Despite the fact that we get a lot of ideas about fashion from browsing magazines/catalogs and observing people around us, I think our style as individuals is primarily a personal evolution since we ultimately make the choice about what to put on when we leave the house.
Here are a few questions.
However, what do you think is external reinforcement (not just external influences like the media, for example) is also part of what makes our personal style? For example, if you put on an outfit that you feel is very cute, but absolutely no one gives you positive reinforcement on it, are you more likely to continue wearing that outfit/type of outfit or would you consider rethinking its composition? Even if we think we make bold personal fashion choices, do you think we actually inadvertently tailor our personal style based on environment and that we take cues from others - spoken or unspoken - as part of our style evolution?
I think that personal style is heavily influenced by peer, family, coworker, and stranger feedback. Very few women who live in rural areas adore pencil skirts with heels, very few women living in nursing homes shop at Hot Topic, and very few female corporate lawyers wear Birkenstocks to the office. Peer group feedback - in the form of compliments, questions, looks askance, and outright insults - creates a loop of response, whether we acknowledge it or not. Positive feedback and acceptance help keep group-approved clothing and styles in heavy rotation. Insults and disapproval may provoke initial rebellion and over-wear, but for most of us these doses of negativity eventually lead to the removal of group-shunned clothing and styles from rotation.
Of course we DO dress for ourselves, and the choices we make about what we wear reflect our personalities and identities. In fact, how we dress is the one aspect of physical appearance over which we have total control: Every outfit is a choice, every purchase an act of power. Even when we buy trendy items because of peer pressure or groupthink, we still STYLE those items in our own ways and wear them on our own, unique bodies. I am certainly not saying that personal style is entirely dictated by the preferences of others.
But I do believe that we cannot help feeling influenced by how the people we encounter react to our stylistic choices. And while a small group may truly not care, and another small group may embrace criticism as encouragement and wear the disdained with pride, most of us will eventually mold our styles to fit within the comfort levels of our peers.
And that is NOT a bad thing. There is nothing shameful about dressing experimentally to see what reactions you can draw, or dressing to accentuate your favorite body bits in hopes of stirring up some compliments, or dressing for mutual comfort depending upon your companions. Dressing is a fluid, creative, expressive activity and shouldn't mean the same thing each time you do it. Now, if you feel like you are imprisoned by the expectations and tastes of your friends, family, lover, or coworkers, that is problematic. But there are always ways to dress around a problem and still express yourself, if you tap your latent creativity. Personal style is like a puzzle: You must work within constraints to solve it, but you can take your own path to your personal solution.
Do you agree that peer opinion influences personal style? Disagree? Don't care? If you feel that the tastes of others have shaped your own look, how much does their input influence your wardrobe choices? Do you resent it? Let me know what you think!
xoxo
G
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