The Thin Line Between Appreciating Fashion and Judging Through Fashion
Fashion and the way people choose to dress is very personal, the way a person picks their own style says a lot about their personality. Colors, garment styles and many other combinations speaks for many individuals about who they are or who they want to be seen as, especially during the COVID-019 pandemic where everyone’s faces and expressions are very hidden.
Whether we realize or not, how we dress is a form of the way we want to express ourselves towards others, dress to express as some people can call it. However, there has been a rising concern when it comes to trying to understand a person’s personality based on how they dress because most of the time people forget that there is a very thin line between trying to figure out what an individual is attempting to communicate to the perceivers through fashion and the very negative ideal that judges people based on what they are wearing or how they appear as to the rest of society.
Ever since the beginning of time, the purpose of fashion was to establish a certain perception of one’s self towards the rest. Most people viewed fashion as a tool to establish a certain reputation and status through their way of dressing, nowadays as our modern world continues to evolve, we use fashion as a more artistic aspect by appreciating design and construction processes as well as appreciating the person wearing it rather than what style they are wearing.
However, even in our modern times, people who want to make themselves known to be of a certain status will surely use fashion as a way to express this to others, while others may choose to express their own individual and unique personalities through the way they dress. Individuals choose fashion to help them communicate and express what truly is a very important meaning of fashion. Now, the thin line between trying to absorb what is being expressed from a person’s style and personality through their way of dressing and judging based on what fashion style someone has is crossed when us as individuals begin to make assumptions based on what kind of person they are in negative connotations, especially when we base ours from stereotypes. But how exactly can we catch ourselves and others doing this? A very important thing to watch out for is the words we use and the tone we address our own perceptions of people.
There is nothing wrong with trying to discover what specific interests or styles certain people have. In fact, when it comes to fashion, most people want others to know what interests them through the way they dress. For example, it is very common within fandoms for fans to wear specific merchandise, style it up, and go out in public with certain products that can be recognized by other people, especially fans from the same franchise. This method of dressing to express has often left to be the start of very interesting conversations and friendships, it creates a sense of community which is possible when a person makes an educated fashion analysis.
Another example is brand association; as a fashion studies major, I have learned that many people dress strictly from a certain brand. Some consumers have been very dedicated to brand loyalty to a certain brand; when this happens, consumers will choose to dress with products specifically from the specific brand and in most cases, consumers choose to shop for apparel and accessories that feature the brand’s logo and design. This is done to express their satisfaction with the specific brand that they are choosing to buy from and by wearing specific brands with their logos designed onto the apparel and accessories then one can make an educated fashion analysis. One is free to find inspiration from the styles that people are trying to convey to the world but we should always watch out for our own thoughts when our opinion starts becoming judgmental and based on stereotypes because when this happens, we cross the line between appreciating expression through fashion and judging based on society’s stereotypes.
