Does a persons dress affect your impression of them?

[nastyandy]

A person's dress absolutely affects my impression of them. Style is an art, and dress is it's expression. Of course, some people are entirely unconcerned or unaware of that, and that doesn't make them bad people any more than a lousy painter is a bad person or a talented sculptor is necessarily a good person. But for those of us who can express ourselves through the ability to dress, it's hard not to read into what another person's style (or lack thereof) says about them.

 

[TheIdler]

Not too much. If a person looks like they just don't care, I decide they don't care--it doesn't affect my impression of their personality at all. But people who dress really well? Honestly, it doesn't tell me much about their personality. I've met lots of people who dress well who are cool, and lots who are conceited pricks, so I don't know...

However, there are two big exceptions. One, people in a work envirnoment should dress appropriately. If that means a suit, wear a suit and wear it right or I'll think you're less than professional. If it means Appleby's-mandated khakis and a polo, make sure they fit and don't have holes or whatever. Two, if people clearly do care about the way they dress, but are going for a look that screams douchebaggery, then I'm going to stereotype them as a douchebag before they open their mouth.

 

[lightsky]

Originally Posted by gdl203

Actually not that much when I think of it. It does affect my impression only in the extremes (very poorly or well dressed, very caricatural outfit one way or another). Everything in between doesn't seme to really affect my first impression of people I meet.

i agree about the extremes that stand out, but i do judge people in the middle since it usually says they follow mainstream fashion and dress to fit in. for example, when i see a young woman dressed like 99% of other young women, then it tells me that she is not confident enough to make her own sartorial statement, that she is a natural follower and not a leader. and if that style doesn't really suit her, then it also tells me she doesn't know herself and has poor taste.

 

[razuel]

Originally Posted by lightsky

i agree about the extremes that stand out, but i do judge people in the middle since it usually says they follow mainstream fashion and dress to fit in. for example, when i see a young woman dressed like 99% of other young women, then it tells me that she is not confident enough to make her own sartorial statement, that she is a natural follower and not a leader. and if that style doesn't really suit her, then it also tells me she doesn't know herself and has poor taste.
Or maybe it tells you that when people want to buy clothes they go to the local store? Not everyone wants to either purposely buy something that looks different for the sake of being different or logging online to find something better; or even know what's better for that matter. I definitely think there are some that are purely following the crowd, but like I -used- to be-- there are those who simply buy what they find at the mall that they think looks good.

 

[lightsky]

Originally Posted by razuel

Or maybe it tells you that when people want to buy clothes they go to the local store?

Not everyone wants to either purposely buy something that looks different for the sake of being different or logging online to find something better; or even know what's better for that matter. I definitely think there are some that are purely following the crowd, but like I -used- to be-- there are those who simply buy what they find at the mall that they think looks good.

sure, but why does it look good? most likely, it's because other people (like her friends) are wearing it, also. so they follow fashion, swallowing it whole w/o thinking seriously about whether it works for them.

it's the same way most people follow the news. they look in their local paper or tv station and never bother to look deeper or seriously question what they read. they consume information in the same way they consume fashion: they let others tell them what to think.

 

[chronoaug]

You can go to the mall and come away with an outfit that doesn't scream "i'm trying to fit in, please like me". I don't think that's an excuse. For most people who don't know what really looks good or anything about fashion, it's much easier to just dress how other people you respect do and to buy clothes that are very common and safe so you don't alienate yourself.

Originally Posted by yeayea

+ 90% of communication is non-verbal.

This +10000. I still say you can tell a lot more about a person through the way they carry themselves, the way they look(not fashionista vs. frat/sorority, but the way they present themselves), the way they react to certain things positive or negative without words, body language, smile, look in their eyes, etc.... I knew i'd really like this girl that i work with(in a friends way) from the first time i saw her and she really didn't say much. I could tell right away she was very genuine, nice, intelligent enough, relatively quick witted, and had a pretty good sense of humor. 2 days later when we actually closed together (i work at the bakery in publix while at college), turns out i was right. She was great and we hit it off well. If i wasn't already very happy with my current girlfriend i'd definitely have to consider it. But i'm just happy i have someone interesting to work with. The other 3 girls i work with, are nice and everything, but i could tell right away that we wouldn't be on the same page, which is always frustrating when you can't completely be yourself.

I can tell the same about people in my classes at uf. The type of people who i'm drawn to friends wise are all completely different. They vary from cool indie girl, sorority girl, low key skater guy, kind of nerdy guy, good looking girls, kinda fat girls, etc... I judge people a lot, and dress plays a large role, but how you carry yourself in your clothes matters. It's obvious when someone is dressing a certain way just to fit in and is somewhat uncomfortable.

Non-verbal communication is really interesting and i try to understand it and be able to define it, but it's difficult. All that being said, someone with a decent sense of style or a comfortable personal style(even if it's not my personal aesthetic), is definitely a big plus for me. It's not about dressing in sf/sufu approved clothes as much as it is making correct decisions for the most part.

