And Who Do You Think You Are?
Morning totally disappeared on me. I am not so sure how that could have happened, but let us pretend that I have just crawled out of bed, turned on the tea kettle and am settling into the day.
Well then - good morning!
Sigh. Ah well, it was a worthy try. I am drinking ice water and doing laundry. Cheap Jeans are rattling around the inside of the washing machine as if they were as high and mighty as a designer pair. And now you know how I dressed at my retreat for the past week. My white linen trademark suit remained in my closest at home and I let my hair down (both figurative and literally - though my hair is not so long) while away.
Discount clothes and mole skin notebooks were the standard items that remained with me like a very beloved baby blanket. I sat on the ground, lounged in trees, and wrote life manifestos for the week, finding a new consciousness in letting go. It did not matter if I even bothered with make-up. Granted I do a lot of hiking on weekends and do not fuss with the feminine during such expeditions, this was one of the first times I can ever remember feeling comfortable enough with my peers (other hypnotists and psychologists) to not care so much about the superficial me.
And I received an interesting compliment, one that might have mortified me in my public persona.
“You are so lucky - I wish I could wear Teen Clothes and get away with it.” This comment came from my roommate, an older lady, who was fairly conservative in her dressing. My eyebrows rose up in consternation.
“I don’t mean that badly. You look fine, but it has been years since I could squeeze into skinny jeans,” she said quickly and asked me where I bought my black jeans (Heavenly Couture - and yes they are having a denim sale at the moment - jeans for 13.80).
All this lead me to the realization about how clothes are so utilitarian in creating our persona’s image. I am still the same me - Ellie Blunt - professional hypnotist whether I am in linen or jeans, yet the clothes become uniforms that define us and how we are perceived. In my suit, people are more aloof toward me, but all in all, treat me fairly respectably. In my retreat clothes, though people may not have immediately have thought professional, everyone talked to me and told me of all their problems because I was less professionally formal.
So this leads me to today’s question - what roles do you play in life and how does your attire affect these roles?
September 21st, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Sunday mornings, I’ve found, are exceptionally good at vanishing! ;^)
I must be an aberration. I have many roles — dad, IT geek, hypnotist, cook, — but I dress the same way for all of them. They’re all aspects of me. About the biggest normal change is that I’ll go with khakis and sneakers on the weekend instead of my usual black shoes and dark slacks. It takes a wedding or a funeral (or a job interview) to get me into a button-down shirt or tie regardless of my agenda for the day.
<MR>
September 21st, 2008 at 6:47 pm
I’m a business man and unfortunately you are judged by how you dress. I’m still on the fence as to how important your clothes are but I enjoy a nice suit just like the next person. I feel like it is the modern day armor. Sounds crazy right?
September 22nd, 2008 at 7:07 am
Interesting comments from different sides of the fence so it would seem. As I read Micheal’s comment, I thought to myself something akin to stereotypes. I thought maybe it is completely different for men - after all I always here that men have less clothing options. Then I read Rick’s and feel that we are on a similar page. I totally get the modern day armor. I use my white linen suit as a barrier between me and “them” sometimes.
Thank you both for responding.
June 11th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
lovely designs