Clothing and Personal Identity服装与个性

For eight years， I had to wear a uniform to school. While doing so， I never felt quite myself. The colors were boring， and the style expressed severity and conformity. Only when I made the uniform my own by adapting it to my tastes as much as I could did I begin to feel comfortable with it.

整整八年，我都得穿着校服上学。其间一直感到不自在。颜色单调，款式诉说着严肃与服从。直到后来尽可能按自己的品味改了校服，才觉得是自己的衣服，穿起来舒爽了。

Almost everyone has felt something similar; wearing clothes you don’t like， that don’t suit your tastes， elicits a general feeling of unease and discontent.

几乎每个人都有过类似的感受；穿上不喜欢、不符合自己品味的衣服，往往会感到不自在、不满意。

This attests to the fact that clothes have more than a merely utilitarian role in life.

这说明了一个事实：服装在生活中不仅具有实用功能。

Clothes communicate something about the wearer. As commentator and former fashion editor Caryn Franklin writes， “Fashion offers a dialogue rich with social and political meaning for those who want to unlock the language of clothes... Way beyond functions of protection or warmth， we recognize the power of clothes to proclaim or augment individual and collective identity.” With the growth of industry and the withering of sartorial1 laws and customs， people increasingly turned to their wardrobes as a means of expressing their values.

服装可以传递着装者的某些信息。正如前时尚编辑、评论人卡琳·富兰克林所述，“对于意欲破译服装语言的人来说，时尚提供了一场富含社会意义和政治意义的对话……人们认识到，服装的功用远不止是防护或保暖，服装蕴含着宣示或强化个人与集体特质的力量。”随着服装业的发展、着装法规和习俗的日趋衰微，人们开始越来越多地将着装作为表达个人价值观的方式。

The effect of different styles is， in the words of Virginia Postrel2， so “immediate， perceptual， and emotional” that often there seems to be no cause for why we like certain aesthetics but not others. But， as Postrel argues in The Substance of Style， “Aesthetics conjures meaning in a subliminal， associational way， as our direct sensory experience reminds us of something that is absent， a memory or an idea.” The associations we develop throughout our lives imbue certain clothes or styles with meaning， and that meaning causes us to like or dislike those looks.

用弗吉尼亚·波斯特莱尔的话来说，不同着装风格具有“直接、感性、情绪化”的效果，从而让审美偏好往往显得毫无依据。不过，波斯特莱尔曾在《风格的实质》一书中指出：“美学是以一种潜意识的、联想的方式创造意义，正如直接的感官体验一样，会令人想起某种缺失的事物，一段记忆或是一个想法。”我们一生中形成的种种联想会赋予某些服装或风格意义，而这种意义又会导致人们喜爱或厌恶那些式样。

Take colors， for instance. We like or dislike certain colors because of the attributes or moods we associate with them. Those associations might be cultural， such as how， in the West， most people associate white with purity and innocence， whereas in China， people associate it with death and mourning. Or we can form associations based on our personal experience and values. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book The Little Prince offers a fictional example of the latter： After meeting the blond little prince， the fox says that from now on， the sight of wheat， which had been meaningless to him， will bring him pleasure because it will remind him of the color of the boy’s hair.

以颜色为例。人们因为将颜色与某些属性或情绪联系到一起，所以才会喜欢或厌恶某些颜色。这些联系可能与文化相关。例如：在西方，大部分人将白色与纯洁和天真联系在一起；而在中国，人们将白色与死亡和哀悼联系在一起。此外，人们会基于个人的经历和价值观来创造联系。安托万·德·圣-埃克苏佩里所著《小王子》就是后者在文学作品中的例证：遇见金发小王子后，狐狸说，麦子对他而言曾经毫无意义，但从今往后，看见麦子将会感到快乐，因为这会让他想起小王子的发色。

As Postrel puts it， “I like this becomes I’m like this.” Of all the things we buy， clothes perhaps most easily and deeply express our identity. Clothes are an integral part of our personal appearance， which Postrel calls “the most inescapable signal of identity.” The wide variety of affordable clothing gives us a great deal of control over our appearance， enabling us to express ourselves in ways that fit the occasion.

正如波斯特莱尔所说，“‘我喜欢这样’会变成‘我像这样’。”在人们购买的各种物品当中，服装或许最能轻松而深刻地表达个性。服装是个人仪表中不可或缺的部分，波斯特莱尔称其为“最无法逃避的个性信号”。经济实惠的服装款式繁多，让人们可以充分掌控自己的面貌，在不同场合以得体的着装表达自我。

Certain clothes often evoke particular ideas about the types of people who wear them. Someone who likes to wear sweatpants all the time， for instance， will have different values and personality traits than someone who wears elegant clothes. Many of the latter consider sweatpants， as late fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld put it， “a sign of defeat.” But， some regularly wear sweats because they are comfortable， relaxed， and integrate with their focus on getting things done.

人们会对穿着特定服装的人产生特定的看法。例如，喜欢整天穿运动裤的人和喜欢穿着优雅服装的人，价值观和个性会迥然不同。后者中有许多人像已故服装设计师卡尔·拉格斐那样，将运动裤视为“失败的象征”。而有些人则经常穿运动装，因为运动装宽松、舒适，能让自己专心做事。

Clothing patterns might contain lines and shapes with which we associate meaning. For instance， we generally associate straight lines with purpose， intellect， and order; and curved lines with passivity， softness， nature， and pliability. As for shapes， we might associate squares with stability， and triangles with dynamism. Patterns can also represent symbolic objects—for instance， butterflies， which we often associate with beauty， peace， or metamorphosis. We might also associate certain fabrics with different qualities of character; the down-to-earth sobriety of tweed conveys something different than the cold elegance of satin. Particular cuts， colors， ornaments， and accessories can add layers of meaning to our clothing， too.

服装上的花纹图案可能包含被赋予了意义的线条和形状。例如，人们通常会把直线与目的、智力和秩序联系起来；把曲线与顺从、柔软、自然和柔韧联系起来。至于形状，人们可能会把方形与稳定联系起来，把三角形与活力联系起来。图案还可以代表具有象征性的物体。例如，蝴蝶通常与美丽、和平或蜕变相联系。人们还可能会把某些面料与不同的性格品质联系起来；粗花呢务实庄重，绸缎冷艳优雅，两者传递出不同的内涵。特定的剪裁、色彩、饰品和配饰也都可以为服装增添多层意义。

Because associations can differ widely from person to person and culture to culture， others might read into our outfits something different than we intend and， thus， misunderstand our values and identity. But as long as we are not wearing our clothes specifically to communicate certain traits to others in a specific context （such as professionalism at a job interview）， what others think of our clothes should be less important than what we think of them and why we choose to wear them. We ought to dress to benefit ourselves， not others.