Crossed arms, dilated pupils, and fake smiles are all examples of nonverbal communication. However, the one that may have the biggest impact on a person’s opinion of the wearer is the type of clothing he or she is wearing. Clothing is often the first impression of a person that someone gets, whether it is accurate or not. People often use clothing to indicate their age, gender, political views, and economic class. Without even realizing it, most people make assumptions about a person based on their clothing. People make assumptions and pass judgment about other’s emotional, moral, education, and social prestige (Dynamism of Fashion Among Female Undergraduates and its Effects in the Sight of Beholders in a University of Education, Nigeria 2011). We commonly expect people to dress a certain way before we learn anything about them personally, or their qualifications. So often, people try to pick out their nicest outfits when they are attempting to make a good first impression before the employer ever ask them any questions. First impressions are very important and clothing is usually one of the prime factors in determining them (Pelham 2010).
A person’s personality and cultural beliefs can be communicated through their clothing options. Clothing can also be used to tell whether the wearer is conventional or audacious, outgoing or aloof, casual or organized, a leader or a follower, or poised or insecure. However, making assumptions like the ones previously stated can be mistaken (Dynamism of Fashion Among Female Undergraduates and its Effects in the Sight of Beholders in a University of Education, Nigeria 2011). Clothing styles such as very tight clothes may be suggestive, showing off, or possibly even unappealing, while clo...
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...be identified as an Indian or as Hindu while she may very well be neither (Pelham 2010).
I am often told that people are watching me. Not to hear what I say, but to see what I do, how I do it, and even what I’m wearing. While they watch me, they are forming their own opinions. Whether or not their opinions are factual is not the point, the point is that they are basing their assumptions on nonverbal communication. The outcome is that nonverbal communication can be misconstrued at any time; it just depends on the person analyzing it.
Works Cited
"Dynamism of Fashion Among Female Undergraduates and its Effects in the Sight of Beholders in a University of Education, Nigeria." Academic Leadership The Online Journal 9, no. 2 March 2011. Web. 20 March 2015
Pelham, Libby. Clothing as a Form of Non Verbal Communication. July 12, 2010. Web. 20 March 2015
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Fashion is a constantly changing industry; what is trendy one day is outdated the next. The 21st century has been a catalyst for a large movement in fashion. Paris, New York, and London are some of the main contributors to the fashion industry (“Fashion Capitals”). Along with being the main influences in fashion, they have significantly connected the world on a global level. Even on a local level, students and young adults indulge in fashion as a way to express themselves. Some people may argue that fashion helps express one’s imagination; however, fashion has become one of the major influences that promotes an unrealistic image of women that is detrimental to their bodies. This unrealistic image can lead to health problems, a negative body image, and a society based on appearances which is disadvantageous to our culture as a whole.
Clothing and personality are of importance because they go hand in hand by keeping an individual satisfied on an everyday basis. Everyone has their own attitude and sense of style, but regardless of the type of personality and clothing, they can affect the individual and those around them. Due to the denotation that society tends to tag along with divergent styles, affects an individual in the way that it can either construct a day memorable for affirmative or pessimistic reasons. Nicole Cooley emphasizes this idea in her article, “The Language of Clothes”, by relaying the experience of a little girl who found herself to be unattractive; consequently, composing dreadful days. There came a moment, though where this girl decided to wear her grandmother’s aged clothing, and through this she was able to see herself through her grandmother's eyes, now viewing someone beautiful and worthy of living (Cooley). Cooley expresses the fact that the clothing of one can affect their personality, explaining why so many people experience lousy days. A prime example being the little
Humans have been communicating for thousands of years using nonverbal and non-written ways by giving specific gestures like, facial expressions, body movements and postures, eye contact, touch, and space between individuals. The way someone looks, moves, stands, and positions themselves tells the other person if your care, how closely you’re paying attention and tells them if you’ve been truthful. When your nonverbal communications match up with your subconscious actions, like the look on your face they increase trust, confidence, and rapport. But when they don’t, they can create pressure, suspicion, mistrust, and confusion.
