Fashion and Social Identity

Fashion and Social Identity

Fashion can be defined as a meaningful system that produces the cultural and artistic bodies of clothes. Fashion is a system that strengthens the sense of cohesion in the group and it also reconciles the relationship between members of the group. It is a system which is motivated and promoted by a need of imitation and distinction and it is instilled in the society by a particular social circle.

In today's fast moving world the way a person dresses and carries himself plays an important role in identifying and labeling them. The clothes that people wear describe them and label them. As per the article 'Labels, Clothing and Identity: Are You What You Wear?' The clothes that a person wears usually determines a person's race, sex and religion.

It is a usual experience of the people that their first impression is created by the clothes he is wearing. If a woman is wearing a veil that leads to the conclusion that she is a Muslim. People wearing a salwar and qameez are perceived to be of Indian / Pakistani origin and determine their ethnicity.

A man wearing feminine clothes (dresses, Barbie doll inscribed t-shirts, feminine style pants, or colors that are considered to be feminine colors) is considered to be homosexual. It is quite a common fact that people usually make assumptions about a person's ethnicity or race by the type of clothes that person is wearing.

The way a person dresses is also used t determine the profession that person belongs to. I can easily quote real life incidences when an abrupt statement is passed about a random person in crowd 'Hey look at that business man there!' Or 'See that pop star over there' or 'the slut standing on the bridge' etc. These are just random statements passed by random people about some strangers passed on the basis of how they are dressed.

Various articles studied for the purpose included examples and real life instances in which people were killed because of the way they were dressed, since that led to assumptions about their race, professions, ethnicity and religion.

An incident quoted in the article 'Labels, Clothing and Identity: Are You What You Wear?' about the police force commenting that chances of women dressed as sluts (even if they are not one of them) are greater than those dressed decently. This clearly indicates the prejudice of the people regarding dressing sense and styles.

It is also a norm these days that dressing sense and style determines a person's social belonging and status. It is quite usual for people to comment about a person's social status or locality from where that person belongs; only by looking at the way that person dresses.

I believe that wearing my favorite casual clothes and going to my favorite restaurant gives a statement about me, who I am and what I like. My clothes speak to the people around me and give them an idea about me as a college going student. At times I also realize that without even telling them about my occupation people realize that I am university going student through my dressing style.

I personally believe that there is a reason why people emphasize on the dressing sense and style especially the types of clothes to wear at different occasions. The clothes that a person wears give the statement about his personality and character even before he speaks his fashion speaks for him.

The dress that a person wears also tells about his professional standing. A person wearing a formal dress shirt, pant, tie and coat is usually considered as a top notch executive o business man. Same goes for a woman wearing dress pants or skirt with a shirt and coat. Similarly, a lady wearing a gown is considered to be going to a formal event.

I can quote certain examples and real life incidences that happened with me regarding the out statements that my clothes gave to people in my surrounding. In my sophomore year I got a wild sense of clothing and without thinking I adopted quite a wild dressing sense, torn jeans, T-shirts having quite wild statements. This led my friend's parents asking them to stay away from me and considering me as one of the bad guys. My result in the end set them right.

During my university life I went to a friend's party and was dressed quite formally for the event, (in dress shirts and pants), many people considered me an executive in some company and asked me about my work and position there.