 

[razuel]

Originally Posted by lightsky

sure, but why does it look good? most likely, it's because other people (like her friends) are wearing it, also. so they follow fashion, swallowing it whole w/o thinking seriously about whether it works for them. it's the same way most people follow the news. they look in their local paper or tv station and never bother to look deeper or seriously question what they read. they consume information in the same way they consume fashion: they let others tell them what to think.
Not at all. When I used to go to the mall I'd simply buy what fit and looked good (because it fit and had nice colors usually), if it fit in with the crowd it was probably because those stores are selling the same thing to lots of people. I think you're grouping too much of the population into the 'want to fit in' crowd.

 

[chronoaug]

What he is saying is that wanting to fit in is a lot more subconscious than you're making it out to be. Yes, there are people who buy things with the exact intent on "fitting in" but there are a lot more people who subconsciously buy clothing based on the same notion. What looks good to you is very much influenced by what's shoved in your face at the mall and what other people around you are wearing. The old "maybe you guys are just trying to fit in" thing about forum members is old, because the primary reason there is a lot of subconscious sheepness in casual mall dressers is because they don't have much of a reference point and aren't exposed to much to make a justified opinion about what "looks good". Most of the forum members are familiar with a lot of different styles and a lot of different brands and are able to make a slightly more informed purchase when buying clothes simply because of increased exposure and knowledge. Actual "fashion sense" comes into play as well though.

 

[razuel]

Originally Posted by chronoaug

What he is saying is that wanting to fit in is a lot more subconscious than you're making it out to be. Yes, there are people who buy things with the exact intent on "fitting in" but there are a lot more people who subconsciously buy clothing based on the same notion. What looks good to you is very much influenced by what's shoved in your face at the mall and what other people around you are wearing. The old "maybe you guys are just trying to fit in" thing about forum members is old, because the primary reason there is a lot of subconscious sheepness in casual mall dressers is because they don't have much of a reference point and aren't exposed to much to make a justified opinion about what "looks good". Most of the forum members are familiar with a lot of different styles and a lot of different brands and are able to make a slightly more informed purchase when buying clothes simply because of increased exposure and knowledge. Actual "fashion sense" comes into play as well though.

Well if THAT'S what he's trying to say, then I agree.

You're skilled at making sense of things chronoaug

 

[chronoaug]

It just goes along with what i was saying in my longer post. Obviously there are the people who just try waaayy too hard and look like a fashion victim because they're just buying head to toe buckle/abercrombie/express. Most people aren't like that though. Most are just influenced purely by what they see walking around campus (to use college students). Most people don't want to rock the boat by wearing something different, others are just lazy, and others have their own style and are comfortable with it regardless of how a few others may think.

At UF, there are basically 4 groups of people fashion wise (and i guess personality wise): these are just big generalizations here
-Indie/hippie kids- Gainesville has kind of a portland hippie, vegan crowd here that is pretty huge
-Greeks- UF has one of the 2-3 largest frat/sorority populations in the nation
-Hip hop- White, black, hispanic guys who are into the more traditional streetwear term and wear white af1s with baggy jeans and an oversized polo shirt for fashion
-Kind of nerdy people- Lots of smart people here, who generally act kinda nerdy and have zero fashion sense, but also don't really try. The just wear gym sneakers, random jeans that their moms bought them in high school, and a free tshirt or a tshirt with something "funny" on it.

There is a lot of subconcsious, or intentional "trying to fit in" going on with each of those groups as well as people who are friends with people in one of those groups and while they're not going to try really hard to fit in, they also don't want to go against the grain and alienate themselves from their group. Even in high school, i didn't like being pigeonholed and i had at least 2 really good friends in each little clique of people back then even though there were more groups but less people in high school. I'd say i lean a bit more towards the hippie/indie crowd with a little bit of nerd thrown in there, but a couple of my good friends are in frats/sororites. As far as fashion, i'm pretty much in my own group. I come off as a slightly more put together indie/hippie kid without being overly pretentious like most of them are.

People and why they do/act how they do, is very interesting and it's fun to just observe at times.

 

[TyCooN]

Yes, body language is extremely important. That's how we can spot leaders of all these little fashion cliques. A well dressed person with horrible body language will still look lame. The interesting about subcultures is that the leaders still fit in, yet they have a little addition to their outfit that makes them stand out. Try looking for it next time you're out. Leaders have that extra confidence and dominance, so they know others will accept their difference in clothing. The followers are too self-conscious to try something new. After the leader leads into it and show it's acceptable, his followers will follow. I do judge people based on the way they dress. I look for congruency to their outfits. A girl in a gray Abercrombie hoodie w/ light jeans is most likely a follower, same for the boy wearing an entire Jordans fit. A guy dressed like the superstar better be able to entertain others. It's awkward when one can't 'match' their choice of clothing. Now let's look at a person that doesn't blend in with their outfit. Picture a quiet introvert with a 'loud' outfit on. That person would be so incongruent that they would lose credibility to us (douchebag, try-hard, poser, wannabe, etc). The most stylish girl I know likes to wear 'quiet' colors. She doesn't talk to very many people and her body language is on the introverted side. Turns out she is a snob. I really like those kids wearing all Abercrombie or Jordans they look like walking billboards.