Fashion Psychology - by Jolinda de Klerk

Fashion psychology

BY Jolinda de Klerk

3rd year BA Fashion student

“I like my money where I can see it, hanging in my closet.”- Sarah Jessica Parker.
Have you ever thought why you chose your clothes and what motivated your sense of taste in clothing? Interesting enough our decision in what to wear today is far deeper than, “because I like it.” Everything around you influences you!

The first influence starts in your parents’ house; the way in which you’ve been raised, the culture you have been exposed to, the special need there is to be clothed. Subsequently culture allows you to buy different types of clothing. For example in some African cultures, women aren’t allowed to wear pants so those women will never purchase a pair of jeans. Another example is woman in the east- they wear abayas so they will not purchase a statement T-shirt because they aren’t allowed to wear it without their abaya over it.
Modesty is a standard regarding certain areas of the body to be covered and this is the second influence. This can change. When looking back to 30 years ago, women wore a lot more clothing than they do now. Having underwear showing, like bra straps when wearing strappy tops, today is seen as normal unlike a few years ago where it would have been frowned upon. I personally feel that pop culture plays a huge role on what is accepted in society today. When an A- list celebrity wears something, everybody wants to wear it. Why? It is because they sell and represent a lifestyle. So, for arguments sake, let’s say a celebrity wants their bra to show when choosing her outfit, it will reflect her personal taste and her lifestyle. By her wearing her outfit like that, she is making it acceptable to her fan base and therefore they will apply this new look to their lifestyles as well.

The third influence is adornment. We dress to impress. How you will be influenced by this point is subjected to your age, gender, relationship status, sexual attraction and what you are willing to do to enhance your body.
Thus, in my opinion, this is what goes through your mind in that split second before you take that piece of clothing off the shelf:
-Is it acceptable to my culture?
-Is it covering up what I want to cover?
-Is it age appropriate?
-Is this made for a man or a woman?
-Is this acceptable in my social group?
-Will it enhance my body (will it fit me? is this my size?)

The final point I would like to make is that media and advertising are definitely influencing factors when choosing what to purchase. The more you see something, the faster you get used to it and the more you are likely to want it. This mostly results in a final purchase.

                                                                                                             

Therefore, we can see that our taste and what we buy get influenced by a lot of different aspect of our lives. From how we were raised to what the media tells us to wear depict our final choice. So, do we actually have a say in what we like? Do we know why we like that specific garment? What about that garment makes it attractive to us? It is difficult to answer those questions but, what I can say is that our taste was just influence by the psychology of fashion.

Image reference: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/397090892115069929/
Image reference:  http://www.pinterest.com/pin/483996291175869206/