Original Post:

My style has changed a lot over the years.  Now that I am in college, I am trying to dress in a more sophisticated manner because I will soon be in the business world.  In high school, I was more concerned with what I wore because I felt it was necessary to fit in.  Having good style was a key element to being grouped with “the popular kids.”  Looking back, I realize how caught up I was with changing myself, style included, so that my friends and boys would like me.  Now that I am in college, I am less concerned with changing my appearance for other people and more concerned with how I feel about myself.  I go to class dressed for comfort, usually in sweatpants or workout attire.  I think that because I grew up in Los Angeles, I felt the pressure to be more stylish and wear more expensive clothing.  Living in Eugene has made me more down to earth, which has definitely impacting the way I dress.

Currently, I do not have any tattoos or out of the ordinary piercings.  Having tattoos is fairly frowned upon in the Jewish religion.  Although I am not extremely religious, this factor has stopped me from getting tattoos.  My parents were also very against me getting a tattoo both because of the religious aspect as well as the unprofessionalism.  Four years ago, my ten year old cousin passed away from brain cancer.  After her passing, my mom got Alexa’s name tattooed on her wrist.  Even though it is against our tradition, my mom felt it was appropriate in this situation.  Ever since, I have wanted to get the same tattoo.  I have not yet, but I plan to in the future.  I think this proves how close my family is and how special each member is.

My family has instilled many values that have stuck with me throughout my life and that impact my dress.  Both of my parents are very hard workers and they have made sure to raise me in that manner.  They have also made sure that I am a respectful and confident person.  I try and dress that way both to please my parents as well as keep a good reputation.  People judge others by their appearance on a daily basis and it is important to be aware of that.  I would not want to be dressed in a provocative manner because on any given day, I could meet someone who could potentially have a big influence in my life; for example a future spouse or business associate.

I surround myself with friends that have similar values as me.  I have joined a sorority, which has helped me to associate myself with people like myself.  In addition, our sorority has helped to instill its own values in us.  My favorite line in our symphony is “to be womanly always.”  This is my favorite line because it is applicable to any aspect of life.  I believe that it definitely applies to that way in which one dresses.  Each individual could choose to dress in a “trashy” way but that is not womanly.  When we go to chapter, we are always in on our best behavior and wearing conservative, professional attire.  In other settings, my friends and I are usually dressed in comfortable clothes that allow us to be comfy in class and not distracted.  Comfort and class are definitely two values that influence the clothing that I choose.  I also try to never be too over the top.  I really value simplicity, so I never wear too much make-up and when I do wear make-up, it is usually natural tones.  I think that most of my friends share this value with me because no one is ever dressed in outrageous clothes or covered in make-up. I think my community in Los Angeles is more interested in fashion than the Eugene community.  Just in the range of 15-20 minutes of my house, we have four major malls that are always busy.  Since I live in a town pretty close to the beach, many people wear dresses and cute skirts.  I noticed that those types of clothes are extremely popular and people want to look cute and fit in, so that is what they wear. I think my community’s values are similar to mine. If I evaluate my group of friends and what I think their values are, I would assume family would be their number one as well. Everyone is extremely family oriented in my community and it allows people to keep their values in check.

Reflection:

This was my favorite assignment of the term because it allowed me to look into my style, culture, and values.  We often do not consider ourselves to be pieces of art but our body is a blank canvas and we dress it the way we feel.  It was interesting to look back to college and think about how my style of clothing has changed but my values have not.  In high school I was preoccupied with my clothing and the brands that I wore but in college I dress for comfort.  Yet, I have always wanted a tattoo and still cannot part with the fact that my religion tells me it is wrong.

I think that this reflection definitely helped meet the objectives of this unit.  I needed to take a look into my values and how those manifest in how I present myself to the rest of the world.  In Sander’s article it states, “People construct their appearance in a wide variety of ways to control their social identities, self-definitions, and interactional prospects” (Sanders 3).  I find this quote to be extremely true and relate-able.  Our bodies and what we put on them are our best expression of our mood, identity, and how we view ourselves.  You can tell if someone is promiscuous, religious, gothic etc.  It is also interesting to think about how our parents dressed and how it has changed over the generations.

Future:

In the future, I hope that I can continue to look past what people wear and how they present themselves.  However, first impressions mean a lot and I hope that I will continue to represent myself in a way that I am comfortable with and that is true to my identity.

Sanders, C. R. (1989). Introduction: Body Alteration, Artistic Production, and the Social World of Tattooing. In Customizing the Body (pp. 1-35). Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.