When asked who she dresses for, Astrid's answer, in charge of web-marketing, is without appeal. "I get dressed first and foremost," she says at first. "I see it as a game that I adapt according to my mood of the day." The mood, but also the personal tastes, the fashion of the moment, the need for simplicity or the desire of comfort: these factors are indeed as much of parameters that define our individual way of dressing. A set of clothing rules specific to each in sum, defined to the extent that it is estimated, subjectively, that it allows us to feel good. It's because she's basically comfortable in jeans, or on the contrary, in a terry-covered micro-shorts, that a woman will wear one. But not only.

I really want to say that I always dress for myself, but that would be wrong.

This feeling of satisfaction caused by worn clothing is also explained by its ability to convey a socially constructed image of oneself. The one we want to show to our peers. "When I was younger, I dressed a lot by anticipating the eyes of others. It was a fairly classic style, but it was more like the idea that I wanted people to make me, "says Victoria, a self-entrepreneur. "I really want to say that I always dress for myself, but it would be wrong (...). Basically, I especially believe that I dress for the probably fantasized image that I want to send back to others, more than for one or more people in particular, "adds Elodie, a journalist.

Recommendation become (almost) injunction, the idea of ​​dressing for oneself is actually less of a proven reality than an ideal hardly attainable. And for good reason, if it makes it possible to assert one's personality or simply to feel good, the garment is also an instrument of presentation of oneself in a society with codified individual relations. For example, for a job interview, it is implicitly agreed that the candidate comes in an outfit close to the dress code in force in the company concerned ... and not, for example, in slim leather and wedge sneakers (unless the position in question requires it, of course). In the same way, we will tend to avoid wearing a sweaty jog during a first meeting with mother-in-law.



Credit: imaxtree / Alessia Gammaota


The garment is in this sense a form of politeness, in the same way as the usual "Hello", "Thank you" or "Goodbye" and, by extension, proves vector of social link between the individual who wears it and the group in which he wishes to integrate. Not respecting these implicit rules is inevitably exposing oneself to a certain form of stigmatization or even rejection. The follower of the Gothic total-look who is also incidentally a banker at La Défense (yes, it exists) can hardly impose his accoutrement on his workplace. Conversely, it will be almost essential to gain the approval of his circle of friends, the so-called Gothic look as a sign of recognition within their group.

If I dress for others, it's also because it makes me happy.

In the same way, clothing can also play a role, conscious or not, of seduction vis-à-vis others. Because he wants to please, an individual will be able to choose, for example for a date galant , clothes that he considers to emphasize or that will, simply to please his partner. A desire certainly turned towards the other but which belongs to him formally. "For special occasions, I would say that I dress for myself and others. For example, I can say to myself, "Well, I'm going to put that, I know he likes when I wear this or that piece of clothing," but it stops there, "explains Katia, a journalist. The garment is transformed into a stylistic extension of a relationship, whether in love or friendship, while remaining a source of personal satisfaction.

"The first time my girlfriends saw me put on sneakers , they were pretty shocked, and at the same time I was fine because I felt good like that. Since then, I dress for myself, and if I dress for others, it's also because it makes me happy. "Victoria concludes. A nice way to remember, it is our different "me" or "other" in the more or less broad sense of the term, the recipients of our style are far from exclusive, quite the contrary.