Research on Fashion as a Language

This article inquires on the effects of clothing on the thought processes. It was featured in the New York Times and is entitled "Clothes and Self-Perception". The journalist is looking more deeply into clothes as sort of an experience, and most people believe that your experiences shape who you are. In this essence isn't your wardrobe a factor in your character and personality as well?

<-What does this Fashion Statement from R&B/Pop performing artist Rihanna suggest about her?

"If you wear a white coat that you believe belongs to a doctor, your ability to pay attention increases sharply. But if you wear the same white coat believing it belongs to a painter, you will show no such improvement. So scientists report after studying a phenomenon they call enclothed cognition: the effects of clothing on cognitive processes." Read more at http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/clothes-and-self-perception.html

•  http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/science/clothes-and-self-perception.html?_r=1&
•  http://www.forbes.com/sites/learnvest/2012/04/03/what-your-clothes-say-about-you/
•  http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/02/fashion/02terms.html?_r=1&

                                                            Annotated Bibliography

• Baumgartner, Jennifer J. "The InsideOut Connection: Discovering the Psychology of Dress." Introduction. You Are What You Wear: What Your Clothes Reveal about You. Boston: Da Capo, 2012. Ix-Xiv. Print.

This novel strives to persuade others that there is a link between our daily wardrobe and how we are perceived by ourselves and others. It discusses the psychological aspects to the reasons we choose to wear what we do. The author uses examples from the people that she has worked with as a psychologist and wardrobe consultant to show readers the meanings behind our wardrobe perception and what it tells others about who we are. The working function of this novel is to prove that fashion is a language and to give readers a guide on how to take control of their wardrobe and control of their lives. Using past clients as an example is way for the author to create multiple situations that every reader will possibly be able to relate to. This was a very effective section of the novel because it was her claim to the link between psychology and dress. The remainder of the novel is a list of examples from the author’s own personal experience as to why this link is actually true. She also uses the fact that she has a Ph.D. in psychology so that the audience will see her credibility to speak on the topic. The evidence found here in this novel provides the link between psychology and dress, thus proving that our wardrobe sends messages to others about us and that fashion is, in fact a language.

• Dictionary.com. "Language." Def. 5. Dictionary.com Unabridged. N.d. Web. 11 Nov. 2012. <http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/language>.

This entry defines language as “any system of formalized symbols, signs, sounds, gestures, or the like used or conceived as a means of communicating thought, emotion, etc.” Even though this entry has nothing to do with fashion, wardrobe, or perception, it most closely matches what the idea of fashion as a language is. This was the 5^th and final entry for the definition of language and every other entry was centered on something that led to spoken and written communication. I favored that the definition expresses language as anything that is used or conceived as a means of communicating thought and emotion. Fashion would meet the qualification of what language is based on this meaning. I did not like that the entire entry made it seem as if language must be written or spoken words that are similar within a specific group of people. There are many other forms of communication other than words and symbols that are used day by day. These other methods are sometimes even universal means of communication, like fashion.

• LearnVest. "What Your Clothes Say About You." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 03 Apr. 2012. Web. 11 Nov. 2012.

This article is a detailed report of an interview with Dr. Jennifer Baumgartner as she provides a summary of her novel “You are what you wear: What your clothes reveal about you.” The article also gives results from a study that tested “enclothed cognition”. Enclothed cognition is a term that defines the “systematic influence that clothes have on the wearer’s psychological processes”. The article stresses that your wardrobe not only speaks to others, but it also sends messages to the wearer about themselves. I agree with the reports in this article from Dr. Baumgartner as well as the results of the study that the researchers from Northwestern University found. The study proves my argument that if you dress the way you want to feel, you will end up feeling that way. The article also claims that “putting on a costume facilitates expression of character”, and that statement interests me to look further into whether or not a person dresses in a way to express who they are or who they want to be. There is a possibility that both statements are true in that we sometimes do both, depending on the day and how we are feeling. This article was the first one I found that really got me wondering more about this topic.

• Trans. William Thourlby. "You Are What You Wear." You Are What You Wear: The Science of the Motion Picture and Television Wardrobe Department. New York, NY: Forbes/Wittenburg & Brown, 1989. 1-17. Web. 20 Nov. 2012.

This book expresses the connection between what you wear and your status in the workforce and in the world itself. It is a report of the motion picture industry’s study of the science of clothing. The author stresses that first impressions mean everything and that they will always be remembered regardless of any subsequent encounters. In this section, the reader is given a list of 10 possible judgments that will be made about them during the first impression based solely on their appearance. Thourlby creates hypothetical situations in which an appropriate wardrobe can help you just as much as an inappropriate wardrobe can hinder you in the workforce. He insists that we must dress for where we want to be, not where we are in our lives presently. I do not agree with this particular statement or this section because it implies that we must live beyond our means in order to make it to the status that we achieve to acquire in our career and in our lives. The author is accurate in the aspect of our wardrobe sending impressions to the people around us, but I do not believe that wearing a plain suit every time we see our boss could cause us to miss out on gaining a promotion because in the field, performance speaks for itself.