The Harvard Business School has released a study saying that sticking out in certain situations is actually good for how people perceive you. It's obvious that people convey certain status through visible markers and aesthetics. Translation: if you fancy, then you dress fancy.
But this particular study is less about why you dress fancy, and more about how others perceive the ways that you present yourself and your "status."
In the first portion of the study, scientists asked both pedestrians and shop assistants in Milan to "rate what they thought of people who walked into luxury stores wearing gym clothes. The subjects also rated those who wore outfits typically considered more appropriate, like a dress and fur coat."
The results are kind of surprising:
None
So the retail "experts" think that people are slumming it over to the luxury shops. Interesting, no?
These findings had the anti-stylish over at Gawker all up in a tizzy about how science now proves that those who care about how they look are actually considered of a lesser status than those who could give a shit. But yo, over here we're thinking that science proves what the style-conscoius have always known: giving no fucks is the best way to assert your personal style and individuality. Plus, if someone actually thinks you're a celebrity because you're rocking full cozy boi that day, then it's more likely the nanything else that they're just dumb.
To be judged initially on superficial codes and and visible markers is something that we all have to live through every day. Ideally, we should all approach this inevitability without any pre-conceived concerns of how we ourselves will be pegged.
Having good personal style means you're providing a reflection of who you are and how you wish to express yourself. It should not be a guess at what or how others are perceiving you. And if you actually do care what someone thinks about you, then hopefully you're the type of person who will go beyond intial perceptions and present the person you are, not the person others perceive you to be.
[via Wall Street Journal]
