The shoe icon, Imelda Marcos once said, “I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes. I had one thousand and sixty.” True to these famous words, human beings are materialistic creatures by nature. Trends, designer labels, fashion week, glossy magazines, gossip themed television shows, among many other things seem to be the craze of not only women, but men as well nowadays. People cannot seem to get enough of red carpet fashion faux pas, who wore what, who designed what who wore, etc. It does not even matter at times if she was just walking her pet pooch or having lunch out with a friend, society’s eyes are on how he or she looked like. Did she sport the latest by Marc Jacobs or Diane von Furstenberg? Was she wearing under garments? Somebody else wore that very same top last week, and since she put some weight on it looks awful on her! These are a few of the millions of remarks that we get to read on the internet in response to a Hollywood star’s photo posted on a website. It seems that people are judging others based on their clothes, based on what their paychecks can cram into their closets. However, there is more to this than what meets the eye. Personal worth can never be measured just by scrutinizing an individual’s clothes, but it can reflect one’s personality, or what one’s activity is going to be.
Clothing is an essential need for human beings. Physiologically, clothes protect us from the extremes of weather. We get to wear bulky or furry coats, boots, and mittens, to protect us from the cold, and during exposure to the sun’s rays we wear cotton long sleeved tops to serve as protection. But times have changed. One cannot wear just a coat or just a jacket if it isn’t included in Chanel’s winter runway show. Practicality has been dethroned by style, designer label, and tag price.
Dressing oneself should not be all about one’s outside appearance. Just because a person is clad in Michael Kor’s, it does not mean that he or she is better than everybody who is not wearing what he or she has on. Albeit outside appearance can account for how other people react or interact with you, it does not account for who you are. Of course, people would want to talk to a person who looks clean, with neatly pressed clothes, and with polished hair. Also, potential employers would want their employees looking sharp and well presented everyday at work. But these are all part of the presentation, and not what makes one a person.
In dressing oneself, one should consider where one is going, or what activities one is to encounter during the day. One cannot be wearing fitted jeans when one is going jogging. The clothes should also reflect their personalities by choosing their favorite colors and their personal styles. Sometimes, our clothes do not have to contain more than 3 digits in their tag prices. This is because there are cheaper clothes that possess the same style and quality, without making our credit cards bleed.
Personal worth cannot be seen nor can it be reflected from what one is wearing. We have seen how people with fat paychecks have worn designer clothes and yet have behaved less than that of a person. I deem that what clothing reflects is the individual’s personality. Clothes can be used as a form of self-expression. Some are comfortable wearing flirty dresses, some want to wear flip-flops; others are laid back with sneakers and a pair of snug fit jeans. Some are conservative with long sleeved collared tops and slacks; others cannot get enough of tank tops. Personal worth cannot be measured at all, but it can take the shape of a person’s achievements, friends, and most of all loved ones. A famous Broadway song says, “Measure your life in love.”
