Clothing is something that has been an oddball issue for me, I think, in comparison of the average individual. The more time I have spent designing my own apparel brand, the more I have developed a sense of unique fashion perspective. Clothes are an incredible subject – because clothes have such a drastic impact on the human psyche in all different cultures. They play a role that underneath our immediate awareness is so huge, I am amazed there is not more research to be found on clothing. Of all of the material I have seen online, it seems to me that artists have the best, or even the most scientific, understanding of clothing and how it is perceived in the mind.

But that is not to say there is not a good deal of science that has studied the effect of clothes on the mind, or the effect of clothes in different cultures. In an article I have written previously, Dress for Success – How Others Perceive You From Your Clothes, I talked a little bit about some of the research that has been done and publicly released, like John T. Molloy’s Dress for Success book. It was determined that a solid navy blue suit is the most acceptable and likeable suit to wear that will be global to all different places and cultures.

Intuitive social analysis is another process I have written about before. ISA, for short, ISA is the method of using subconscious deductive reasoning to analyze and interpret the personality characteristics of another person’s visual information. Or, in other words, it was that dreaded idea that everyone warns us about that says we should never judge someone simply by looking at them. On a particular level, though, I seemed to have proven, if only to myself, that this activity can actually be accurate, and be accurate more often that one would intitially expect. Clothes play a significant role in the process of ISA. Or in any kind of subsconscious evaluations of another person, clothes play a huge role.

For some people, clothes are the everyday pieces that you wear to get yourself through the day without breaking the law. For others, it is an elaborate part of their lives where they give a substantial amount of energy to making sure every corner of fabric is showing them off. I live in Houston, Texas, and like many other major urban societies, it is a place filled with Abercrombie zombies and Hollister clones of the 14-25 age range. Most of the major clothing labels and companies you’ll find in shopping malls will permanently change the face of a particular area’s populace: young people will start giving each new company that moves in with a store free advertising by wearing basic looking t-shirts and polo shirts with the company’s name on it.

Older people are a different story. For each decade a person ages, there will correspondingly be a shift in the clothes that they wear, due in part to both their perception of themselves at a particular age, as well as the clothes that are available to that demographic. What an interesting thought – people will begin wearing certain clothes because of how the clothes are designed for those people, but the design may not matter because it may be one of the only things that is practically available. And that may be an important part here of how clothes work in the society, as well as their impact on the psyche. If kids are having to choose between mediocre, unattractive, conservative looking brands that are available through places like Target and Wal-Mart, then they are given the option of being considered cool if they buy something at the mall – where is the money from their wallets going?

Each major brand you can find at your local mall has a massive, powerful marketing machine working for them to brainwash any customer that walks in. For example, both American Eagle and Abercrombie plaster images of young, physically fit, smiling, and sexy and/or provocative young adults modeling their clothes. But not just modeling the clothes, oh no, these are what you call “lifestyle brands,” and as a result, each picture tells a story of being on the beach, where the guys get attractive girls, and they play volleyball seemingly for no reason at all. The clothes are often designed to tease, but not tease at the same time. They look scanty, but at the same time modestly casual. In any case, the marketing research and the creative design that goes into each one of these brands has been thought out without a single “T” uncrossed, and a single “I” that has not been dotted. Walking in and also seeing the in-store lighting, hearing the target market music, or in the case of Abercrombie: smelling cheap cologne, I had to give it to ‘em – they’re geniuses.

I think there is something else at work to all of it, though. Why is it that a particular way blue jeans fall over the shoe will look so much more sleek and sexy than a different way? Why is it that one body type in one sort of style will be commonly more attractive than a different body type in the same thing? There is a science at work here, and it is also time we move on beyond simple attractiveness. Clothing and fashion is nothing less than art form; the clothes people are wearing are speaking volumes of information to the eye about their personality, their health, their wealth, their specialized characteristics that make them who they are.

What is interesting to note is that when it comes to the majority of the population, very few people are giving any sort of creative or intellectual thought to the clothes that they are wearing. Most kids or even older folks are out shopping for whatever looks “cute,” or whatever makes them simply look sharp. But why stop there? The entire idea, to me, behind clothing, is to express who you are, and in the world of fashion they say one of the primary purposes is a part of beauty itself – accentuate your best features and minimize your weaker ones.

Among most teenagers and college kids, apparel becomes one of the key principles to the formation and maintenance of any social clique; if you are wearing ‘preppy’ clothing then you are probably going to be, at least in part, disliked by those who do not wear it. Pre-judgment will happen every step of the way. At 19 years old, I have been fortunate enough to get around most of that problem by wearing my own brand, where even if I wear a preppy polo shirt, I am not considered preppy…because it’s my own brand. So then, that turns the entire perception of myself to others to that of a creative artist, rather than a mindless follower of a typical clique, subculture, or idealistic lifestyle brand. Much of the jargon surrounding clothing might be tiresome to some, but it is big money to the major corporations that are running that youth-coated marketing machine.

So the next time you take a stroll through your local shopping mall, I would like to ask that you give the issue some thought.  How does clothing affect the mind?  What does the clothing you and other people wear say about their personalities and psyche, both consciously and subconsciously?  How does commercial marketing for clothing work, and what marketing psychology is at play when you see ads for clothing everywhere you go?

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