Fashion Identity Formation

8/13/2019 Fashion Identity Formation

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Karpovtsev 1

Dasha Karpovtsev

Professor Launier

English 1102

April 2012

Identity Formation by the Means of Fashion:

The Social and Psychological Motives Behind College Students and their

Fashion Behavior

I have always been very interested in pursuing a career in ashion! whether it was

wor"ing as as a #ournalist for a ashion $aga%ine! or interning as as a &tylist at 'ogue( Entering

)ollege! it beca*e evident of the various differences a*ong students and their fashion styles!

creating an insight into both their personalities and inclusive individuality( +ut I then began to

sur*ise at the idea of clothing and the general disparate influences it *ay foreshadow within

individuals! and reali%ed the ,uestionable role clothing truly has within our college co**unity(

It then beco*es interesting to analy%e! how does an individual-s personal style see* to reflect

identify for*ation within a )ollege )o**unity and how do other college students perceive one

another according to both social and psychological factors. In a sense! it is contradicting to state

that we use clothing as a way to confor* within our society! because our sense of fashion has

always been identified as a personal aesthetic piece! a way of illustrating our distinct originality

and character( /hat I-* trying to in,uire in *ore detail is! can the way we dress actually reflect

our overall social life along the lines of our career paths and even personality characteristics

through ele*ents such as clothing color! design and its- general funda*ental purpose. Individual

develop*ent can be foreseen throughout the college years! and clothing *ight #ust be one of


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those "ey characteristics that will provide so*e sort of perceptions in the way we #udge

individuals by their clothing( +y eploring the underlying ele*ents that eists in both our

character develop*ent as well as overall personal identity! we will be able to co*prehend the

role that fashion has in our social environ*ent and the effects it *ay have on our social life and

general relationships( hrough *y pri*ary research consisting of a two part survey and focus

group! I will hope to achieve results that will suggest a relationship between clothing color!

personality traits*oods! and the effects on social friendships! a*alga*ating both psychological

and social factors within )ollege &tudents(

Review of iterature

/hen we first thin" of clothing and style! we begin to differentiate auto*atically between

the aspect of confor*ing or individuali%ing according to specific standards( 3ne of the "ey

characteristics that I thin" is i*portant to review according to the research topic would definitely

have to be individuality! and therefore the article!Fashion "ictims: #n the

Individuali$ing and %e&Individuali$ing Powers of Fashion'! by B(orn Schiermer

would play a *a#or role within eplaining *y overall conceptions( 3n a day to day basis! we

find ourselves "nowing the ti*es when we can dress in our own individualistic ways! while on

other for*al occasions we are forced to eradicate our personal style! and acco**odate ourselves

with specific guidelines( his article provides an insight onto the societal factors that affect the

way we as students *ay present ourselves throughout school! and the reasoning behind both our

rational decisions and co*prehensive #udging on other individuals(After reading &chier*er-s

article! I then began to ,uestion on what eact characteristics could actually influence our

decision on that precise day on what we-re going to wear and do differences eist along the lines

of *ales and fe*ales( he article ) The Influence of the Perce*tion of Mood and Self&


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Consciousness on the Selection of Clothing+by 5oon67ee Kwon provides a deep

eplanation on the general concept of individuality and fashion! as he further eplores the

divergent facets of fashion such as eogenous and endogenous factors( Eogenous factors

include weather conditions! social and physical activities! and wardrobe resources! while

endogenous factors include *ood! orientation toward clothing and personality di*ensions

8 Kwon! 19:;! 19::

how all these concepts are intertwined with one another according to our fashion sense(

+ut have we ever considered the reasoning behind the way our fashion preferences have

epanded are due to historical evolution. I a* not referring to the gradual advance*ent of

hu*ans fro* apes as you *ay suppose! but I a* actually trying to point our the significance that

history *ight of had on our uni,ue fashion styles( he article !The Birth of Power

%ressing'! by ,lin-a Rublac-see*s to eplain the historical evolution of our clothing

attire! relating bac" to the *ost pro*inent contributions in the =enaissance Era where the

concepts of luury! accessories! and color were introduced 8=ublac"


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Karpovtsev >

As stated before! a college student-s identity develop*ent can be interpreted by the

*eans of fashion and the article !The ST./ Im*erative'! by 0ara /stroff Marano

provides concrete eplanations and support in order for us to eplore the different *otives

behind our style i*perative( he article epresses the idea hat fashion truly foreshadows

individuality! and ta"es into consideration the *ind! spirit! and character within a person! and

interprets it as a wor" of art 8$orano


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has been worn has evolved for *ultifarious reasons! and now new categories have been created!

