Some people claim that fashion is its own language. I usually roll my eyes at that idea but yesterday I had an experience that got me thinking about it some more and I’ve come to the conclusion that communication via clothing definitely happens. How else can you get thrown off an airplane based entirely on the way you are dressed? No, that didn’t happen to me yesterday; but that does occasionally happen to people.

Style is power

Blogger Anastasia U. from the Ukraine (her blog) is dressed in a classic style that conveys only positive messages. She’s elegant. She’s stylish. She’s pretty. She’s confident. Her look should typically only invite positive attention.

You are unlikely to go unnoticed if you stepped out dressed exactly as this lovely model is dressed. She’s wearing a very vivid yellow dress and is adorned in very colorful jewelry, wearing many bracelets and many beaded necklaces. On her head she appears to have on more than one scarf, floral adornments and a hat. There’s a lot of color and a lot of accessories. While the model is probably only dressed like this for the photoshoot, there are people who might dress in a similar style ordinarily. There is certainly nothing wrong with this look. You get the impression of someone who is happy, fun, quirky, stylish in a more eccentric, less classic way and that is fine; but people might take you a little bit less seriously than they might take Anastasia U.

Vancouver Canada personal style blogger Alanna Durkovich wears a quirky outfit (her blog)

Jess A. who refers to herself as a “fashion mugger” from Poland dresses down in a clean, classic, traditional jeans and sweater style. (Her blog)

Fashion is it’s own language?

There is a saying “Clothes make the man”. It is a pretty outdated saying, and if you’re the type to subscribe to the idea that you should not judge a book by the cover then you would necessarily have to reject the idea that how someone dresses can impact on their life for better or worse; but the fact is, a man wearing a suit will be considered more respectable than a man wearing a wife beater and battered jeans. That’s just the way people are programmed to think. Could be the one in the wife beater and battered jeans is the more decent human being of the two. No one knows or cares about the truth. They just run with the assumptions they make based on the way these two men are dressed. Your style represents you→Like it or not the way you dress tells people things about you. It doesn’t necessarily tell them the truth but it tells them things. Or maybe the more accurate statement is that people assume things about you based on the way you’re dressed. Now I completely agree with anyone who says that you shouldn’t care what people think about you and that’s especially true when people are going around making assumptions about you based on the way you’re dressed; but sometimes it’s not just a matter of people thinking unflattering things about you based on the way you’re dressed. Sometimes they treat you a certain way based on the way you’re dressed, especially when you’re living at a certain level of life. So even if, like me, you’re not really all that concerned all the time about what you’re wearing when you go out, you should keep in mind that your dress style can affect how you get treated by others. Yes, indeed, fashion is it’s own language–meaning, even without opening your mouth you are sending out messages about yourself. People read into your appearance and they respond to you based on what they think of people who are the way your style is representing you to be.