Clothes Make the Man

Carin Miller 01/29/09
Reaction Essay

“Apart from the chameleon, man is the only animal who can change his skin to suit his background. Indeed, if he is to function successfully he must do so.....
When a child puts a chameleon down to the earth and it does not turn brown we know the creature is seriously ill.”~Alison Lurie

I think there is something to be said for Alison Lurie's astute analogy. People are quite like chameleons. I find that to be true more often than not. We change to suit our environments. Have you ever had a group of friends outside of you “circle”? A whole other circle of people you only would show a particular representative too. This representative looks like you, sounds like you, but that's where the similarities end.This other personification of your Self is still you, no? I am sure that it is. Just a different side of you.

This side of you can say, critique a piece of art. In this environment you can relax and speak your mind about art and know that others, although they may differ in opinion, still comprehend the basics of the language. They know what leading lines are, if there is a staccato vibe, or if the piece feels is more legato? You know that when you are with a group of other art aficionado's everyone there can speak the same language. Here we feed the hunger of our minds, but is this what defines you? No, this is just that particular translation of you.

Inside lurking there is yet another personality dying to get out. This externalization of an alter ego is quite comfortable hanging out at home talking smack with his peeps, eating pizza on the couch, and having burping contests. Try talking about kinesthetic empathy with these guys. They'll look at you like you have horns growing out of your head. So, you conform to meet the needs and expectations of said group. This identity is the laid back, less sophisticated, version of the doppelganger.

Why do we do this? It is my contention that the phenomena is not so much related to ones need for acceptance, which may be your first suspicion, but more over an inexplicable urge to connect. Humans place a great deal of value on connectivity and
we tend to do the things we need to in order to connect with the right people to further our path or goal.

You might say “that seems selfish.” and you would be right. If you ask me though, I think we have a right to be just a little selfish, and we as humans are by nature. If you buy into the whole “Survival of the Fittest” theory than you know we have to be selfish, simply to survive. Selfishness is the only way to fulfill our needs.

I think there is more to it than that though. I sincerely believe that our ability to blend into any given situation allows us opportunities to grow and gain perspective on not only the world around us but who we are inside. I look forward to each new personification of my former self as I continue to evolve into “what some day will surely be, the me I'm meant to be.”

The fact is when you dress in a certain style you attract other people who have similar tastes as you. People assume that if you dress like them then you must have the same tastes in other things as well. It only makes sense.

I think my clothes can say different things about me every day. Sometimes they might say, “I am FABULOUS!” and other times they might say things like, “Auughh, morning came waay to early today.” Either way I am sending a message to a receiver. How that receiver decodes and then interprets that information is only known by them. All I can do is hope, when it all comes out in the end, I haven't been misread.