Clothing Blog

I was excited for this blog because we get to do one of my favorite things, people watch. I could sit and watch people for hours so this was a fun project. For my three locations to watch people at I chose Clods, Dutch Bros, and my church. Each location had extremely different people in different dress who were all acting in different ways.

The first location I went to was Dutch Bros. This seemed like a really casual place to go. Most people were dressed in jeans and t-shirts and seemed to be dressed for class. The majority of the individuals who walked in the door looked like students on their way to class. I was people watching in the morning and it was funny to watch people who looked like they just rolled out of bed and walked to get coffee. Those people tried to avoid eye contact with everyone. The people who were dressed and ready for the day seemed to be more talkative in line and willing to talk to the baristas.

The second location I went to was my church. This of course was a completely different vibe. Everyone at church was dressed nicely. No one showed up in sweat pants or a sweatshirt. Guys wore button up shirts and jeans or slacks and girls were mostly in dresses and skirts and heels. I think it goes without saying that it’s a known fact that people dress up when they go to church. Our culture says that’s what we are supposed to do and I couldn’t imagine what the reactions would be like if I came to church in my sweats. Everyone was very friendly to each other and everyone seemed to carry themselves with confidence. I think if someone would have showed up dressed outside of the norm they probably could have gotten some strange reactions out of others. Maybe not necessarily mean reactions, I think people would probably just wonder what that other was thinking.

The last location I went to was Clods. I went there on a Saturday night which is a pretty typical ‘going out’ night. The people here were dressed much differently then either other location I went to. Girls were all done up. Hair and make-up, sparkly revealing tops, and either short skirts, or tight jeans. And almost every girl was wearing heels; there may have been one or two girls not in heels. The guys were also done up. But in a different sort of way. They were wearing their typical t-shirt and jean combo but here they had their hair done and seemed to be more conscious of what matches what. Shirts looked ironed instead of pulled out of the dirty clothes pile. At a place like Clods on a Saturday night everyone is dressing to impress. Whether they are dressing to impress the opposite sex, or to out do their competition, they all seemed to be trying to make an impression by what they wore. This may be judgmental, but to me it seemed like the more scandalously a girl was dressed the harder she was trying to get some free drinks and flirt with guys. I think here more than any other place, what you wear results in how people treat you. I guarantee if I went to Clods looking like I do when I roll out of bed, and tried to talk to a bunch of people I would get ignored. On the other hand, if I spent hours getting ready and dressed a little more scandalously, I’d probably get more attention not only from males but from other girls too.

Our culture is so into clothing that everyone seems to be preoccupied with what they wear. What you wear expresses who you are and how others perceive you. When I show up to class in sweats I don’t want people to think I’m lazy and sloppy because I’m usually not, but that is the image I portray. What is popular to wear is chosen by pop culture. We see ads and hear music that tells us what looks good and what is the popular thing to do. When people don’t follow these underlying rules they aren’t viewed as highly as others that do. It seems like taking a stand against this would only hurt your image and how others view you. So my question is, knowing that pop culture affects what we wear and how we act towards others by what they wear, what can we do to make a difference about that?