by Bruce W. Coffman

Created on: August 12, 2007

What you wear is absolutely a reflection of who you are. Some will mistakenly take that to mean that what you wear defines who you are, but here is a huge difference in those two statements.

Take an example of two different women walking down the street. The first woman is wearing a crisply pressed, neat business suit. The second woman is wearing a rumpled, ill-fitting pair of sweats and a dingy, faded t-shirt. No one can say that they could look at those two women without forming immediate opinions about what type of person each woman is. They may be completely inaccurate, but they will be impossible to ignore.

What we choose to put on our bodies, especially when we go out in public, says a lot about who we are and how we see ourselves. If we take pride in ourselves and have a positive self-image, we are more likely to put on clothing that reflects that. If we simply don't care about how we look, we will choose to throw on the sweats and the t-shirt. Neither choice is either right or wrong, but we will be sending definite signals about ourselves with the choices we make.

What you wear can also be a reflection simply of the mood you are in. Some people who normally dress well will choose to dress a little more sloppily when they don't feel well. Again, the style of dress does not define that person, but it does say something about their current mental or emotional state.

What we wear can also make a dramatic impact on how we are perceived and treated by others. If you don't believe that, try a little test. Find two exclusive, expensive boutiques or shops and visit each of them on different days. On the first day, at the first shop, wear a pair of your grungiest old sweats and a wrinkled t-shirt. Ask for assistance with an expensive item. On the second day, at the second shop, wear the sharpest, most expensive outfit you have. Again, ask for assistance with an expensive item.

You will undoubtedly find that your first experience was not nearly as positive as your second. The sales clerk in the first store probably reluctantly assisted you and spent very little time with you, assuming you couldn't afford whatever it was you were looking at anyway. The sales clerk at the second store was probably all over you, much friendlier and willing to help.

We all do this type of "profiling" every day whether we want to admit it or not. We look at someone we don't know and one of the first things that can give us a clue about what type of person they are is what they are wearing. You use what is readily available to help give you the answers you want. Keep this in mind the next time you think what you put on in the morning doesn't matter.

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