Personal Reflection
The way we dress and represent ourselves is a clear factor of who we are and what are values and beliefs may be. I never really thought about the way I dress and how it reflects my values and beliefs. I always thought that I choose my clothes based on how it looks on me and what I think fits my style and personality. When I really think about it though, it all plays a factor in who I am as a person and what I believe in outside of my own personality and values.
When I think about the different clothes that I wear, I think about the styles and comfort factor for that specific time. For instance on a hot day, I enjoy wearing shorts and a comfortable loose shirt that allows good air flow so that I can be comfortable and not sweat. Yet, when I am going to class or have a professional meeting, I wear jeans, or khakis, with a button down shirt or a nice polo. This is to keep my professional look up to date so I can be taken seriously and be respected by whoever I am doing business with. I have realized that when you dress nice and professional, you feel professional and others see that in society. This has to do with my values and beliefs because growing up with two working parents who made sure to teach my siblings and I proper morals and how to be respected in society, we learned to follow their footsteps and make them proud. Not only do I do it for my parents, but also it’s for my own self. I grew up Jewish, going to synagogue on Saturdays and celebrating certain Jewish holidays with my Jewish community and my family. This really formed me as a person and allowed me to grow into my own man with my own beliefs and values. I feel as though you should treat others they way you would like to be treated and as cliché as that sounds, I really do believe that. What you give you will get back and if you continue to be a morally right person, it will take you really far in life.
When I think about the choices I make as to what clothes to buy and wear out, I think back to my childhood and how these clothe will best represent my personality. A quote that really stuck was “Fashion, like all other mechanisms of appearance alteration, is used symbolically to proclaim group membership and to signal voluntary exclusion from disvalued social categories.” (pg.4). Why this really got to me is because I don’t think that I dress in a way to proclaim group membership, although that is something that I see many people do. I like to think of myself as my own individual who dressed they way I want to dress depending on how in feeling in that specific moment. What’s interesting is how I have changed throughout my life, especially in the clothes I wear. When I was younger in middle school and high school, I really enjoyed wearing basketball shorts, tanks, and other sports like wear to fit in and also because it was comfortable. As I grew older I saw myself maturing more, veering away from basketball shorts and more into khaki shorts and polo’s. This was because it was time for me to grow up and represent myself as a mature man. I still enjoy wearing basketball shorts, but it’s the type of outfit that is worn in my own place rather then in public.
My family grew up with conservative values and tried to rely that to us by leading by example. My parents always wore respectable professional clothing that representing them as well respected working individuals. We also went to temple each week and viewed how others would dress. This allowed my siblings and I to catch on and understand how people perceive others with the way that the dress. I took this into consideration and thought about how I wanted people to perceive me. ““People use appearance to place each other into categories, which aid in the anticipation and interpretation of behavior, and to make decisions about how best to coordinate social activities” (Pg. 1). I identify myself as a nice American who tries to treat everyone kindly and represent who I am to the rest of the world. It’s only when you decide to lose yourself in a group and change that you are to fit in that your values and beliefs get skewed. It’s important to stay true to yourself and always represent the person that you are.