How Dress Affects Attitudes and Actions

Have you ever noticed when you wear a particular outfit whether it’s your favorite one or not, how it changes the way you feel about yourself? Take for example the ’sexy red dress’. Most women will tell you that they feel more attractive when they wear it and because of this they subconsciously act the way they feel. This in turn draws more attention to them. But does it really matter what we wear?

Self Worth

As the saying goes, ‘you never get a second chance to make a first impression.’ When you meet someone for the first time, before you even speak, people have pretty much summed up how you feel about yourself by what you wear.

Of course, this would depend on the circumstances. Usually, if you’re slovenly dressed, with unkempt hair and wearing dirty shoes, people tend to think that you don’t care much about yourself, which can also be reflective in other aspects of your life.

It could be that since you’re not dressed well, your home is in disarray and your office is unorganized, and life may be chaotic in the sense of no structure, balance or order. Because these things are not a priority, the last thing you need to worry about is the way you dress. This nonchalant attitude about life becomes evident in the way you dress. If this is the case, deeper issues of self esteem would need to be addressed to tackle the problem within, resulting in a better outer appearance for you. But what if the choices you make regarding your dress are deliberate?

Cause and Effect

Prostitution is an age-old profession that has been around for many years. Prostitutes attract their potential clients by dressing provocatively. Veterans of this profession even teach those who are just starting out what clothes to wear and how to wear them.

Confidence is needed to follow through and complete their task. Dressing in a way that exudes confidence helps adjust their attitudes, making them feel more sure about themselves, and even fearless. Even if this isn’t their initial reaction, dressing provocatively masks their reluctance which makes them play the part according to their dress. How are they treated?

Because prostitutes’ attire is usually ‘fantasy inspired’ they are treated as such - a fantasy. When clients pick them up or meet them at their leisure, they expect a fantasy. They feel as though they can treat them disrespectfully, verbally and physically abuse them without incident. They are looked upon at times as inhuman - not real. So, this automatically changes the attitude of their clients, making them insensitive and relentless towards them.

Black Tie Event

If you’re attending the Oscars it is required you wear elegant attire, whether it be a black Armani suit or a Versace dress. Why? Because it is a dignified event full of prestige and honor. Also, we tend to step up our attire when we attend or participate in a wedding. Weddings are special occasions in which friends and family, some of which you haven’t seen in years, come around, and we all want to look our best for them.

Both of these occasions change our attitude in preparation for the event. Some in good ways, and some not so good. Preparing for the Oscars for women can be stressful. You want to make sure you’re comfortable, elegant, beautiful, and not on Joan and Melissa Rivers ‘worst-dress’ list. Men seem to be more relaxed and have a bit more lee-way when it comes to making their outfit fun.

Weddings have to be one of the most stressful times in a bride and groom’s life. Families fly in from all over, children as well as adults must be counted. Flowers, music, bands or DJs, photographers, and caterers all have to be accounted for; money is stretched to the max, and at the end of it all, you have to chose what the bridal party is going to wear.

Choosing the wedding dress would be top priority for the bride. This decision will even break or make her attitude about the whole wedding because the wedding is planned around the bride’s dress. She’ll feel depressed, stressed and/or happy depending on the outcome. Also, the type of dress, halter, A-line/princess, empire, column, ball gown, and mermaid depending on the style she chooses, will help her make the decision of what she wants the wedding day to feel like.

What You Wear - The Choice Is Yours

We are what we wear. Most people would agree that how we dress affects our attitudes and actions. It’s a known fact that people dress according to their preference which is according to the way they feel or how they think they’re going to feel when they put them on.

If clothing makes us feel more powerful, outgoing, beautiful, handsome, mysterious, quirky, or humorous, it will subconsciously reflect in our personality. We choose clothes because we want to feel a certain way and clothes help us to achieve that goal.