What signals do you send with your clothing?

That I’m a loser

Comfort. I don’t care about clothing.

Probably that I’ll spend as little as possible. Clothes are a utility – not a fashion for me. That said, I would still wear something nice to a wedding.. but that’s out of respect to those that care about that sort of thing. Like the bride and groom.

I do wear clothing from brands that indicate an active outdoor life, which happens to be a life I lead. I am often hiking on the weekends, I run 5 times a week, and I am active in outdoor sports in both winter and summer.

I do wear business casual yet appropriate clothes for work: LL Bean or Brooks Brothers button down collar shirt, Patagonia or Brooks Bros. slacks. Ecco shoes.

At home I wear shorts from April 1 to November 1 almost religiously. And those are by brands like Patagonia.

And, I do wear t-shirts from concerts I have been to. I will not wear a band’s t-shirt unless I have seen them live, so no Ramones t-shirt for me.

The one signal I don’t want to send with how I dress is something I am not or to attract attention because of what I wear. It’s pretty much the opposite most times.

At work it is khakis or slacks with a long or short sleeved dress shirts with a mix of solid colors and striped shirts. Nothing super nice as I work in a glue factory and have ruined more clothes here than I care to think about.

After work I usually jump into work clothes shorts or jeans and a Tee shirt to work in the garden. After dinner I hop into my workout clothes and do some exercises and usually take the dawg for a 35 minute walk. Then hop into lounge wear and settle in for the night. I do have suits and my nicest is a taylor made silk suit that I absolutely love to wear.

I have dress clothes for those occasions that necessitate. My wife has also provided me with what she considers an acceptable wardrobe for when we are on a cruise. I grouse about it all the time because I say it makes me look like a goddam tourist, to which she replies “you are”. Which is true but I don’t think I should have to look like one.
On regular days it is either cargo shorts and t-shirts in summer and jeans and a t-shirt in the winter. If it is cold I will put on a flannel shirt over the t. T-shirts must have a pocket, must be of subdued or muted colors and most have at least one stain or paint smear. Most of the time I wear running shoes, sometimes boots in the winter.
When at home I wear a sarong, no shoes and a t-shirt if it is cool.
I dress this way because I can, because I can do various manual labor tasks without worrying about staining or dirtying my clothes but they are still appropriate for most of the places I go during the day.
I am not trying to impress anyone, borrow money or attract a mate so I can pretty much dress how my wife lets me I want to.

I dress to please myself. Mostly bohemian style skirts, indian dresses, with a smattering of cowgirl attire. Viola…hippie cowgirl. haha
This morning it is lightly raining and I threw on a gold little indian summer dress that has embroidery and beadwork around the neckline with a sweat jacket and then pulled on my pink and brown shortie cowboy boots to trudge down and feed the horses. I dress up or down with the same type of clothing. I like skirts, dresses with shawls, belts, boots and various costume jewelry adornments. I do not wear shoes, I wear either boots or sandals year round. I have dressy high heel boots, Uggs, Cowboy boots, Durangos, and then I have river / hiking sandles, crocs, various cutesy flip flops etc.

I also wear a lot of vests instead of jackets, again, dress up or down with the same types of items.

When I was younger I would often dress to balance out my other interests.

Most of my peers seemed to dress in a more consistent manner (punk music with “punk clothes”, goth music with “goth” clothes etc.) I get that it was a way to send out a signal to like-minded (or rather, like-dressed) peers that they were similar.

Personally, I hated this idea that someone had a preconceived notion of what I was like because of the way I was dressed. So I either went with a generic uniform of hoodies and jeans. Or delighted in listening to goth music in bright marimekko prints. Or classical music in my thigh high boots.

The juxtaposition of how people react to the way you are dressed to the music I would be listening to was interesting to me.

These days, I’m just happy not to be covered in spit-up.

Smoke signals, I wear hotpants…a lot :D

When I was a teenager, I too was into The Ramones and stuff like that – leather cuff bracelets with studs, black Ramones tee shirts, etc. I was also into plaid flannel shirts, Lil’ Abner shoes (which were low boots with laces, painters’ pants, jeans and sneakers.

I call myself a jeans and sneakers girl.

Now I’m jeans just about every day, at work and not, and top may be something along the lines of this: http://www.costco.com/Nautica-Ladies%E2%80%99-V-Neck-Top-with-Roll-Tab-Sleeves-Gray.product.100155162.html. Weekends might be a dressy tee shirt or sweat shirt. If attending something more fancy, which I do often for work, then of course I dress appropriately (fancy top, fancy shoes). I try not to wear dresses when I can get away with it, just because I try to be the most comfortable when possible. I accessorize with jewelry and I do my hair and makeup just about every day.

Comfort and functionality. Overalls suit me well. Ample pockets for the stupid phone. I’m never without pens, and people are finally used to the overalls. Those who aren’t don’t concern me.

I’m a free t-shirt kind of guy

At work, I’d hope I’m sending signals that I’m professional and care about my work sufficiently to dress in reasonably decent clothes. Beyond that, I don’t care.

I like clothes. I like to wear clothes I feel happy and comfortable in. I don’t follow fashion and I don’t buy designer clothes, but I do buy clothes I think suit me. Beyond the impression my clothes make at work, I don’t particularly think about the signals I send. I do try to wear age appropriate clothes. Which counters my comment that I don’t think about the signals I send. I don’t want to go out looking like an idiot in clothes that would suit either a teenager or an older person.

Beyond all that, I just like to feel good in what I’m wearing. Whether it be a pair of jeans or a pretty dress. My clothes are as diverse in style as my preference in music. Whatever I feel like on the day. I might dress up or down depending on my mood.

My clothes say, “Wow, I can’t believe they make that in a 3X.”

Great question.

I manage to very often wear clothes that are neither stylish nor comfortable – my aunt likes to shop, and I can get her discarded jeans for free. Thanks, Auntie!

They look good at first, but then my lifestyle makes quick work of that. All my jeans have holes. Their rims are frayed because they are too long, and they are too big around the waist. During the day, they acquire muddy paw prints, they often get wet and dried again.

On the other hand, I have not spent money on pants in years. I hate shopping. It bores me, and I so love to spend my money on other things. Give me books, DVDs, a bathbomb, dog training classes, or even food – any day.

Of course, I do send signals. I send the signal of being a student, I think. I have the necessary jeans, shirts and Converse. I am probably also sending the signal of not being very girly, which is accurate. I’m also fine with sending a bit of an uncaring vibe to the fashion police…but I wish I had the courage to wear pyjamas outside.

I would guess, sort of serious, not too whimsical….believe me people, the whimsical moments are few, perhaps consisting of mismatched socks which don’t show, a smattering of bright color….I try to be simple, honest and classic. Maybe that’s boring to some people but it’s what I respect.