Would you rather stand out in a crowd, or blend in ?

This is very normal. I would much rather blend in. I think this drives many decisions I make in life.

Totally blend in.

I would prefer to blend in. But I love rainbows and bright colors, so I tend to wear bright clothing and many times this means two, three, four or more bright colors at once so I tend to stand out, but I don’t do it for attention.I have no fashion sense, I just like colors. But some people have pointed out that this is the type of thing that a person who wants all eyes on them might do, which annoys me a little bit. I’d rather blend in, but ah, what can I say, I guess I just stand out. ;]

Depends. If I’m wearing clothing that people might give attention to, then obviously I’m doing it with that knowledge and I won’t mind standing out a little. Do I want to stand out to the extent that Lady Gaga does? Not really. I don’t want that much attention. There’s also a difference between a crowd of friends and a crowd of strangers. In a crowd of strangers, I have no desire to stand out (but probably wouldn’t mind if I did for some reason), but sometimes when I’m with my friends I do. Just depends.

I had such a long post here. Now I lost it. Curses. >:(

It depends much on the crowd. If it’s a crowd I feel I belong to, and want to belong to, then I guess I don’t mind adapting myself a bit if it makes me fit in better. If it’s a crowd I think I have no business with, I won’t go out of my way to hide it.
And if it’s a crowd I really don’t like, I might even want to deliberately clarify I’m not with these people.

In other words, more or less, whether I try to blend in or not depends on how much effort it takes. There’s a threshold value for “amount of adaptation needed” beyond which I don’t think I should go. I would end up pretending I’m an entirely different person. And I couldn’t do that anyway.

That’s the theory. In practice, there are two more factors that complicate this: (1) I’m not very good at blending in, and (2) I’m often a bit too shy to endure attracting much attention. So if I decide I want to blend in it’s still to be found out how well I will manage to, and if I decide I shouldn’t, it depends on whether I’m in a bold mood.

P.S. And for that matter, even if I do consider a group “my kind of people”, if there’s any aspect of the community that I disagree with, I’m still going to openly oppose it.

The fact that you’re not wearing a uniform and everyone else is must come with a reason.

If you feel you stand out too much and it makes those around you uncomfortable, err on the side of simpler, muted colors, and save the brighter stuff for other situations.

Definitely blend in. I don’t like to attract attention to myself.

You need to tell us why you are not wearing a uniform and why everyone else is. I do not much like the idea of wearing a uniform, but if I were in a place where everyone else wore one, I would also, because I would not want to give the impression that I was in opposition to everyone else. I would hope that wherever it is that you are wearing the uniform, you have some opportunity to express your individuality. We all have desires both to blend in and to show our indpendence.

I don’t try to do either or. I don’t feel like I blend in nor stand out.

But if you feel like you do and don’t like it, change what you wear.

@LostInParadise well, you see , they are all military while I am a civilian, so I cannot wear their uniform and they cannot dress like a civilian during the day… It is where I am having my internship. ( a military base)

Depends on the crowd. If it’s the “pitchfork and torches” type, then I think I’d rather blend in.

@Roory , In a sense you are in a different position from everyone else. I assume that those with whom you work know about your situation and have no problem with it. If I were in such a situation I think I would eventually get used to it.

It doesn’t seem as if you have a choice, you cannot blend in if you can’t wear the uniform.

In ordinary circumstances I prefer to just be me, sometimes that means I blend in, other times it means I stick out like a sore thumb.

I do personally prefer to blend in if I have a choice.

I’d rather blend in. I’m not a ‘people person’.

I like to be unique but not for the sake of it if that makes sense. It seems to me that many people only do things if they feel it will make them appear unique and stub anything that is “fashinable” just because it is fashionable.

If I stand out in a crowd I want it to be because I am being myself and not because I have gone out of my way to be different if that makes sense. Because of this, I don’t care whether I stand out or blend in providing I am being myself at all times.

We need both depending on the context.

@Roory
Maybe you can dress in civilian clothes that look like the military uniform to stand out less? Like, the same types of clothes in roughly the same colours and stuff.
But don’t make it look like an obvious knock-off uniform.

Perhaps you should also take into account that it might be considered an honour to wear a uniform, a privilege to be deserved. So if an intern gets to wear a uniform, they might feel offended.
I don’t know. You probably know these people better than I do.

I stand out like the needy bitch that I am.

I never try to “call” attention to myself. However, I don’t mind being “noticed.” It is for other people to decide who they want to pay attention to. I’m not going to ask them to pay attention to me, but if they decide they want to, it feels good. And I can never get enough attention for some reason. So sometimes, to discipline myself, and to not get full of myself, I try to discourage attention, or to claim that I don’t deserve attention. If people still want to pay attention to me, then I figure maybe they really mean it, and aren’t just being polite.

I kind of like to stand out. I have to wear uniform colors (not an actual uniform, but we all wear the same color pants and shirts) at work, so I wear weird colored glasses because I get tired of wearing the same crappy colored clothes all the time. I have a pair of neon orange glasses, bright green, bright pink with rhinestones and burgundy with rhinestones. People that are new to work or customers call me “That girl with the orange glasses…” I like it.

@knitfroggy
Yay for weird gimmicks. :)

There might be people who remember me mainly for carrying a telescopic pointer rod with me so I can reach things high up or under cupboards. And point at stuff.

Earlier I also had a tape measure and a compass and a few other things, but I cut down on the tools for practical reasons.
I don’t deliberately try to stand out, but I tend to end up standing out anyway. I try not to let it affect my behaviour, nor to take pride in it.