Are We Really Dressing For Ourselves?
How has social media changed the way we express individuality through fashion? Is it self expression when thousands of people are dressing similarly?
Have you ever looked through your wardrobe and wondered why you no longer reach for clothes you once loved just a few months ago? Perhaps you tell yourself that your taste has changed or that your personal style has evolved as you grow. But what if these changes are influenced by more than just your own preferences? In a world where trends spread like wildfire and social media constantly introduces us to new ways of dressing, how much of what we define as personal style is truly our own? Possibly, the most interesting question is not what we choose to wear, but where those choices come from.
Although fashion is often seen as a way to express our individuality and what makes us unique, the media has completely turned around the way we uncover new trends, find inspiration and decide what is considered “fashionable.” What may feel like a personal choice is most likely influenced by the content we constantly resonate with and the influencers we look up to.
We like to believe that fashion is individual—especially after rushing to put together a last minute outfit without even asking a friend for a second opinion. We have come to internalize that the choices we make regularly belong entirely to us.
Yet, in some way or another, our sense of style did not just emerge out of nowhere. In fact, long before we even think about what to wear, the world around us has already determined what is considered desirable, familiar and worth choosing. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other styles that could still suit us just as well. However, somehow, being seen as “different” has turned out to be quite intimidating and tactless, particularly among teenagers who experience social anxiety problems fueled by digital platforms.
As demonstrated by a research made on enclothed cognition, identity is illustrated as a “structure that is continuously activated, maintained, and organized through the environment, including the material environment,” rather than something that exists fully independently. This idea has been surprisingly captured in one of the most widely recognized films about the fashion industry: The Devil Wears Prada. In a memorable scene, Andy Sachs watches Miranda Priestly and her team obsess over something that, to her, seems almost ridiculous; differentiating between two seemingly identical turquoise belts. As she chuckles about it, everyone stares in disbelief, unable to understand how she could dismiss something so significant and refer to it as simply “stuff.” She initially assumes that the entire process had nothing to do with her, when, in fact, it's almost the complete opposite. Miranda reveals that the cerulean shade, showcased in Andy’s sweater, passed through a long chain of decisions involving high-fashion designers and collections before finally reaching everyday consumers like her. Eventually, what seemed like a completely personal choice wearing that sweater, in reality, was shaped by the very fashion system she had made fun of.
While this scene is indeed fictional, it demonstrates to us that, in the end, we rarely decide what we like from a blank slate. The clothes we see around, the people we admire, and the trends that repeatedly appear on our screens all become part of the environment in which we develop our sense of style. Social media has simply made that environment much larger and much harder to escape from.
Nowadays, it's becoming increasingly noticeable the lack of authenticity among young people, not only when it comes to clothing, but also in their overall style and behavior. At school, for example, most middle schoolers tend to share nearly identical hairstyles, wear the same shoes and even seem to look for the same things. That doesn’t necessarily mean a bad thing; sharing trends can be, for sure, a way of connecting with others. However, beyond the influence of our friends and social media, we may also be responding to a feeling known as FOMO, aka “fear of missing out.” Sometimes, without realizing it, this fear is less about being truly excluded and more about the pressure we place on ourselves to keep up with the rest. Even when no one is directly asking us to fit in, the possibility of being left out can make standing apart feel more challenging than it really is. That may explain why we have all reached a point where so many of us have purchased items we weren’t even sure we liked at that moment, and eventually never once touched it again. Unfortunately, that is how the nature of trend cycles ultimately works; they never last forever, and neither do the purchases we make to keep up with them.
Yet, the answer is not to simply reject them altogether or to prove that we are different for everyone else. After all, fashion has always been influenced by the people and cultures around us. Instead, it may be about becoming more conscious of why we choose what we wear and rethinking our own decisions before buying something that doesn’t match our likings or ideals.
Ultimately, in a world that constantly tells us what to want next, perhaps the most meaningful act of self-expression is to wear what resonates with you the most, even when others aren’t doing the same.
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