"Clothes make the Man...."

….which is why naked people are never taken seriously.” (Mark Twain)

I bought a long-sleeve shirt the other day……from the Gap. It looks something like this: 

I’m a little ashamed to admit I bought this, but I can’t quite put my finger on why.

• Am I worried about that shopping at The Gap makes me conformist?
• Am I worried that this is a sign I’m becoming more & more superficial?
• Or am I worried that I’m trying to be something that I’m not?

 (Probably all of the above)

Shopping at places like the Gap / Urban Outfitters / some thrift store comes with certain stigmas of being a preppie / poser / hipster type. I used to worry about this in college (not high school though; I just wore whatever my mom picked out for me back then) and stayed away from those places so that I wouldn’t be “labeled.” Instead, I bought all my shirts from online stores and various places that sold ‘specially made shirts’ in hopes of being thought of as ‘an individual.’ I noticed that these were the kinds of clothes that had designs on them which made me stand out, whereas “designer” clothing did not that made other people blend in with the crowd. (Weird, rite?)

So I think these are (for the most part) valid concerns because my appearance” is a very important part of I am; it’s the part that people see the most and, consequently, rely on to get an accurate judge of who the rest of “me” is. And since my wardrobe is one of the two things about my appearance I can actually control, (the other being ‘my hair.’) I think buying clothes from The Gap says the wrong thing about me (that I’m rich, vain, etc.)

But on the other hand, there’s really nothing wrong with buying shirts from the Gap. A lot of perfectly normal (& awesome) people do it too. True, people are going to make certain assumptions about me for shopping there, but aren’t I a little old to be worrying about what clique I fall under these days? And shouldn’t I *want* people to realize that I can now afford to shop at nice stores instead of where I used to go? (Target)

And for that matter, aren’t I a little old to be wearing shirts with funny designs on them? (Maybe)

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…………… this is an awful lot of thought to come out of me buying a shirt, isn’t it?

Sorry that this was another odd / boring(?) post. I just had to get this all out “on paper” and thought it would make a good blogpost at the time.