The Connection of Clothes with Social and Economic Classes as in 'The Language of Clothes" - Paper Example

Wearing clothes to cover nudity has been the order of the day to explain why people cover their bodies with attires. However, associating clothes with only nudity can be monotonous since the color would not be of any interest. Over the years, people have to understand different clothes and colors convey different meanings. One can be regarded as wealthy or impoverished just by looking at their dress code. The color, design, and pattern of the clothes can be used to communicate the attending occasion. Even though there are little discrepancies of some people living beyond what they can afford, most of the attires worn describe one's true status. In this paper, different aspects have been utilized to evaluate the language of dress, fashion and status, color and pattern, and magical clothing. The choice of clothes has a connection to the individuals' social of economic class.

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Language of the dress is vital to evaluate to understand all other aspects and clothes choices. It is easy to identify gender, age, and class by looking at clothes' choices (Lurie, 251). Clothes speak louder on whether one is dressed to attend a meeting, a party, or Sporting. Clothes are often used to explain one's occupation, personality, origin, opinions, sexual desires, tastes, and even the current mood (Lurie, 251). No words are required to explain in such circumstances as the clothes can communicate (Lurie, 251). Such a scenario is what states clothing as a language. Balzac once said, "Dress is a continual manifestation of intimate thoughts, a language, and a symbol" (Lurie, 251). Fashion is also considered a nonverbal communication system and a language of sign (Entwistle, 53). In as much as every language is termed to have its vocabularies, the dress's language also has its aspects that are termed as vocabulary. The dress vocabulary is limited to material items and incorporates hairstyles, jewelry, accessories, makeup, and other body decorations to convey a certain message (Lurie, 251). Incorporating all those dress vocabularies, clothing becomes more of a language like any other spoken tongue (Lurie, 251). It evaluates how the language of dress can be internalized to determine one's social or economic status based on the attire.

The choices of fashion to wear depict the social or economic status of a person. Like how various languages are described with different titles and how they are addressed, certain clothes elaborated high or royal rank (Lurie, 253). Due to the meaning conveyed by certain clothes, some societies came up with certain regulations known as "sumptuary laws." The measures reserved certain clothes for specific people to circumvent being misinformed. An example is ancient Egypt, in which sandals were permitted to those with positions only (Lurie, 253). In various societies such as the Greeks and Romans, the color, type, and numbers of clothes one would wear were controlled in as much as the trimmings (Lurie, 253). That explains why certain clothes in the Middle Ages were regulated even though not successfully (Lurie, 253). In Europe, the laws on what type of clothes to be worn continued up to around 1700 when they weakened. Even color and certain shapes that would depict certain social status diminished (Lurie, 253). However, the use of clothes to determine class escalated to a different level. People were now rated with the cost of their garments. Therefore those wearing lavish clothes were perceived as wealthy (Lurie, 253). As Lurie said, "everyone judges strangers by their clothing and treats then accordingly" is regarded as natural (253). Around the globe, people are ranked based on their trendy clothes. The more expensive the clothes were the higher the individual's rating (Jeikner, 66). The clothes and materials that were both expensive to buy and maintain were left for those regarded as the rich in the society (Jeikner, 66). The need to be in a certain class dominated society in the early eighteenth century prompting even those who could afford to spend more on fine clothes (Lurie, 253). Wearing clothes such as leather aprons, deerskin jackets, flannel petticoats, and coarse linen or wool played a big role in depicting class and (Jeikner, 66). The choice of fashion is there vital when it how someone is perceived in society.

The color and pattern of clothes were significant in conveying a specific message. Color and patterns communicated the aim of dressing a certain way. Like language barriers, it is possible to determine whether a person is excited or bored following the conversation (Lurie, 254). The cloth's color is more significant as a sign of what the attire implies (Lurie, 254). According to psychologists, "merely looking at different colors alters our blood pressure, heartbeat and rate of respiration, just like hearing a harmonious musical cord does" (Lurie, 254). Color is the first thing to notice when a person approaches, prompting our nervous system (Lurie, 254). As music volume will either sound irritating or soothing to our ears, the color in a dress is also regarded as the tone in music or voice in speech (Lurie, 254). According to Lurie, "color can completely alter the meaning of what is meant by other aspects of the costume" (254). Just like tone cloth hue can also be beyond the boundaries of the message they convey, such as the bride wearing a black wedding dress (Lurie, 254). However, there are circumstances in which the attire is not used in depicting the mood (Lurie, 254). A person might choose to show his mood just on a certain piece of cloth, such as a tie (Lurie, 254). Determining the message being communicated with such attire would be quite difficult. Color has also been vital in determining sports activities or a specific team a person is supporting (Jeikner, 25). Therefore color and pattern are significant in determining a persons' social status.

Magical clothing has also been vital in evaluating a person's social or economic status. Some people wear ornaments, jewelry, or even clothes to depict what they believe. Over the years, such beliefs have been termed as magical and are currently referred to as superstitions (Lurie, 251). As Rachel Kemper once said, people have certain beliefs, "Paints, ornament, and rudimentary clothing were first employed to attract good animistic powers and ward off evil" (Lurie, 251). Other people would use decorations on their bodies that conveyed different meanings. Lurie said that "however skimpy it may be, primitive dress almost everywhere, like primitive speech, was full of magic" (251). Some people believed that wearing a necklace decorated with Shark's teeth or a girdle of cowry shells or even feathers had the same objective as any magical spell charm (Lurie, 251). The shark's teeth were also used to recognize a successful fisherman who is fierce as sharks are not easily caught. In sports, players find some attire to be entitled with good lack hence giving them the morale to play (Stankovic, 79). Losing such attire was perceived as a bad lack that may lead to defeat or even injury (Lurie, 251). Magical clothing is present in almost every field and can also depict a person's social status.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the choice of clothes people prefer is mostly used to depict their social or economic status. A person's origin can also be depicted just by looking at the selection of their attire. Magical clothing has also dominated sporting events conveying different meanings. Based on the language of dress, one can determine a person's mood to communicate with the public. The color of the cloth is very significant, just like the tone in a speech. The set of clothes one wears is vital in determining how wealthy a person can be or the class to place him. Strangers are usually treated based on their dress code. The attire people wear is connected to their social and economic status in society.

Work Cited

Lurie, Alison. The Language of Houses: How Buildings Speak to Us. Open Road Media, 2014. https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/alison-luries-the-language-of-houses-often-speaks-in-paper-thin-generalities/2014/08/28/5a724cd2-1bd6-11e4-ae54-0cfe1f974f8a_story.html

Entwistle, Joanne. The fashioned body: Fashion, dress and social theory. John Wiley & Sons, 2015.

Stankovic, Olivera. "The Language of Clothes in" Sister Carrie" by Theodore Dreiser." International Journal of the Book 9.3 (2012). https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Olivera_Stankovic2/publication/294614574_The_Language_of_Clothes_in_Sister_Carrie_by_Theodore_Dreiser/links/5c928597a6fdccd4602e154e/

The-Language-of-Clothes-in-Sister-Carrie-by-Theodore-Dreiser.pdfJeikner, Alexandra. "The Language of Attire in Edith Nesbit's Bastable Stories." Children's Literature 45.1 (2017): 21-44. Doi 10.1353/chl.2017.0002

Jeikner, Alexander. Reading the language of attire: clothing and identity in Frances Hodgson Burnett, Edith Nesbit and Beatrix Potter. Diss. Newcastle University, 2014. https://theses.ncl.ac.uk/jspui/handle/10443/2762