clothes influence the way people behave

402 Words2 Pages
Fashion has been one of people’s greatest concerns throughout the history. Nowadays, its influence on the world is more noticeable than ever, and the correlation between people’s lives and fashion has started to gain attention. Meanwhile, an interesting theory that clothes influence people’s behaviors has been suggested. This is quite reasonable, for clothes certainly induce change in behaviors through physical restraint, reminder of identity, and creation of social expectations. Initially, clothes restrict people’s behaviors through its physical and functional features. Some clothes, for example, are appositely designed for physical activities, while some considerably limit one’s movements. Limiting people’s physical movements also influence them psychologically. People who often wear formal and relatively uncomfortable clothes are more likely to behave in strict manner, compared to those who are wearing comfortable clothes. People’s behaviors are altered as they move their bodies according to the clothes they are wearing. Furthermore, clothes are capable of letting the wearer become more aware of his or her identity. The example of uniforms clearly illustrates such function of clothes. Uniforms are worn by people of diverse occupations, including students, police officers, nurses, and many others. Uniforms contribute in prompting people to have pride and respect for their own jobs, and also for themselves. People with dignity and sense of self-importance tend to behave prudently, in order to avoid dishonoring themselves. Finally, one’s clothes tend to create certain social expectations toward him or her. It is not uncommon that people use clothes to make generalizations about the wearer, and those generalizations are what create some degree of expectations toward the person. Whether such expectations are either revealed or kept tacit, the wearer becomes
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