ranging fro* luury aspects! econo*ic statuses! and overall individual achieve*ents( +ut the

idea that fashion *ight seriously participate in the i*portant visual *odernity of art! not #ust in

the *oral and econo*ic life of *odern society! is itself *odern! and ,uite revolutionary

87ollander 2;


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Karpovtsev C

Methods

In ter*s of conducting *y Pri*ary =esearch! I would li"e to create a focus group of

twelve students as well as conduct a two page survey! ,uestioning on the psychological and

social aspects of clothing that elaborate on the concepts of colors! *oods! and personality traits

8=efer to Appendi A and


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how do different concepts such as mood, color and personality traits intertwine with one another

as stated earlier. After each student fills out his personal views on the influences of clothing on

friendships, I will then collect all the surveys and begin to distinguish the different connections

and relationships among each characteristic. I believe that because of the timing and general

information inquiry needed for this experiment, both the survey and focus group with both strong

methods to use, in order to receive both individual evaluation and opinions from twelve college

students. The weaknesses to these surveys and focus group is that it may lack variety, in a sense

that by only interviewing twelve students, my results might not represent an overall conclusive

result, only a small portion of a student population, skewing the specific outcomes. But because I

tried to choose students with different majors and comprehensive fashion outlooks, I will hope to

achieve results that will foreshadow a general perception of College students and exemplify the

relationships between identity formation and their fashion behavior.

Now you may wonder, if I am already conducting a Survey, what is the point of creating a

focus group? After I collect all the surveys, I would like to have a group discussion where the

students and I would all try and analyze the motives behind our clothing style, and the reasoning

that exists when it comes to college social life and individuality. It is important to gain a personal

feel in the discussion, in order for students to be able to relate with one another and discuss the

different standards and notions that have been set according to societys implications and the

effects it may have on our identity formation.Within the group discussion, I will have students

examine one another and see if they can create a relationship between the colors of certain

clothing and try and guess that persons mood and some personality characteristics. What we will

be trying to achieve is actually using that information that was explicated within the survey, and


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manipulate it in realistic situations. I can then begin to see how my results are actually used

within college students and the effects it begins to portray using social and psychological factors,

and if statistical and fixed motives truly exist for the way we dress.

Results

he first part of *y &urvey consisted of eleven ,uestions that supported *y clai* on the

i*portance of clothing when it ca*e to identity for*ation and foreshadowing our overall

behavior and personality traits( Each ,uestion as"ed the role that clothing plays in each of the

student-s lives! pertaining bac" to the aspects of friendships! career paths and individuality(

=ating each ,uestion 16B! one being least true and five being *ost true! the twelve students were

evaluated on their opinions of individual character along with social and psychological factors

and here were the results fro* the first eleven ,uestions 8=efer to Appendi A<

BF of the &tudents listed ?B@

;F of the &tudents listed ?>@

F of the &tudents listed ?4@



4> of the &tudents ee*plified the

relationship between clothing and thei

overall social life


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he net Data table reflected the colors those chosen by the students for Personality

raits using the sa*e *ethod as I used in the able 1 for $oods 8=efer to Appendi +


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After the &tudents had co*pleted the first part of the second survey! their net ,uestion

was ?/hat is your $a#or@( I thought that this would be a very i*portant characteristic to "now

through this Pri*ary =esearch! because right off the batt! the students individuality is lin"ed with

their profession! creating an insight into their interests and general bac"ground( 7ere are the

results of the different percentages of $a#ors represented by the twelve students

6Psychology see*ed to be the *ost popular *a#or throughout the

twelve students! co*ing in at 2BF

6 Gursing and AdvertisingPublic relations were both the average

$a#ors! being 1;F of the &tudents! having two students per each of

the $a#ors(

6here was an e,ual tie between the *a#ors at :F of +usiness!

Photography! Engineering! 7u*anities! and English with only having

1 individual have each *a#or(


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3n the last part of *y &urvey! I as"ed four ,uestions that pertained bac" to for*ing

friendships with individuals who *ay not share the sa*e fashion approach or behavior as you!

and the effects it *ight have on for*ing relationships( here were ,uestions that also presented

the concepts of clothing colors once again! and what the students would prefer to wear according

to their general *oods! in order to either ?blend in@ or ?stand out@(

n a day where Students felt in a )good+ mood7 over 89 of them agreed

that they would li-ely ta-e both fashion ris-s and wear bright colors'

6#n a day where the

Students felt e;hausted or in a )bad+ mood7 they were as-ed to write if they

would try and wear attention grabbing clothing such as bright colors and

Conclusively, over 65% of the

students portrayed insecurities when

it came to their fashion outlook,

because of the psychological effects

of being either exhausted or in a

generally bad mood.

