It has been said that clothing defines who you are. The way we dress has an impact on how we are viewed and categorized in society. Clothes give us the power to express our personalities and individuality. However, it does not always necessarily reflect who we are as human beings. "Our clothes are too much a part of us for most of us never to be entirely indifferent to their condition: it is as though the fabric were indeed a natural expression of the body, or even of the soul" (Quentin Bell, 1950). This quote explains the personal attachment we seem to have to our clothing. It is a sort of right of passage that we as humans attain. When one puts together an outfit, it gives them the power to project whatever image they want. To reflect your personality in your style, you must first know yourself well enough so that others can appreciate it as well. Personally, I would say that my clothes can reflect who I am as a person, but not all of the time. Like Pamela Anderson once said, "There's no way I set out to be a certain kind of symbol - the way I dress is the way I am, the way I live my life." There are days where I decide to dress casual and days where I decide to be edgy or maybe even extremely girly. The beauty of fashion is in the ability to be whoever you want to be; the ability to be bold, to make a statement, to shine: to simply be yourself. .
Now, there are some cases where one's desire to dress a certain way cannot be fulfilled due to things like the inability to purchase certain clothing. The less fortunate have limited amount of money and sadly cannot always afford to buy the clothes they truly want. Shakespeare once said, "Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, but not express'd in fancy; rich not gaudy; for the apparel oft proclaims the man." We rely on clothing as a social and economic indicator because of the lack of official ranks such as a caste system or aristocracy. You are judged if you shop at Gucci and you are judged if you shop at Ross.
