From animal skin and fur, grasses and leaves to textiles and fabrics;
clothes have come a long way from just a protection for our body to a symbol of our inner world! Are clothes just pieces of shaped and stitched fabrics? Are they a reflection of who we are? Or furthermore, is it possible if those clothes could be companions of our lives?
Ever since birth, I’ve been wearing and changing clothes all the time. You could say I took them for granted and never gave much thought to them until yesterday. Of course, I had to think about compatibility with the situation and all, but I mostly wore clothes to provide myself some physical comfort and to cover my “private parts” in public.
So, yesterday when I was in a public transport, there were few people sitting in front of me. I don’t really look at other peoples clothes that much but those people were wearing quite old clothes. Somehow, theirs looked very clean and neat whereas mine was more of a combination of rugged fabrics. It was very embarrassing to be wearing fresh clothes and still look not as good as people wearing old ones. That’s when I started to seriously think about my appearance and my choices in clothing.
I’ve spent a whole day trying to find the answers to my questions. In the end, I came up with few conclusions. In my opinion, clothes have only two main functions in our lives. Their first function is to serve as a protection from external harm (natural elements, rough surfaces, bacteria, harmful insects/plants). And their second function is to help us establish proper communication with other people.
Most probably all of you will say something like “OMG! That’s the second biggest discovery after America!”. Haha, it might sound so simple and plain but I believe it will be more interesting if we go a bit deeper into these two functions. Clothes can really help us to have a great life, but that can only be done if we find a balance between these functions. That balance doesn’t just come from what you want to wear today but it requires at least some basic knowledge in fashion and psychology. Also, you need some understanding of your own body structure along with the situation where you will be in. It might sound insignificant but learning the chemistry of clothes and applying it to your life can greatly boost your emotions and awareness to a higher level.
Physically speaking, if you don’t wear the right clothes in accordance with your environment, the consequences can be quite nasty. The effects can come right away, or they show up after weeks, months, years and even to your children. When I think about how a small decision, like what to wear today can have so much effect on me and on people who are close to me on the long run, it feels funny and a bit scary. That is why measuring twice and cutting once should be practiced at any given situation.
Psychologically speaking, just as a fine-tuned musical instrument is always pleasant to our ears, clothes can make us look more vibrant because they tune our mood and personality. They don’t just show others what we are wearing but they can also passively influence on our thoughts and actions, which is why our choices of clothes can drastically change the outcome of our days.
When it comes to colors, it is best to know what specific color we like. It’ll help us if we wear clothes of that color as often as we can. It's like when you listen to songs which you do not like, you don't really feel pleasant, but as soon as you hear your “beat”, you feel relaxed and at the same time, emotionally heightened. Your favorite color has a similar effect, it gives you comfort and amplifies your personality. But black clothes are not meant to be worn every day as they confine our emotions.
Our confidence is somehow dependent on how much care we put into what we wear. So, instead of having mountains of shirts, pants, jackets, socks and shoes in your wardrobe, it’s much better to have few clothes which you really like wearing. With all your work and attention divided into each of them, your appearance will be as much good as to that portion of care you’ve put into your clothes.
Lastly, I wish to say that the most essential parts of our lives are the simplest things, which we often tend to overlook. The reason why sometimes we have problems in our lives is often related to how well we've built our foundation. You may feel like you know how to dress well but a bit of study, experiments and some care with your clothes can truly bring out some positive changes to you and to your surroundings. Careful planning and paying attention to every little detail in life is so necessary that even the Romans used to say something like "The careless engineer invites death".