In society today, the clothing that someone wears is basically a billboard for his or her personal, or family's financial situation. For children in public schools, fitting in with the popular, or most fashionable people is probably the most important thing to them. When children are preoccupied wi...
Fashion has been developing for as long as the Earth had been around, but the style people track today redirects generally to what was brought up during the roaring twenties, the era of a luxurious life. Women’s sartorial will experience many more future modifications which are predicted to be less modest and conservative. Men, on the other hand, will most likely not endure many changes. As fashion flourishes, society’s image on women, as well as men, will renovate into a more exposed mentality with a greater assortment of acceptance.
When we think about communication, we think about interactions. So what is your body language communicating to me? This are the words that Amy Cuddy a social physiologist, uses when she start up her talk about body language. Cuddy’s talk “how body language shapes who you are” explains how body language can identify how much power one is feeling just by observing someone’s body language. Amy Cuddy states that when one expands one is feeling power, and when the opposite is done which is shrinking one is feeling powerless.
To be successful in business, one must be able to perceive and use nonverbal cues to one’s advantage. It has been noted by communication experts that when two people have face-to-face communication only a small percentage of the message is delivered through the words they use. The majority of the message is understood and received through nonverbal communication behaviors. These behaviors include gestures, postures, facial expressions, and even clothing; all of which can interfere with the verbal messages that a person is trying to deliver. Although, the importance of nonverbal cues has not been examined extensively in the workplace, it makes sense that they would have a strong impact on any communication both in and out of the realm of business. The ability to perceive and to use nonverbal cues to one’s advantage in the workplace gives the business individual the necessary skill and power to achieve their desired level of success.
Dressing a certain way can change the world’s perception. This idea of changing one’s appearance to change one’s self is a common occurrence in movies and on TV: Mulan, Mrs. Doubfire, Just one of the Guys, etc. For example, in the movie Coming to America, Eddie Murphy’s character pretends not to be rich in order to find a woman who likes him for more than just his money. In reality, the opposite of this is far truer. How often do we wear our most expensive clothes to a wedding, where we will be meeting many people for the first time? There are children who would rather walk home that be picked up in their families beat up car or who are ashamed that they have to take their lunch in a paper bag rather than a canvas one. A person never wants to be judged by what they don’t have. Someone who is proud of what they have may be more inclined to believe what Madame Merle does. But someone, possibly of a lower class, who doesn’t have much to be proud of, would much rather be judged on their character, like Isabel
Nonverbal communication is rich in meaning. Everyone communicates through nonverbal gestures and motions. I realized that you can decipher a lot from an individual or individuals by just paying close attention to what they do, and that words are not really necessary. Watching two people interacting, I figured that they are really close by their space communication, eye language, and body movements.
Human interaction can be broken down into two basic fundamentals, non-verbal and verbal communication. Non-verbal communication can include everything from how a person looks, walks, and acts to their body language. People often form immediate first impressions based on these things alone, before that person ever opens their mouth to speak (Hockenbury & Hockenbury, 2008). Verbal communication can influence this impression and
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.
To begin with, I shall look at what fashion is; it is a currently popular style or practice involving clothing, footwear or accessories. It mostly refers to the current trends in looks and dressing style of a person (Cumming 234). In most cases, fashion is confusedly related to costumes; when a person talks of fashion they are seen to mean fashion in terms of textile. Fashion is seen to originate from the Western world and it is copied by other places. In this paper, we shall look at how fashion affects lifestyles and the group of people who are affected most. The paper further investigates how media is used to transmit fashion from one region to the other. Although it has been seen to affect people’s lives many people have different perspectives on fashion and dressing.
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.
Fashion is a controversial issue in society nowadays. We live in a consumerism advanced era in which whether following fashion trends or not has become a debatable point. Many people believe that it is important to follow fashion trends. For example, Lord Chesterfield once said, “If you are not in fashion, you are nobody.” The question is why fashion should be an essential matter of concern to all of us. As far as I am concerned, each person should be able to decide if one wants to follow a trend or not.