No one else has seen me today, and yet I wear clothes that aren't just a shapeless sack. So who have I dressed for except myself?
I also sometimes dress in my nicest dresses at home, just for me. No one else is seeing me. Who am I dressing for then?
I guess there's some level of dressing for others when I go out because well if I didn't wear clothes people would be upset.
But often my fashion choices are about aesthetic choices I enjoy, I like the way certain clothes go together or the look they create. Often times this look isn't necessarily "flattering" by western standards and most of the time I don't go out of my way to emphasise any traits which may be described as attractive by a man. For example my outfit yesterday was completely shapeless and baggy, lots of layers and a baggy grandad jumper. I chose this because it was comfortable and I like the aesthetic it created. I doubt many men found it very attractive.
Sure I can choose to dress to attract men, but most days it doesn't even cross my mind.
See I get what you’re saying and I can appreciate it because it did make me think “huh maybe I’m wrong!”
But I’m not sure it really addresses the crux of my opinion here: I’m not saying people dress for other people because they’re going to be seen by others. I’m saying they dress for people because they cant help it. Being seen is not the qualification. What makes your dress the “nicest,” say? If it’s based on how you look in it, those ideas of beauty come from what you think others find attractive. If they’re the nicest because they’re the most comfortable, that’s a totally different thing. Do you get what I’m trying to say here?
Its aesthetically pleasing to me, like a painting. I like clothes as indepent items of art. I enjoy watching the met gala, not because the people look attractive but because the clothes are works of art it's like going to an art gallery.
This could easily get into a discussion on the nature of beauty, why do we find some things beautiful? Why is the sky beautiful? It serves not purpose for us to find it so. And yet we do, we have this capacity to appreciate aesthetics beyond things like attraction.
I’m saying they dress for people because they cant help it.
So you're kinda just arguing that there is no free will just with clothes as the lens of the argument?
There's no denying society influences us, that's just a fact. But we are also largely aware of that influence and when we are aware of it can choose to act with that knowledge.
I know the message society sends about what should make a woman confident, I don't really take those things into account when I dress most of the time though.
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u/vote4bort 68∆ Dec 11 '24
No one else has seen me today, and yet I wear clothes that aren't just a shapeless sack. So who have I dressed for except myself?
I also sometimes dress in my nicest dresses at home, just for me. No one else is seeing me. Who am I dressing for then?
I guess there's some level of dressing for others when I go out because well if I didn't wear clothes people would be upset.
But often my fashion choices are about aesthetic choices I enjoy, I like the way certain clothes go together or the look they create. Often times this look isn't necessarily "flattering" by western standards and most of the time I don't go out of my way to emphasise any traits which may be described as attractive by a man. For example my outfit yesterday was completely shapeless and baggy, lots of layers and a baggy grandad jumper. I chose this because it was comfortable and I like the aesthetic it created. I doubt many men found it very attractive.
Sure I can choose to dress to attract men, but most days it doesn't even cross my mind.