-It seems that with good a mood,confidence begins to flourish,

affecting both our fashion risks an

clothing colors.

-Over 84% of the students answer

that they would seek both attentio

and risk when it came to their fash

sense, just because they mood wa

positive and heightened.


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*atterns7 or try and wear dar- colored clothing in order to )hide+ and blend

in

6The students were as-ed on7 how li-ely would they become friends with a

grou* of individuals if their fashion a**roach and behavior was the total

o**osite of theirs7 and here were the results:

-What these results mean, is that

over half of the students who wouldnot become friends with individuals

dressed polar opposite of them,

inferred that it would be, because of

not being able to share certain

characteristics in common, as well as

not being able to click with their

personalities.

-I find it interesting to see the way

these students already createdjudgements on individuals that do not

dress like them, perceiving the ideas

of them already having different

personalities and overall attitudes.

- The concepts of stereotypes and

judgment are then introduced

Over 3/4 of the students

believed that just by the way

a student dresses, they

could interpret in a sense, if

that individual could be their

friend or not?


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& astly7 to the Individuals who answered ),nli-ely to become friends with

them+ the main reasons for that res*onse were:

%iscussion

/hen I first began this study! I already had so*e general epectations on both the student

survey and focus group outco*es! along with a co*prehensive idea on the effects of fashion

behavior within )ollege( +ut to *y surprise! I did not reali%e the full etent that fashion see*ed

to illustrate throughout the ca*pus co**unity! affecting the concepts of individuality!

friendships! as well as overall personality traits( hrough *y results! I will be able to analy%e

these three *ain concepts! and distinguish a relationship between the way college students dress

and their assi*ilation of both the social and psychological factors involved in their social life(

Individuality

hrough the first part of the survey! the results reflected that *ore than ;BF of the

student-s responses on the ,uestions were listed as a ?B@ which *eant that they found it to be

H*ost true-( he reason why this is an i*portant aspect! is! because *ost of the ,uestions were

related to the ideas and conceptions of clothing and individuality! and if clothing reflects any sort

of personal feeling! along the lines of attention and distinct character( hose ,uestions


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foreshadowed the perception that through our clothing! we are able to illustrate our sense of

character disposition! and creating an insight into who we *ight be as individuals( Gow! of

course other psychological and social factors such as personality traits and the choosing of

friends e*erges! but that will be discussed further on! for now the notion of general individuality

is proposed through the ,uestion outco*es( &o therefore! along the lines the earlier article

!Fashion "ictims: #n the Individuali$ing and %e&Individuali$ing Powers of

Fashion'! by B(orn Schiermer7 these results see* to suggest that we do use clothing as a

tool of individuali%ation as we are able to reflect ourselves with #ewelry! accessories! hair! and

now clothing( )ollege students ee*plify their distinct taste and fashion behaviors! and because

*ost of the students wrote down ?*ost true@ for nearly all of the ,uestions that indicated the

portrayal and awareness through individuali%ation as well as originality! we can infer that

clothing is not #ust a functional piece of cloth! but an actual perspicacity of independent

depiction(

Personality Traits

3n the second part of *y survey! students were as"ed to write in the color of clothing that

they would thin" relates in accordance to the different types of personality traits and *oods that

were listed! and the ending results were very diverse in a sense( According to the two data tables!

*any of the positive personality traits and *oods such as happy! ecited! and outgoing! were

viewed as to have very bright colors( hese colors consisted of yellow and red as the do*inant

colors! which is very interesting because for ea*ple! the color red was also associated with

being angry! outspo"en and even flirty( /ould we be able to prospect at all these personalities

and *oods being positive as well. +eing loud and aggressive in *y opinion! would not always

see* to be a very positive reinforce*ent! therefore why would the students intertwine the color


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red with two different personality types! yet both portraying the sa*e idealistic clothing clothing(

Another ea*ple of the sa*e situation was having blac" as a do*inant color for the personality

and *ood behaviors of depressiveisolated and reservedserious( I understand the results for

being depressiveisolated as for one of the personality traits since the color blac" has always

depicted very dar" and gothic roots! but of course has revolutioni%ed to be a very diverse color

for any sort of setting( +ut it still see*s a bit peculiar that being assertive and outspo"en can

reflect the sa*e characteristics as being depressive and isolated! according to the blac" do*inant

color outco*e( ro* these two charts! I was beginning to apprehend the i*pact and power that

clothing appeared to have along the lines of in depth portray of personality traits and everyday

