Judging people from their clothes is a very controversial question. Some people pay a great attention to the appearance of people they meet the first time. Others don’t consider clothes to be the most important factor of judging new acquaintances. However, it is not doubtful that there are some background reasons why people judge others from their appearance.Culture is one of the reasons why people take care about what they wear and what others do. In my country, we have a proverb: “Meet people according to their appearance and then analyze their personal traits.” As a result, it is very important to look good when you have a job interview, a meeting or any other situations when you meet people the first time. For example, in the USA students can wear whatever they want – from very short shorts and skirts to very open T-shirts. In my country, you will barely see such kind of clothes; they usually prefer moderate style of clothes. I mean you can open some parts of your body, but to a certain point, otherwise some people may have a bad impression about you. Culture may influence people’s attitudes towards what clothes are appropriate in certain situations.
Another reason why people judge others from their clothes is personal experience. When we see someone the first time we can form our opinion of him or her on the basis of our former experience. For example, when I came to the USA my home stay mom was supposed to pick me up from the hotel. She was late and I decided to wait for her in the hall. I went down and saw a young woman sitting in the corner. The idea that it was my home stay mom hadn’t even come to my mind, because she looked very young and official. She was wearing black pants and a colorful blouse. Her hair was carefully styled. All details of her appearance looked perfect. My impression of this picture was: “She is a very smart person. She likes purity and order. She is very diplomatic in relationships with other people.” When I got to know her a little bit closer, it turned out that my assumptions were right.
In sum, culture and personal experience are two reasons which influence our judgment of other people from their clothes. To my opinion, sometimes, our impression of our other people from their clothes may be wrong due to some internal and external factors.
