America has become a consumer culture. The American people tend to find themselves buying consumer products for no particular reason. I personally believe, we are what we buy. Americans have a habit of showing themselves threw their products. The products they buy say a lot about the person’s identity. People have separated themselves apart by the merchandise they consumed. A Person’s clothes can quickly label a person and put them in a distinctive group, for example if a person wears all black and has long hair that person would likely be considered a metal-head (a person who enjoys metal music) by society. People find themselves socializing within the same group of individuals. This is just something that we all have been conditioned to. We are more comfortable talking to a person with similar interest, such as music, fashion and food as appose to a person with nothing in common. It is not just clothing that defines a person. Gadgets, such as IPods, cars, phones and computers can also identify a person. For example, a person driving around in a Mercedes this automatically means he or she is wealthy. The Mercedes Benz is the top of the line luxury car that screams out wealth to society. The same could be said about a person driving around in a beat up Volkswagen. The person will be automatically being seen as someone with little money, struggling to make it in the world. This is just how society is the more you have the better you are than anybody else. My cousin, Steven does not socialize with people outside his world. He constantly tries to find people who have some of the same interest has he does. One of the first things he tends to look at is how the person is dressed and quickly judges them on their appearance. This is one of the ways he usually makes his friend somebody with similarities to him he would most likely approach. I personally asked him how you could be so shallow. Steven replied, “it makes me feel a lot more comfortable knowing we have similar interest”.
How far would you go just to fit in with others? Would you go buy expensive shoes or clothes? As of today people would go way beyond their budget just to buy the expensive things others have. Based on how you carry yourself you always have to make a good first impression. People may think just because you're wearing non-expensive clothes that you may not fit in. People would buy the clothes that others have just to fit in but they don’t like the clothes. People would go out of the way. Our status more times than not, is defined by what we look like, how we dress, and where we come from.
The economy is a very fragile thing; however it can have an enormous impact on people. Americans especially are affected because they are so greedy, they always want more. Because Americans are very materialistic, they can become overly arrogant and possessive since they are used to getting their way, on account of having money.
Being exposed to a variety of new things and different people can cause one to forget their true identity, who they actually are, and who their parents raised them to be. They begin to express these identities in many different ways; one particular way in which they express themselves is through what they wear. Values and originality goes out the window, because being accepted is the only thing they really care about. Clothes also play a major role in how one expresses themselves. Dress codes within the schools has always been a significant controversial topic. Both sides of the issue are argued, and different people usually will have different point of views on the subject of implementing the standardized
For example, if people saw me wear Concords, they would categorize me as being into basketball or hip hop. It is also mostly guys who are wearing basketball shoes that notice my shoes. Therefore, it makes me feel masculine and makes me feel like I belong to the basketball or hip hop culture, but at the same time, I feel like I do not belong to a certain group. Thus, fashion is different in ethnics group, gender, and class because it serves to unite people or to establish a separation from other groups. It originated from women in order to make up for their disadvantage status, middle class in order to increase their social status and marginal social groups for their lack of social importance and cities for social density and wealth (Fashion, 310). Therefore, fashion play an important role in our lives back then and
The way we look is what people defines us as. Many people have the urge to be prejudice, that is why first impressions are key to portray who we are to other individuals. Nowadays, when we do job interviews, we do not wear casual clothes, instead we wear formal clothes to show that we are serious about getting the job. We presented ourselves as individuals who passionately care about receiving this job. The way we interpret appearance in society is correctly done, but it should not be a way to fully judge a person. It is hard to portray ourselves as who we are without changing our appearance. Someone who goes to an interview all dressed up will most likely receive the job compared to someone who goes in with a t-shirt and jeans. Even if both of them had the same personality and skills to receive the job. Appearance is heavily tied to people evaluating our
However, the advertisers promoting these value and goods are not organizations, corporations, or governing powers, they are ordinary people. Annie White’s interactions with her Jamaican family living in America dictated the values she associated with American goods. According to White, many of her peers believed that owning any American goods meant an increase in status, because they saw America as a country which represented wealth and success (A. White, personal communication, October 15, 2016). As a result, many people rely on commodities and goods to indicate status. In his article, “Conspicuous Consumption” (1899), Thorstein Veblen suggests that “consumption of higher quality goods denotes his [or her] evidence of wealth. Being able to consume in due quantity and quality becomes an indication of inferiority” (Veblen, 2000, 190). In other words, consuming American goods– to indicate wealth and establish a social hierarchy in which they have the highest prestige over
