During the years that I've been living in Vancouver my pants have become gradually tighter.
I remember the first time i bought skinny jeans. It was a big moment!
That pair is in my closet now. They're too big!
That pair is in my closet now. They're too big!
But that has to do with something else, that I can't say I figured out on my own - my waist size. It took my sister, a trip to Spain, and a very lovely German man named Fabi to point it out.
On that trip, Fabi and my sister Andrea handpicked a new wardrobe for me. I've been trying to adopt a look that presents me to the world in such a way that I'm seen as intelligent, approachable, and subliminally controversial.
I ended up looking hip. Which works for me.
Lots of things have changed my mind over these years, and I don't expect that process to stop anytime soon, but the gradual change brought on by evolving my style is worthy of note. Not just in how the world sees me, but also in how it's changed my own self perception.
This might help explain
This comes from a favourite podcast of mine called you are not so smart. This link will bring you to the page where today's clothing ideas are expanded on.
We're all aware that how we dress colours the impression we make on others. As a punk, I held the fashion in high importance because it was such a blatant display of rejection and contrast to society. (Well.. at least I did until I got sick of wearing a 30 pound studded leather jacket and lacing up 20 eyelet Dr. Martens every day...)
But the truth is that I never got over punk fashion, my interpretation of it just changed. Even when I returned to the underground environment I found that as my style had changed, so had my actions, behaviours, and self-perception.
It's hard not to deride the more 'peacock' punks when they complain about how people treat them differently for dressing weird - isn't that the f**king point? When you spend hours in the mirror trying to make certain people look at you in "just such a way", you aren't justified in complaining when people you DON'T want to notice you give you the same attention.
Those are the breaks. It isn't new information.
But we neglect to recognize the affects on our own psyche by how we're presented. How can we not notice this? Have you ever bought a new pair of shoes? The feeling that comes with them is magical! You feel clean and new, even though inside nothing has changed.
Or has it?
I would argue that when you wear the clothes of higher status, you subconsciously become raised closer to that level. Even if you don't actually think like that portion of society, wearing their uniform eases the ability your ability to think like them.
It also works vice versa. If you dress yourself in cheap, unfitting clothes, do you act with less confidence and feel lowered self-esteem? I'd bet that you do.
So treat yourself with respect.
And dress accordingly.
We're all aware that how we dress colours the impression we make on others. As a punk, I held the fashion in high importance because it was such a blatant display of rejection and contrast to society. (Well.. at least I did until I got sick of wearing a 30 pound studded leather jacket and lacing up 20 eyelet Dr. Martens every day...)
But the truth is that I never got over punk fashion, my interpretation of it just changed. Even when I returned to the underground environment I found that as my style had changed, so had my actions, behaviours, and self-perception.
It's hard not to deride the more 'peacock' punks when they complain about how people treat them differently for dressing weird - isn't that the f**king point? When you spend hours in the mirror trying to make certain people look at you in "just such a way", you aren't justified in complaining when people you DON'T want to notice you give you the same attention.
Those are the breaks. It isn't new information.
But we neglect to recognize the affects on our own psyche by how we're presented. How can we not notice this? Have you ever bought a new pair of shoes? The feeling that comes with them is magical! You feel clean and new, even though inside nothing has changed.
Or has it?
I would argue that when you wear the clothes of higher status, you subconsciously become raised closer to that level. Even if you don't actually think like that portion of society, wearing their uniform eases the ability your ability to think like them.
It also works vice versa. If you dress yourself in cheap, unfitting clothes, do you act with less confidence and feel lowered self-esteem? I'd bet that you do.
So treat yourself with respect.
And dress accordingly.
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