Category: Unit 05

What I wear should reflect what I wear but it doesn’t completely. I tend to dress in a casual manner most of the time. If my clothing doesn’t match perfectly it wont effect how I feel in them whatsoever. I don’t wear much customization other than hats that I think actually express myself well. I like to wear funny flat billed hats. Not the ones that say dumb lines on them but just any old school hat I find at garage sales is usually what I wear. For the most part I like being original and don’t like to follow trends which is probably why I  find myself shopping at goodwill. I don’t want to make myself sound cheap but rather explain that I don’t find a need to buy expensive clothing. Whether its from a gasoline company or has a racing logo, I wear hats primarily for their colors to go with what I wear.  What is on the hats doesn’t at all reflect how I feel or what I support. I wear hats backwards and forwards mostly because I can. Since I have played sports and go to church I feel like hats are the only other clothing piece that is reasonable for me to wear. Throughout my life I have progressed from wearing nice and proper clothing, to more comfortable and suiting clothing to my lifestyle. For example I used to wear nice button up shirts with new jeans and clean shoes,  but now I tend to wear random T-shirts comfortable khaki jeans and boat shoes with a hat. Based on my outfit choices I think I am often confused as a frat guy when in reality I am not and my goal is to give off a fun, inviting, worry free vibe. Whether this is working or not I really don’t care to know because I will probably continue to dress the same until I feel the need to change. I also wear glasses which can be surprising to some that are used to seeing me in different hats. Although I don’t wear my  perscription glasses with hats because it looks odd, and I feel like I am wearing too much. Other than glasses, hats and regular clothing there is not really any other body adornments that signify my beliefs. I usually like to leave that up to my personality.

My family has grown up as Christians and this specific aspect has governed the way our family works. My parents have always been protective over the clothing I wear, meaning they would never support profanity, piercing, tattoos, or any un-modest clothing choices. My mother always tends to wear a necklace or bracelet that has to do with our religion in addition to bright and colorful outfits. Both of my parents dress nicely as if they are going to church at any moment. I feel the way my family dresses gives off core beliefs such as religion, organization, humor, expressiveness,  professionalism, and trust. I think all of these beliefs are shown in the jewelry, clothing and other attributes of dress. My parents outfits are organized and this clothing resembles the rest of their house and careers. My mom regularly wears exciting clothing that represents her belief to be expressive and unique, a belief that I think I gained from her. My dad dresses more professional and has instilled this motive of being professional into our family.

The peers around me have really motivated me to not dress as similar to my parents because of how influential they are. These peers I would consider to be my closest friends. They have always shown beliefs of originality, humor and style. I think that these aspects have caused my decisions of clothing to become less structured and more original and fun. My peers wear less sports team clothing, and more random stylish clothing that expresses beliefs of originality. A couple of my peers wear hats but I have mostly started this adornment to contribute to the belief of originality. My peers also are not afraid to wear wigs and funny shirts that say outlandish quotes. This aspect of humor has influenced me to wear some clothing that my parents might disagree with. there is nothing un-modest, but rather clothing that my parents would see as unnecessary. I think my peers and family equally influence myself in the clothing I wear. Overall  I would order  my motives for my clothing as expressive, humorous, modest, original, and fun. Although I value all of the beliefs and traits of my family and peers there will always be a goal for myself to be different in the way that I dress than both of these groups.

I took over an hour today to people watch. At first I was concerned that it would be weird but then I realized that most all of us do this on a regular basis unknowingly. At the Market of Choice I was able to find a few people to analyze and try to speculate what their beliefs were. The first person I saw was actually sitting in a dining booth in front of me and looked almost bored. He was wearing a pretty worn out jacket, had dreads, and was had a smartphone in his hands. If he wasn’t texting someone I would have considered this man being homeless, because of the tattered clothing and hairstyle. I think he could have had or is having a rougher life just because people don’t usually dress in such clothing unless they had to. I feel Eugene does have more people who dress in this way so he could have just been wearing a look. From his appearance I would assume he probably has done drugs or at least smoked cigarettes. He didn’t seem angry but again rather bored so he could also have been waiting for someone. I feel he probably wasn’t religious but I never like to assume that towards people. I think he was a nice person who has been through some rough times.

The next person who I analyzed was a woman who was about  50 years old. Based on the location of Market of choice I assumed that she had enough money to shop here because she was buying groceries to eat. She was an average looking woman with nice clothing. She had a nice blue shirt on tucked into a light tan skirt that went to her feet. Based on this outfit I assumed that she was most likely on the modest side and probably had a respectful and genuine personality. I feel as if she had a family and could have been religious based on the necklace she was wearing. I couldn’t tell what it was but it was a small beaded necklace with a figure on the bottom. She also had a shorter hair cut which for me makes me already feel more comfortable towards her. This could be because of some family members of mine who also have short hair but she looked friendly none the less. I think she has a successful career and a family based on how nice her purse was also. She easily could be a teacher or child care manager based on how she smiled.

The third person was someone sitting outside with his dog. He was more than likely homeless and I could watch him from the inside window of Market of Choice. This man had much worse clothing the first man I described. He didn’t have a sign which I would usually expect. But it looked as if he was just sitting there for much of the day pondering what he wanted to do next. His clothing was all browns and tans except for his black scuffed boots. He looked content and at ease from his facial expressions. I couldn’t tell what is hair looked like because it was tucked inside of his beanie but his shortened facial hair was a darker brown. He looked tan which would bring me to assume he has been exposed to sunlight often which also makes me feel he is still homeless. He had a nose piercing and but had surprisingly white teeth. I know Eugene has a pretty diverse crowd and I would put him in the younger homeless group. I feel like he might travel a lot because his backpack looked pretty well organized with straps and bags. None the less he seem like he would have had family issues or possibly never had a family but he seemed composed and sane which can be uncommon for homeless people. He didnt have a dirty face but I feel like he could have done drugs before. He was a man on his own but I think he was okay with it because he didn’t look concerned. he’s still able to feed his dog so hopefully he will be off of the streets soon.