet all the boys I could beat
them.
Nonetheless, I was placed under a
category I did not choose: pretty.
If I consider how we judge others
today based on what we see, I feel a petty about how we have chosen to give
others labels they would not consider themselves.
Should we consider those who choose
more limited circumstances less fortunate? Is that what they portray themselves
as? Or are they the penniless fortunate people who fall off the spectrum of
judgment over trivial aspects.
We should bring in awareness as to
what we consider others, our words today more then ever have such a huge impact
that calling people ‘needy’, ‘less fortunate’, ‘poor’, makes them seem like
money is all they need to find a way out of these labels and categories.
The richest men in the world could
be poor as well- emotionally, sympathetically, through their absence of
kindness or love.
Money is of such importance now
that we even found ways to categorize people like clothing styles.
Sad isn’t it?
In my opinion, Kindness makes you
the most beautiful person in the world, no matter what you look like, what you
wear, where you’re from, how much you have or who you are.
