What does your attire say about you?
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Despite this post being about clothing, unusually I have let the "Man on the Lilypad" loose on the blog .... be kind to him!
‘the apparel doth oft proclaim the man' We all know the famous Shakespearean proverb don’t we... that well known quote that helps remind us and others that we do, and have always judged people's character by the clothes they wear.
Well following a conversation I had recently with my lovely wife – the driving force behind the Little Liliy pad I felt compelled to delve into this concept a little deeper and share my thoughts. In our house it is a running joke that there is a never ending conveyor belt of clothing purchases arriving at the door, I live with 3 girls that all love to shop and my wife-for as long as I have known her has always presented herself immaculately at all times, in fact her impeccible appearance was one of the things that attracted me to her in the first place!
So if Shakespeare’s quote has echoed through the ages, is there still judgement made about what people wear now in the modern 21st century, in the age of dress down Fridays and the late great Steve Job's signature casual roll neck sweaters? Another literary heavyweight offered further reinforcement with ‘Clothes make a man. Naked people have little or no influence on society’, which to some degree explains a few things about the society we live in. As great as it is to have the ‘take me as you find me’ mentality the clothes we wear do actually say a lot about us as a person. They can inform strangers of your type of employment, emotional state, personality and ambitions and also spending habits and affluence.
I recently purchased a series of new suits, I work in the corporate world and have always wanted to project a certain perception to colleagues and the new clients I meet, I find a well tailored, classic mens suit helps do that – it says I have put thought into my appearance and you should take me seriously, just like the skirt suit or dress & blazer for ladies, its timeless, classic and suits nearly all body types. As I don the blazer before a meeting it almost changes my mentality, that suit aids me..its a weapon in my arsenal even.
During our conversation at home it was this ‘feeling’ we got when we know we look a certain way that interested us, a lot of what my wife does is invisible to her clients behind a laptop, blogging, social media management and the many other aspects of the Lilypad mean her client s don’t necessarily see her but she rarely looks anything other than professional. Clearly our casual and work attire is as much about self perception as a social and economic indicator to others. I wonder if people who work at home would find they are more successful if they kicked off the casual clothes or pj’s and slippers during that 9-5pm window and put ‘work’ clothes on?
I read recently about a study where a generic white coat was given to 2 groups of test subjects, one group was told it was a doctors lab coat and the other group were told it was a painters smock…guess which group completed their allotted tasks with more care and attention – clothes clearly do influence our mindset!
So, tomorrow and the next day and the next when the parcels get delivered and the regular response of “what, this old thing?” rings out I shall just smile as always, as in our case we are more Mark Twain than William Shakespeare!
