Stories Our Clothing Reveal : What Do Your Clothes Say About You?

Mar 27, 2020

Stories Our Clothing Reveal : What Do Your Clothes Say About You?

Our clothes tell a story.

Your story.  My story.  Our story.

Of our beliefs, values and history.

With clothing we each have the power to choose how we want to be seen.

Clothing also has the power to transport us back to another time in our lives to where we bought the garment, who we were with and where we were when we first wore it.

Clothing can be used to create identity, to inspire , to communicate.

Do you have pieces of clothing in your wardrobe that you’re never getting rid of?

I have a beaded, green silk dress I found at the Portobello markets in London, a hoodie I bought when I was travelling through the Caribbean because the temperature dropped below 25deg C, & a $500 pair of shoes that I had to have, the first time I was in NYC.

Our clothes tell a story of where we have been, where we’re going and how we would like the world to see us.

They tell our personal story; one that only we know.

Clothing is also passed down through families, sold from collector to collector, and gifted to historians to capture and preserve a time, a place, an event.

They’re preserved so future generations will know what it was like in this era, can gather inspiration and knowledge.

Clothing has told us many things about our ancestors such as how natural dyes were used in the manufacturing of garments, how textiles were woven and from what fibres, and the evolution of machinery, how fibres and textiles travelled across continents, and about the class and status of the owner.

Our clothing also makes us feel a certain way.

Think of a red power suit, complete with shoulder pads, compared to an oversized organic cotton sweater and dropped crotch pants. 

Based on fashion trends from the past 40 years, we know which era both of these outfits sit.

Both outfits have/had their own function.  Each have their own sense of emotion and message to the outside world.

Which outfit would give you a feeling of belonging in a corporate finance office?  And which would give you a feeling of belonging in a yoga studio?

Today expectations and the language of apparel are changing, especially with the introduction of athleisurewear.  We expect our clothing to be able to take us into more situations and with that comes functionality and performance.

Even within these ‘restraints’ of society and the expectations created, we are still able to express a part of our personality.  Our own sense of style.

Our clothing therefore still tells our story.

As we are faced with an ever changing world, I have 2 questions for you:

  1. How does your clothing allow you to do what you do? 
  2. How does your clothing express your sense of self?