Results

In the past week or so we have been talking about Existentialism, so I got to thinking about how I could relate this philosophy to my topic for my last blog.

Basically Existentialism is the mindset that a person can do what ever she/he wants for what ever reason she/he decides with the knowledge (and carelessness) of what the worldly consequences might be.  

Anyways, I thought about outcasts and hipsters and blah blah blah, all those typical terms for "different" in the styles of wear these days... But I wasn't satisfied with writing about any of those topics, even though technically that is the biggest example of Existentialism in the clothing.  So I started thinking a bit harder, and realized what this whole project was supposed to be for... to figure out why I wear what I wear each day.  And I have found some great answers my friends.

1) Self-made trends are hard to break for anyone, and by being self-made they are Existential.  For example: my obsession with wearing college shirts brings on criticism, but it has become a habit to constantly wear a shirt with that kind of emblem on it, so what's the point in breaking that habit?  If I like to wear them and they follow the "rules", then what is the issue?  Also this is in no way stubborn, because it affects no one but myself... so who gonna stop me?

2) Each morning is a new challenge for each individual in this hostile and indifferent universe.  For instance: regardless of the days before or after today, every living day, you have to personally make the decision of what footwear, pants/shorts, shirt, jacket or sweater or lack of jacket or sweater, and accessories to wear.  So universally people make up routines, whether it be I wear this outfit every wednesday, or I'll only wear this shirt with these pants.  The options are bottomless, and it has been thrilling to find out my own personal routines.  I only wear Nike white crews socks, or no socks.  I always wear the same belt, it's either khaki pants or khaki shorts 90% of the time, college collared shirts or button downs, and then I have a strange rotation of shoes (tennis shoes, cowboy boots, and loafers).  

3) Is it cold outside?  Do my shoes match?  Are my pants going to fall off? Am I going to get a wedgie in these boxers?  These are the questions I have asked myself every morning since I started writing about this topic about a moth ago... and since then I am proud to say, my shoes have always matched,my pants have not fallen off, I have been comfortably warm, but I have still gotten a few wedgies...  It was crazy to see myself actually recognizing these thoughts that were going through my head, when I usually never notice them.  It made me start to wonder what else I'm missing out on.  This was the biggest realization that I've had throughout my personal thought inspection.

I have learned more about myself and my decision making through this research than I think I did  about my specific topic.  I would say that I did successfully answer all of my original questions, but all that did was arise more and more questions... and I think that was the point. 

Interview Blog

"Comfort is the first and only aspect I consider when choosing my clothes for the day" ~ my mother.  I do not understand how I have not thought of this yet.  I guess I just assumed, like most people I may add, that comfort was always implied.  Stereotypically though, I categorize that as a very feminine thing to say.  I have noticed a common trend at my school...  This trend includes females dressing much more casually and "comfortably" while males dress a lot more formally.


Does this represent a character trait differing between genders?

Difference Between Thoughts

The answer to the first question of the interview conducted with my mother (How do you choose what you are going to where in the morning?), got me thinking more than I ever could imagine.  Thank you mom!  I also realized a very key thing when thinking about the differences between male and female attire...

Women have a name for Every Single subsection/article of clothing, whereas men say "Polo" for any collared shirt or pants/shorts, that's it.  Does this mean that men are more simple than women?  Or that we (males) do not typically care about stupid things (ex: clothing)?  Or that women are over the top drama queens as a species (yes, they are their own species)?  To be honest, I really do not know they answer to any of these questions.

Man vs. Woman

"I usually swap between the same five accessories all the time, but never the same shirts or pants that often." ~ my mother.  On a minor note, I also found this quite interesting.  I never really notice what accessories she wears and I see her everyday, but I have noticed the amount of clothes that females in general own...  I wonder why they always tend to "need" or want more and more.

Who would have thought that I'd ever be interested in why my mom wheres what she wears each day?  Not me.  But I am proud to say that this interview has led me to some rad observations that I cannot wait to keep expanding on.

Research Blog

     Looking at The Sartorialist (aka the most famous fashion blog in the world) I noticed a real trend in modern clothing.  Hipster is very in currently and originality is starting to become more popular.  It's almost as if being different is gaining people praise.  Reverting back to my previous post talking about Lady GaGa and Miley Cyrus, that makes a whole lot of sense...  But as I pondered on that thought, I started to realize that same trend at my school and in my community.
     The weirder you dress is almost a direct indicator of your personality and security.  For instance blue jeans and cowboy boots is typically a southern style, where as skinny jeans and high tops with fake glasses is a New Yorker look.  The again that is an opinion.  More importantly, Loosely dressed women are typically full of themselves and think they have "the stuff"...  and more conservative dressed girls get labeled as prude from the first impression.
     I've also gained the knowledge that advertisement for a shoe or a shirt is a lot more complicated then just post a picture of it.  The company picks a certain model, a certain facial expression and pose for that model, a certain setting, certain lighting, certain angles, and certain clothes to put emphasis on the item being advertised.  It is a long process and seems to be very very irrelevant.
    But it is not.
    As I explained earlier, being original in your clothing is a very likable quality now-a-days, but that doesn't mean that we aren't influenced by what we see on the advertisements and mannequins.  Throughout history, we have displayed very streaky patterns of what types of clothing we wear and that will never change.  It was the popped collar and Converses in the 70s, then the parachute pants and head bands in the 80s, the rocker look with the membership jackets in the 90s, and the 2000s contains its own genre of style and creativity.  But one thing will always remain true, we as a people will have envy for the new thing and therefore we will always have the popular clothes because we are easily manipulated into buying "the next new thing."
     This has given me a stronger glimpse of what I'm trying to get at with this topic: Why I wear what I wear each day.  It has showed me some of the things I'm influenced by and that the weather may not be just the strongest asset in the choice of your clothing.  

Explanation

      I do not know why or how I chose this topic.  It just came to me one day.  In no sort of way am I interested in fashion, but the fact of how we decide what we want to wear each day amazes me.  It seems like such a small, quick daily task that should only take a few seconds.  But in reality the choice is more thought out and planned naturally by the time you have already gotten out of bed, or started to think about that day.

Lady GaGa

     Generally the weather is the first thing that I think about when I decided what clothes to wear.  Next was my activities for the day.  I have learned that subconsciously I choose to wear different shoes depending strictly on my activities for the day.  The decision is almost automatic and I do not even think about it.

     One of the biggest issues I have with this topic is that it seems very specific and not vague enough for creativity.  But I have found no real trouble so far.  I have very much enjoyed writing about it so far and learning about how I am pretty stubborn and specific about the certain clothes I wear on certain days (Ex. I'll only wear my duck boots with Nike crew socks and long Khakis or blue jeans; or the fact that I do not wear undershirts as of last year (I have yet to figure out why)). 

      What I have been hoping to get out of this since the beginning is what I have gotten out of it so far: a deeper understanding of myself.  The fact that every human is making this "small" decision everyday blows my mind, because the thought of such a universal action at a universal time strikes me a crazy.  The thoughts running through some peoples' head's (Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, etc.) are much much deeper than we assume.

      I'm stoked to see where this topic continues to lead me, it has been interesting to analyze and think about this on a daily basis.

Miley Cyrus