Looks like I’m in the minority on this one. I dress to elicit the responses I want from others- especially my employees, clients and potential new clients. I’m a small business owner and entrepreneur, I dress to look professional, welcoming and on top of my game. Even at soccer games and school pickup lines, I dress to be perceived as the powerhouse I am.

My look does reflect my personal style- I’m a boss lady in bright colors and bold prints- and it serves me by helping me build my business and achieve my professional goals.

A lot of my clients are international and have a dressier standard for clothes. The more I dress up to make a good impression with them, the more I like to dress up. Enclothed cognition is real and the energy burst of being sartorially pulled together is too!

Also I like compliments- giving and receiving them.

I like to feel authentic in my clothes and I don’t like to dress like what I might see as a cliche. I have never wanted to wear exactly the same jeans as my friends or sisters or even the same hair cut.

In saying that I do dress for my environment - at conferences like where I have been this week I have worn what I see as slightly cool business casual looks and in other settings i would wear my navy suit. I have also dressed in clothes to blend in at different times.

On a work day in the office or at home, or when heading out with friends I dress for me. Which might mean a floral dress one day and baggy pants and sneakers the next. I have a couple of friends who like fashion and I often wear something I think they would enjoy when with them. DH does sometimes notice and other times not at all.

I dress for myself. When I was working, I would consider my environment, but now I am free to express myself through my clothes without concern. I love clothes and fashion. One of my creative outlets is planning outfits. I do have others.
Mr. SF has a creative eye, and he offers great feedback. I don't have many friends who are into fashion. I am thankful for YLF.

I dress to express myself, but I do dress with a mind to being aware of my surroundings and the occasion. I am in the phase of life of invisibility and don’t want to play into that, but I also don’t want to be too flamboyant. I enjoy compliments and I enjoy it when my husband thinks I look nice.

Great question.

My body, IYKWIM. I used to dress for working in an office and project some authority but nowadays I am all about dressing my body the most comfortable while trying to look more slender than I am:-).

Lyn67 I get what you are saying - me too!

I dress for my audience, my God, and myself--in respect and with joy.

I dress for myself. I have loved fashion since I was age 4. I changed my clothes 7-8 times a day. My mother patiently picked up little clothing piles from all over my bedroom floor. I once dreamed of being a fashion designer even.

I dress so I’m not invisible and to stir up a bit of self confidence. I can come across as quite intimidating—to my utter surprise. (Been told this by a few brave girlfriends.) I was morbidly obese in my teens and that was painful. So I’m conscious of how I appear especially the last few years.

I also dress for my husband. He graduated from a prestigious art college. He’s in IT but he’s a Renaissance Man. His taste is excellent and while we don’t always love the same things (he can’t understand why I love gigantic eyeglass frames lol), I very much value his opinion and his enjoyment of me.

I dress a bit for my son in that I want him to know what it means for a woman to be respectful and tasteful.

Dressing well makes me feel good, now and also from an early age. I wonder if that is because dressing well was important to both my mother and grandmother, that from a young impressionable age, I was conditioned to think this?

In my teens, how I dressed was very much linked to my interests and became a way to identify my tribe. I formed life-long friends at school and university and as much as we all thought we were being very 'individual' it was comical at how we looked like we were members of different bands!

Joining the workforce, I used clothing to signify that I was professional yet also interested in fashion. I found it a great way to bond with other women in my profession.

I find other women who are interested in fashion vibrant and fun, so to a certain extent, I still use fashion to find my tribe. DH's interest in Japanese fashion has opened up a whole new fashion frontier for me.

Bijou - " using fashion to find my tribe" is an excellent way to put it.

A little late to this thread. Yes, I've always gone my own way with clothes. I do dress for myself. But when I read your question "who do you REALLY dress for?", it came to me that I also dress for an imaginary person, or audience, that will look and say, yeah, I like her vibe, or artistry. As much as we cook for ourselves, and taste the food til we get the flavor just right, it's also about the other people who eat it and say, this is SO good! Sharing joy!