Day 11 - Count to Seven, Plus or Minus Two

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One of my favorite reality TV shows (and it's hardly a reality, but it isn't a drama, a comedy, news, or a talk show, so I guess what is left as a descriptor is reality) is Project Runway and its spinoff, Project Runway Allstars. Sometimes I try to hide this side of me; after all, I was a serious diplomat, not a flighty fashion follower. But I have to admit, now that I live in California instead of the District of Columbia metropolitan area, I get to dress differently and wear my hair differently from what was usual in DC. And I like that.

Mark Twain is credited with saying, “Clothes make the man.  Naked people have little or no influence on society.”  Today I would like to explore the influence of the clothes we wear and suggest some reasons for that influence.  I would also like to share my secret of making sure I am properly dressed for work each day.  It is as simple as counting to seven, plus or minus two.

Image by zorkminos via Flickr

Do clothes influence us? Clearly, I believe they do. A very early memory from elementary school is the first example of that influence. I don't recall just why I was at an evening Parent Teacher Association meeting that night. Maybe it was the time my fifth grade teacher was determined that our class would finally earn distinction as having the highest percentage of parents attending the meeting. That was when she had us write a play (which she edited heavily to correct our historical inaccuracies) and then present it for all the parents at a PTA meeting. But what I remember from that meeting was the other part of the program - when the high school principal talked with the parents about not judging students on their appearance alone. To illustrate, he had the lights lowered in the auditorium just as three boys entered the room. They were dressed in black leather jackets and boots with cleats that rang out with each step. They had chains hanging from their pockets, their hair was slicked up and back, and they were wearing sunglasses. The 1950's version of Hells Angels in small town America. After a few minutes, the boys left and returned at the end of the principal's talk, this time wearing suits, white shirts, ties, and well-shined shoes. I don't know how many of the parents got the message, but I did. Clothes matter.

Image by SmithGreg via Flickr

Have you read John T. Molloy’s Dress for Success books?  Since the mid-70’s his books have reported on experiments conducted where men and women wore different styles of clothing to work and reported on how people reacted to them. Most often, the women who noticed the improvement in their colleagues' treatment of them when they wore "success" clothing stopped taking part in the experiments because they liked that treatment and didn't want to give it up.

If you need more convincing, Google the phrase “Dress for Success.”  When I did, the first 67 pages all included the full phrase, not just “dress” or “success.”

           

Why do clothes influence us?

Historically, clothing worn identified one’s occupation or status.  Some still do. Imagine the following people going about their business without their "uniforms": clergy, soldiers, doctors and nurses, doormen, chefs, or bus drivers. Uniforms, aka clothing styles, are signs of belonging and serve to help us recognize one another.  In contrast, in Romania I couldn’t tell the doctors from the patients or the street sweepers from the professors – a deliberate attempt to blur the divisions among citizen comrades.

Uniforms provide a sense of tradition.

Image by Kristi Lady via Flickr

What’s my secret to knowing I am dressed for success? I don't have a uniform, but I do have a trick to make sure I am dressed up enough - neither under- nor overdressed. And it is as simple as counting to seven, plus or minus two.  Here’s how (at least for women):

• 1 point for each different fabric of my clothes,
• 1 more point for each fabric that has a pattern,
• 1 point for shoes (I don't consider flip flops or running shoes as "shoes"),
• 1 more point for open toes,
• 1 point for stockings/hosiery,
• 1 more point if stockings/hosiery are patterned, and 
• 1 point for each accessory I don’t normally wear (which eliminates points for wedding rings and watches, unless the watch is a novelty worn only occasionally).

Try it out.  What’s your score today?

What’s the plus or minus 2 for?

• Women – It’s OK to get to 9 (plus 2)
• Men – It’s OK to get only to 5 (minus 2)

 “Clothes and manners do not make the man; but, when he is made, they greatly improve his appearance.”  Henry Ward Beech.

“Clothes don’t tell the character of the man, but they just as well talk for him as against him.”  Anonymous

“When you meet a man, you judge him by his clothes; when you leave, you judge him by his heart.”  Russian proverb.