*oods( 3ther clothes such as blue and grey were used in order to illustrate sadness! shyness!

nervousness! ehaustion! and even cal*ness( /hats interesting to fatho*! is that when the

students wanted to either ?hide@ or go throughout the day unnoticeable! they choose dar"er

colors in order to not stand out as *uch! and in general confor* throughout the college

environ*ent( 3n the other hand! students who yearned for attention and felt that they wanted to

ta"e so*e fashion ris"s including color and patters! were generally in very good *oods! ranging

fro* happy! ecited! outgoing and even flirty( here evidently see*s to be a relationship

between a student-s overall in,uiry for attention as well as their co*prehensive *ood state!

along with personality traits attributes(

Social /nvironment< Friendshi*s

3ne of the last concepts that were concluded throughout *y pri*ary research! were the

general aspects of social environ*ent and friendships( /hat I-ve found out is that! college

students are both #udg*ental and stereotypical in a sense when it co*es to individuals and their

clothing( Gow don-t get *e wrong! I a* not pin pointing college students as being these very


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rude and #udging individuals who will ridicule you for not dressing a certain way! but through

*y research! I have co*e to understand the way students- *inds perceive one another based on

their fashion behavior( According to *y two different charts along the lines of friendships! over

;BF of the students stated that they would unli"ely beco*e friend with other students who do

not share the sa*e fashion approach and style as the*! in other words ?co*plete opposites@( I

was a*a%ed at how easily the students could conclude in their *ind that #ust because a student

does not share their *eans of fashion! that they auto*atically could not even beco*e ac,uainted

with the*( After analy%ing these statistics! I wanted to "now the reasoning behind these results

and what eactly could be inferred( he students that answered ?unli"ely to beco*e friends@

were as"ed to eplicate their views and over half of the* agreed that they could not see

the*selves being friends with individuals who did not share their fashion sense due to both

different personalities as well as lac" of co**on personal interests( It see*s that the students

believe that our fashion behavior can provide an insight into specific ?co**on interests@ such as

etra curricular activities! hobbies! and even personality traits as *entioned before( herefore! a

college student-s social life is i*pacted *ore by clothing than I necessarily suspected! and our

clothing sense *ay actually reflect *any i*portant aspects that can be used to base off *any pre

conceived notions( /hat we can deduce based upon these characteristics! is that college

friendship for*ations are heavily i*pacted by the way student-s portray the*selves through the

use of clothing! and can i*pact their social life on *any levels(

Student Ma(ors

Even though the student-s *a#ors were not part of *y overall three *ain concepts of

discussion! I still wanted to point out so*e unepected bias that could have e*erged throughout

*y results( 3ut of the twelve students! Psychology was one of the do*inant *a#ors! even though


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the general ratios of the eight different *a#ors were pretty widespread( I tried to find students

with all different types of *a#ors in order to create a *uch *ore diverse and assorted group of

individuals! in order to have the *ost valid conclusive results( +ut still! Psychology ca*e in at

2BF of the overall student group! and therefore I ,uestion if this characteristic could of s"ewed

the results in a sense! because as stated in the beginning of the survey! over ;BF of the students

responded with a B of ?*ost true@ between their clothing and general personalitysocial life! yet

there were a couple of students who did not agree( hese students were *a#oring in Engineering!

AdvertisingPublic =elations! and +usiness which contain *uch *ore *athe*atical fiations!

logic! and functional dyna*ics which are eactly opposite in *any ways fro* those of

Psychology! 7u*anities! and Photography( herefore I begin to ,uestion! if I had a bigger group

of students and an eact e,ual nu*ber ratio of different *a#ors! could I have had *uch *ore

disparate results! due to the fluctuations in personalities. +ut then again! we are loo"ing at

individuals with contrasting personalities! which was one of the i*portant goal within this study!

hence the results would not be s"ewed. It #ust see*s that because there are *ore students within

the group that are *a#oring in *ore art li"e and philosophical disciplines! this group *ight be

*ore accusto*ed to the aesthetic nature of clothing! depicting *ore psychological levels of

epertise when it co*es to fashion behavior( All these ,uestions co*e into *ind! but on one

note! I a* positive that by having this diverse group of *a#oring students! we were able to

visually see the differences in both personality traits and social perceptions! aspects that are

essentially needed throughout this study(

Conclusion

? I thin" that we for* friendships with people that we share a lot in co**on with!

especially our clothing style@ said &a*i $illowit%(


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hrough this study! *y entire purpose was to find a relationship! if it even eisted!