Almost all of our decisions are based off of society. When you go to school what do you wear? Is it okay to wear a tuxedo coat with a pair of bright neon green pajamas? Most likely, people would give you weird looks and it would make other people uncomfortable. That’s because we have social norms. If we break them, then it is considered awkward and makes people feel uneasy. You wouldn’t walk into a five star restaurant with jeans and a t-shirt. I do not fully understand why certain norms are in place but I know if you break them you are looked at as different. One of the first videos we watched
...o contextual influences and past experiences. Therefore it is almost impossible to pre-empt the ways in which others will perceive you. Over time ideas will change and therefore alter the ways in which we look back on past clothing choices. Whilst symbolism in fashion may no longer be subject to laws as it was in the 14th century or defined by strict social rules in the 17th century, the clothes we wear are still today subject to imposed social ideals. Apart from distinguishing one status group from another, a style of dress may also aid group cohesiveness, provide the individual with an identity and a feeling of belonging, and communicate the wearer’s attitudes and interests. The ways in which we interpret others and present ourselves for interpretation is the only true way that we can be individual. Symbolism in clothing may not seem as obvious or important nowadays as it was in times of extreme social bigotry, but it is still highly prevalent and has remained one of the most effective ways to project our desired image to those around us. ‘The state of a person’s clothes is synonymous with self respect and is a sign of responsibility’ (www. Pemberley.com/janeinfo/vebleis7.html)
Anytime we see someone unfamiliar to us, we form an opinion about that person, whether it is what they wearing or what they look like. We judge people
Fashion is one of those things that people can claim they don't care about. They can defend again and again that it doesn't matter what one wears, it's the person who wears it. But in all likelihood they will continue to be judged, as we all are, for the clothes on our body, the shoes on our feet and the hairstyle we are sporting.
I started wearing what I wanted and not just what was popular. I didn’t have close connections with my friends at the time either. Most of them gossiped all the time, and that’s just not me. I had been stuck in my shell for way too long in fears of being an outcast. The first day of trying to come out of my shell I was made fun of, but I didn’t care near as much as I thought I would. These people are making jokes about me but don’t have any clue who I am, what I’ve been through, or what my future holds. So why even give them the time of day? I kept on wearing what I wanted and actually made life-long friends who were into the same things as I was. It does not matter what you wear or how you look honestly. The only thing that should matter is what’s inside of you, and you shouldn’t be discouraged to express that in fears of someone not liking you. “Those who matter don’t mind, those that mind don’t matter” (Theodore Suess Geisel.)
Many people feel that you can tell a lot about a person by observing what they wear and what they eat. This is not the case. Choice of clothing and eating habits, in no way, allow you to pass judgment on a person. Judging people based on these factors is extremely shallow. What one wears and eats in no way depicts character, behavior, or even intelligence. One simply cannot know a person by looking at them and observing what they eat. Such a thought is ridiculous.
There have been many instances where I am stopped and commented on what I’m wearing. Depending on a single item of clothing, I am either a “certified hippie”, “lesbian”, or “law student”. This has brought me to raise an important social question: How have fashion and advertising built identity stereotypes? Stereotyping can have a strong and negative impact on a person, especially younger generations that are now at an influential stage in their mental development. By subjecting them to these stereotypes based on what they wear, they may begin to think of and see themselves as society claims, rather than who they are or aspire to be. By conducting further research on stereotyping in fashion designs through their advertisements, the aim of this research is to understand the history and social ideas behind fashion. By thoroughly understanding the problem, a solution would be easier to reach. In order to gain further insight on the matter, two practitioners have been selected: Dr. Rebecca Arnold and Dr. Roman Meinhold.
Clothing is something that defines a person, and allows society to have an outlook on an individual’s lifestyle and beliefs. Unlike criticizing other material things like a car, a home or even something as simple as a television set, criticism of clothing is very personal. This suggests that there is a high correlation between clothing and personal identity and values. (Breward, pg.1) Clothing in a sense has the ability to communicate thought. However, similarly to art interpretations, this does not mean that any two people will perceive these visual aesthetics similarly.
In conclusion, fashion will speak out a person’s social signal, people dress on designs that blend with their social class. Just as population, social activities and fashion are changing with time. Fashion has made clothing to be convinient, everything needs to be done with the least effort and spend the least time.