Life Choices through Fashion: An Expression of Myself

            I have found, through a number of philosophical discussions throughout my life, that it is always difficult for a person to define themselves based on a single aspect. This is even more apparent when it is a topic that they do not think about very often, or when they believe it does not have a great impact on their life. In my case, I would consider my fashion one of these hard to analyze topics.However, there is a much deeper meaning to our choice in clothing that hinges on our personal beliefs and sense of style. These decisions and subconscious choices that I make every day while dressing myself have some profound effects on me and how I am perceived by those around me.
            The picture on the right is of me and our French guide in Paris. Even through a cultural barrier we were able to become friends. It is important to understand how each one these different aspects of a person’s fashion can affect others before anyone can truly decide on an outfit that will allow them to express themselves properly.

While trying to analyze my own fashion it became apparent that I would need to define what my manner of dress meant to me, how I wanted to express myself through fashion, and how I wanted to affect others through my choices in fashion. When I put my clothes on in the morning, I ask myself if they will fit my functional needs for the day. I choose to dress for comfort and function as opposed to appearance. A good example is the picture on the left. These clothes are practical and keep me warm in the winter months. My clothes are very plain in design, and can be found in almost any store. Even when I am required to wear formal clothing, I try to maintain a high level of comfort while still looking impressive.

            I choose to buy things based on my own opinion. I do not look at magazines, or famous celebrities, or even my favorite sports figures. Since I do not base my opinions on clothing from others, I find it much easier to shop. I shop in stores with three things on my mind: Does it Catch My Eye, Is it Functional, and What Does it Cost. I like being able to browse a clothing store until I find something that exactly meets these requirements. The picture to the right is a good example of the flexibility my clothes need. Balancing on the rock which was wet and slippery took quite a bit of work and my clothes allowed me to do that. Why waste money on something that at the end of the day is just clothing, it has no connection or effect on my personality? However, this does not mean that I don’t buy some expensive clothes because I do. But, I buy them at on sale prices and still search for quality with cost efficient price.

To me, buying efficiently is a way of saying that the fashion industry has no control over me. I connect none of my emotions or attributes to them. There is more to me than first impressions derived from my clothing. I think this can become apparent through the images that I have placed throughout this paper. However, the outlier of the set can be seen to the right, where I am wearing business suit and a horse head Halloween mask. I wore this to a party during the Seven Day Fashion Diary assignment. To me it showed off the juxtaposition of the suit’s connotation as formal dress, and the comedy of the ridiculous mask. I actually wore it because I was in this Philosophy of Fashion course. We had just discussed this air of high fashion and the effects it has on personal spending during one of the class sessions preceding the party, and I couldn’t resist going for a laugh or two through. To me it expressed in fashion my dislike for the way individuals perceive themselves through fashion.

My friends are probably the only people I share a common “fashion” with. They express the same views as I do, buying clothes that are cheaper and within our means for our day to day wear, and prioritizing fit and function over pure appearance. The picture on the right is a good example of how my friends all share a common fashion, we are all wearing the same types of clothes that I would find myself wearing on any given day.

This idea of living within my means crafted my fashion sense, and the image of myself that I want to provide society. What I wear contributes to society in a moderate way. The clothes that I buy allow the store to profit on the merchandise for cents on the dollar. Through this clothing outlets and makers make large profits on the clothing that I buy. I still support, like many others like me including my friends, a healthy fashion economy.

There is more than just the economic side of my clothing choice, however. By wearing clothes that do not have any identifications through my fashion, I am not secluded into certain cliques or class connotations. This allows me to put forward a very down-to-earth or “normal” image, and helps me avoid alienating potential friends or future professional contacts. A suit and tie does very little good once a potential employer has seen you walking around looking like a slob or a gang member.

Through buying cheap clothing I also have certain negative impacts to society. It is known that even in today’s world, sweat shops and child labor are still used in undeveloped nations around the world, and it is also true that many clothing manufactures exploit these workers. As a consumer, I have purchased many articles of clothing that have come from these nations. But at the same time, it is also hard to find clothes that have a made in the USA logo from major clothing sellers, unless you go to more designer brands or more expensive clothing. I do add to the problem, but as an engineering student I can identify with other engineers and businessmen and women who work every day to make safer factory machines and work to eradicate child labor and poor work-safety laws.

This is also true with animal cruelty and the use of animals in the fashion industry. Personally I find animal cruelty very hard to understand and will not stand for it if I see it happening. I do translate this to my fashion chooses. I will not buy, any real animal furs, I think it is wrong to hunt them down for such a frivolous reason. I also try to stay away from beauty products that are notorious for animal testing, like cosmetics and colognes. I do have a bottle of cologne (pictured here), but I do not know if animal testing was involved in its making. But these choices have a large impact on how I express myself through fashion.

So overall, I express myself, yet also fail to express myself at the same time. To me, my fashion choices show my diversity in hobbies and activities, unlike someone who may wear an outfit for one specific reason. My clothes come from many stores that fit my means, and at these stores I try to find clothes that meet my goals for how I want to affect society. However, to some I would be considered a failure in terms of self-expression. I am plain. I don’t meet the standards of many defined styles, such as branding, or clique fashions. People often base their opinions on preset ideals that they have about certain types of people, but I don’t fit into any of those categories. Regardless of what others may think, I am content to do my own thing. I do not have to treat the opinions of others as my own.

This brings me to why I express myself the way that I do through fashion. I grew up shy, and let friends come to me. Because I chose not to ally with one clique or group through my dress, I was accepted by kids from all ends of the social spectrum. This allowed me to grow into so many areas, playing sports with the jocks, taking art classes with the avant-garde kids, and taking engineering and sciences classes with a variety of nerds and gearheads. The picture to the right shows me with my friends at a high school dodge ball tournament. We all rebelled against normal fashion. We weren’t concerned with how idiotic we looked, we were in it to have fun. As I have grown and ascended to a college of higher learning, I find myself still just trying to relax and have fun with a diverse group of close friends.

 I do not let fashion express my personality and how I want others to perceive me. Fashion is too insignificant to the rest of my personality for me to want that. Throughout my life I have had the privilege to call many types of people friends because I refused to label them on their fashion choices. I spoke to them learned who they were and found that the clothes do not “make the man,” the man makes the man. My experiences have lead me to hold fashion as a way to enhance a person, but not to define them. With this philosophy in mind, I find that I am a much happier and fulfilled individual.