between the social and psychological factors of clothing color! personality traits and *oods! and

of course overall relationship for*ation( As college students! we for* individual identities

throughout the following years! and by entering the *ind of a group of individuals that are

affected by fashion behavior on a daily basis! this creates an insight into the true co*pleity of

clothing and the i*pacts it *ay render along the lines of sociability( /ho ever "new that #ust by

the way we dress! we would be able to analy%e individuals on what *oods they *ay be in! or

their "ey personality traits that see* to stand out a*ongst other students( +ut when would we

"now if that student is portraying #ust their ?bad *ood@ or if he or she is actually a very shy

individual that wants to eradicate the need for attention by wearing dar" and seldo* colors. hat

is where the world beco*es infinite! and we *ay never actually understand the true

co*plications of this world without entering an Asylu*( +ut fro* the results eplicated

throughout the pri*ary research! we are able to distinguish a relationship between the clothing

colors and styles that we wear! foreshadowing both personality traits and *oods within each

individual(

? 3ur clothing represents us as individuals I thin"! and #ust by the way we-re dressed and

the colors we wear! I-* sure that other people can already have a sense of our personality

and *aybe even what *ood in((($aybe(((@ stated Aly ru*bach

+y eploring the underlying ele*ents that eist in both our character develop*ent as well as

overall personal identity! we will be able to co*prehend the i*portant role that fashion has in

our college environ*ent and the effects it *ay have on our social and general relationships( It is

evident that reflection of individuality will always be conveyed throughout our clothing!

therefore why not ,uestion and research the funda*ental aspects of fashion. It will only benefit


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us in the end( As we are now able to distinctly appreciate the true power that our fashion

behavior has on our social environ*ent! the *ost i*portant ,uestion then beco*es(((

/hat color will you be wearing today.

/or"s )ited

ronow! Ju""a( aste and ashion he &ocial unction of ashion and &tyle( Acta

&ociologica 8aylor rancis Ltd< 4C(2 81994 819921(B 8200:


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Shelby H. McIntyre, and Christopher M. Miller. "Social Utility and Fashion Behavior."

Marketing Letters 3.4 (1992): pp. 371-382.

Appendi A Survey =uestions Part 3

Please =ate 816B< 1 being least true and B being *ost true

1( he way we dress reflects our individuality as )ollege students(

3 5 > 9 ?2( 3ur ashion &ense can actually reveal different Personality characteristics about us(

3 5 > 9 ?4( he colors that we wear can portray an insight into our overall *ood of that day(

3 5 > 9 ?>( /e so*eti*es choose friends according to si*ilarities between their clothing and your

clothing

3 5 > 9 ?B( /e #udge individuals by their clothing! and already co*e up with preconceived notions about

their personality and behavior

3 5 > 9 ?6. )lothing plays a *a#or role within social groups and gatherings! and helps us distinguish

between people who *ight share the sa*e interestsas us

3 5 > 9 ?;( &o*eti*es you #udge individuals #ust by their clothing and have an idea of their econo*ic

level

3 5 > 9 ?:( 5ou epress your uni,ue individuality through clothing on a daily basis

3 5 > 9 ?9( 7onestly! clothing is #ust a functional characteristic within our &ociety and really does not

co*e off as a ?big deal@

3 5 > 9 ?10( )lothing is an aesthetic piece


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3 5 > 9 ?11( here are psychological and social factors behind the way we dress! as well as *athe*atical

reasoning(

3 5 > 9 ?

Appendi + Survey =uestions Part 5

Please fill in the different clothing colors that co*e to *ind when you view both the *oods and

personality traits in relation to yourself(

Moods Personality Traits

7appy 3ut oing: _____________

Sad:____________ &hy: _______________

Ecited: ___________ lirty: ______________

Gervous__________ DepressiveIsolated____________

Ehausted___________ =eserved and &erious: ____________

Angryurious__________ Assertive3utspo"en____________

)al*=elaed: ____________ LoudAggressive: ___________

/hat is your $a#or

=eflection Muestions Please place a chec"*ar" net to the answer you choose

1< 7ow li"ely are you to wear bright colors and ta"e fashion ris"s when you are in a ood

$ood.

Li"ely Nnli"ely

2< /hen you feel that you are not at your best! whether you *ight be ehausted or in a bad

*ood! what colors would you prefer to wear on that day.

+right )olors and Patterns to enhance yourself Dar" )olors to try and blend in

4< /hen you *eet a group of people that have a *uch different approach and fashion taste thenyou! how li"ely would you try and for* friendships with those people.

Li"ely Nnli"ely


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>< If you chose Nnli"ely for Muestion Q4! which would be one of the best reasons for that

answer.

Different Personalities $ight not share anything in co**on +oth

Fashion Identity Formation

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