Really, really love what Shevia and Suz wrote. I'm hugging you both. xo

I love what Rabbit said!

Let me just clarify too (in response to Suz) that I define narrative/story extremely broadly as a result of working in interactivity. A narrative to me is often not a typical, classical "story" but a shorthand series of steps for usability. Using the ATM interface is a narrative - the story of how a person interacts with it to gain a result, good or bad. Often a bad narrative is the result of a user interface which thwarts the goal of the person interacting.

So to me, my instant look at people does reveal a narrative of their clothing, based - as many have said - on my own inherent biases and background. It forms a narrative of who that person is in my own mind in regard to my own future interactions.

One thing I have also learned from making games all these years is that good user interfaces seem so effortless they are scarcely noticed. Interesting to think of this idea of functional ease applied to dress.

Suz, that is very interesting about being used to judge a text, not its writer... myself being in the same business as you, I have a different reflex:
For me, characters try to pop up from these outfits I see walking around, overpowering the real person momentarily. And these characters come complete with full stories, dramas, comic or tragic (Probably because I have an overactive, bored imagination).

One of the class I teach to young adults is very broadly called Communication. We explore written, and spoken forms. "Spoken" (called "oral" in French) encompasses much more than speech: movement, tone of voice, body language, eye contact and... clothes! In fact, in the textbook, there is a whole section on "What you wear affects how the message is transmitted".

Actually, there is a famous pie I show my students on a powerpoint: on one side, the 3 elements: Speech - Body - Voice. On the other, the pie divided like this: 55% - 38% - 7%. These percentages represent the role each element plays in the spoken communication process. I ask the student to link each element to a percentage. Everybody links "Speech" to 55% or 38%, but here is the answer:
Speech: 7%
Voice: 38%
Body: 55%

When someone speaks to us, we only pay attention to 7% of what this person is actually saying compared to how much attention we pay to their body and tone of voice. That is why in Spoken language, one must often repeat and rephrase the message.

"Body" here is not just body language, but also eye contact, movements and... the way we are dressed. According to the experts, communication with others (and conveying a message) doesn't start when we open our mouths, but, rather, the minute they see us; and how we are dressed DOES affect what we communicate. It colors it slightly or interferes with it completely. It adds information. We attach it to the message, but it's difficult not to attach it to the sender as well.

So what we are really doing when slapping a narrative onto a person in the street based on the way they are dressed and groomed, is interpreting part of a (not yet voiced) message. If this person comes to you and starts interacting verbally, you will have interpreted part of the message already. Imagine you come across the following people (pic one vs pic 2): which one are you most likely to respond to if they approach you with a question or if they ask you for money?

IK, very very interesting !

Rabbit, having ROFL right now looking at the PEMCO profiles! Crafting a whole novel here.

Wow, such incredible, fascinating thoughts. I will come back later to address.

But a couple of questions, can you tell if other people are getting your "message" and if not or they don't seem to notice, are you disappointed ? We want to "express" ourselves but at the same time not be misjudged or ourselves judge others. We want people to "know" something about us through our sartorial expression yet we think it should strictly fall on the clothes and nothing else.

Angie, it was exactly your post about not judging that got me thinking about all this while I was reading Gryffin's post.

The mannequin suggestion is really brilliant .