“Dressing addresses you!” That’s what my friend Ishmael Dawcter, known as Taku, will always tell me if she sees me wearing this other small dress of mine with my leggings inside. According to Taku, “If you see a soldier, police officer, nurse and or a prostitute, you already know who they are because of their dress code.
For Taku, outside the obvious there is nothing.
To justify that Taku always gives me a list of
quotations of which most were informed by the Chinese proverb. Abroad we Judge the dress, at home we judge the man. He also quoted Susan Sommers, the author of 'Italian Chic
and French Chic' and "Although they are only a snapshot of who you are,
you have a very small window to get it right," who posited that We
are judged on first impressions. These images are imprinted in the brain,"
For Taku “First impressions can be lasting, and for
employees heading into a new culture, a successful transition can mean 'head to
toe” He stated that in business overdressing is bad, pointing to Sommers quotation that
"If you are in competition for the
position, the expat who can fit into the new culture well will be the one to
triumph.”
However,
while agree with some of the arguments he brought up, I did differ with his
opinions, particularly the idea that people are judged or addressed by how they
are dressed. I feel dressing can never be used to justify one’s identity, especially
in this and day and age where fashion can be a form of escapism.
It is common among
our families, societies, churches, schools and many other institutions that
spear head socialisation to judge others based on how they are dressed without knowing anything or much about
them. They only judge them according to their physical appearance. But what of those people who hide their
reality by dressing in certain styles.
