=======SOCIAL DYNAMICS OF CLOTHING=========

=======SOCIAL DYNAMICS OF CLOTHING=========

I quite didn’t understand the need to look good and even if it mattered at all, until my university days. Coming from a single sex high school, putting on clothes- neat clothes of course was just enough to carry me through the day. Well, that was a small environment, made up of individuals who basically reasoned like I did. It made life easier and more fun.

I entered the university with this same thinking- I know most of you relate. Why would you blame me? I have never given a damn and knowing very well my three favorite friends (coming from single sex schools) were joining me on campus, why would I care about what you thought of my looks. I always believed in the mantra, “it matters how you perform and not how you look.” And yes, in a perfect world, that would be great but guess what, we don’t live in one.

University was different. There were all sorts of people -males, females, hermaphrodites etc. Everything was different here. The community was huge and people formed their opinion from afar, based on what? – I was yet to discovered. I looked around a lot in my day-to-day activities and I mostly felt uneasy and uncomfortable. I didn’t feel too good until I discovered this little secret of “looking good and feeling good.”

I’m certain many of you, as you read this, are shaking your heads or giggling while thinking, “I’ve got plenty more to worry about than what I look like right now.”  And you could be right, but you also might be wrong.  So keep reading. You are probably wondering if really its necessary to look good before you leave you room, whether it’s even important to take time to go through what you have in your closet before deciding on what to wear. Guess what, our appearance matter in real and fundamental ways because they affect our lives in diverse ways. In this article, I would try through the power of research, to demonstrate the importance of looking good.

When you first meet someone, they instantly assess everything about you. They can sense if you’re sad, nervous, threatening, or possibly even gassy (possibly). A behavioral psychologist once said, “When we meet people, an immediate cognitive process takes place. We construct our first ideas on them based on their appearance.” Now tell me if people are at fault for being judgmental. It’s the work of the brain.

I have stumbled on some vital information with regards to the social dynamics of clothing. The first of them is the fact that clothing is the primary instrument for creating a positive first impression. People are superficial, not just as a cultural phenomenon but as a hardwired instinct going all the way back to when our brains needed to make snap and basic judgments on what was a rock and what was a snake about to bite us.  We tend to be done formulating our initial opinion of someone before we’ve actually spoken to him or her.

That means that your clothing is going to have a direct effect on people’s “default” assumptions of you — the better you’re dressed, the more respect and attention they’re going to automatically give you.

Believe it or not, your clothing affects your success with women. In one university study, women rated the attractiveness of one man dressed in several different getups. Outfits ranged from a designer suit and tricked-out watch all the way down to a lowly fast-food uniform. As you can imagine, ladies preferred the power suit to the burger-flipping one. This study notes that girls actively sought signs of “status” when judging the man’s clothes, and they liked that look better because it suggested a good provider. In other words, women do care what you wear, and this is why looks matter. Girls favor a put-together guy because it's more likely he can put food on the table.

Still not convinced about why you should look good?  Take, for example, a time you proudly wore your best outfit for a night out with your peers. Your confidence was soaring so high, you felt like a glorious bolt of lightening. Alternatively, remember the time you woke up late for work or class and you put on the nearest shirt and pants within snatching distance? It was dark, unfortunately, and you couldn’t have guessed you’d end up looking like a Muppet who raided a thrift store. You despised that outfit the entire day. Worse still, you met a beautiful girl for the first time, and there was no way you could explain your looks. How did you feel and what did your brains tell you? Well, your guess is as good as mine. These examples reveal that looks do matter and that clothes can take on a bigger meaning with people we meet. In a way, we’re not just talking about clothes here. We’re talking about an external extension of ourselves that breeds either confidence or shame, and commands either respect or disinterest.

Still not convinced it’s worth your time to dress sharp? Well, read the above over and over, I bet you would definitely find reason why you should give a damn about your appearance.

                                                                                                            Credit: Lapuut

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