Self-Concept Paper

Experiment on how dress affects your daily experience.

Day 1: Dress Down

Monday July 11, 2016. Woke up at 7:22am, remembered that I needed to start my self-concept paper experience. Acknowledge the need for proper undergarments for advanced sewing class, choose to leave my hair as I woke up with to compensate. My attire- T-shirt from a gym, a pair of gym shorts with a random high school logo on it, and dirty tennis shoes (ones I use in my garden).

A picture of me in my glorious dress down costume.

 The first thing that happened was my husband asking me if that was what I was going to wear today. I knew it wasn’t malicious, just curious because it looks a lot like what I wear as pajamas. I explained to him the experiment and he began to tease me, for example “people are going to think you are on campus to steal laptops from actual students.”

Getting to class wasn’t bad and for my first class it seemed that nothing was different because of what I was wearing. I mean, I don’t usually wear make-up and tend to dress casually, so this wasn’t too far from my usual, but it was still different. Class interactions were all neutral.

The only other time I got a comment on what I was wearing was at lunch. As I was joining a friend for lunch she said, “Did you just come from the gym?” I replied, “No, advanced sewing.” Then we had other chit-chat and it was as if nothing was different.

My husband picked me up after my last class and we went to Macey’s to pick up boxes. Everyone we talked to was kind and helpful. Then we went to the mall and visited Macy’s and the Sports Authority store. The customer service people at Macy’s were friendly and helpful, letting us know of a sale later in the week. The cash register person at Sports Authority was friendly and told us stories about the store.

I personally had felt very apprehensive about going to the mall and talking to people. Dressing down made me want to go home and lounge rather than go out and about to do productive things. Also, throughout the day I was afraid someone was going to call me out as doing the assignment and throw off the experiment. Luckily my professor and anyone else who did notice did not say anything.

All-in-all, I don’t think much changed in how people treated me. The biggest difference the clothes had was on my motivation, but that could just be because it was a Monday, maybe if I wore the same thing on a Saturday morning I would feel like climbing a mountain, running a 5k, and weeding the garden all before 10am.  Only time will tell.

Day 2: Dress Up

Wednesday, July 13, 2016. Woke up at 7:00am sharp. Continued beauty regime from the night before. Straightened my hair, applied make-up (which I rarely do and this time did much more than usual), and then continued the rest of my regular getting ready routine. My attire, a blue dress with white lace overlay with gold sparkly flats. I swapped my backpack for a large purse to finish my look.

My put-together and fancy look.

Compliments, compliments, compliments. Everyone is stunned and amazed at how beautiful I am. I can’t get away with my sneaky scheme as everyone’s first question as I get to class is “Why are you dressed so nice?” And my professor knows and then everyone knows. I only dress up for assignments, apparently. The only other interaction lead by my choice of attire was about what perfume I was wearing. I have observed previously that girls who dress nice usually talk about how and what goes into their beauty routine.

When I ran to Bernina during my lunch break, I get prompt service. Later when I went to Dillard’s, I got the same type of treatment. Quick and accurate. It was only at Gamestop when the man asked if I was playing PokemonGO that a salesperson talked to me like a person and not just a customer. Maybe other people like that, but I think I enjoy friendlier interactions with salespersons rather than professional business only.

Ironically, I felt the most insecure dressed up (needless to say, as soon as I was home I changed my clothes). Part of it is because it is far from my usual and I don’t feel that I’m doing it right, but it also related a lot more to the day’s lecture on body image and the media. I really do not feel myself in make-up and fancy clothes (except a few formal occasions).  Anyhow, I think the most important thing I learned is that beyond the first interactions, clothing didn’t change much. I think if I were to completely change and go to a new school my experiences would be a lot more different, but for the established relationships that I have with people, nothing changed.

In review of the situation, I would say that my confidence decreased when I dressed down but my insecurities remained stable. Whereas when I dressed up, I felt a normal type of confidence (I’m still timid in my normal attire) but my insecurities increased. Relating this to class I would say that my self-image decreased when I dressed up (so I felt more insecure) because what I looked like did not match my perceived psychological self. In dressing down, my self-esteem was lower because I felt that others would perceive me differently for dressing poorer than I usually do (even thought that wasn’t the case).

I do think that it is ironic that dressing up decreased my self-image since it was doing more to match what is culturally acceptable for women. I do think it confirms that fact thought because it is more about perceived psychological self and physical self and I felt more in harmony when I dress closer to my perceived self. Dressing down matched as well as I was more concerned about how others perceived me which had me question my ability to interact with them.

Modern times has definitely made it more possible for me to walk around in a t-shirt, gym shorts, and tennis shoes. Not only has times had to change and that form of fashion to be created for women, but with all the different feminist movements it has become acceptable for women to appear in public not fully made up. I realize that the time period I was born made this experiment possible and not as dramatic as most people in modern times are accepting of customers and friends regardless of what they are wearing.

While dressing up and down was a great experiment (though not as well-rounded as this person’s experiment), I think that people will get the most out of what they wear by matching what they feel on the inside. When someone can feel like themself they will have more confidence. It can be hard for some people to dress as themselves when their social group is not accepting of that, but how one feels about themselves is infinitely more important than what others think about them when it comes down to dealing with life better. I hope to continue to pursue who I truly am in what I wear so that I can be more confident and able.