You should care.

Unless you live in a cave by yourself, you should care about the messages your conveying through your style and clothing. To disregard it is like being OK with wearing a sign that says "loser" on your back. If you’re constantly sending messages anyways, you might as well learn the language and utilize it to work for you and not against you.

Guys: think about how often we judge women on their appearance. We often go as far as judge the very caliber of women from a mere glance, before they even say a word. I’m guilty of it. It’s as if I can "size up" a girl before I even meet her. Women do the same, with 10x the scrutiny.

Using the archetypes of style

There are countless style archetypes. There’s the "Rock Star," "Preppy Ivy League," "Urbane Cowboy" to name a few. All these looks have loaded messages. These are like sub-languages. They have the benefit of carrying a preloaded message–almost like canned "pick up lines." If done right, they can be extremely powerful means of expressing a certain trait or message. However, there is always the down-side of not completely understanding the "sub-language," botching the entire look, and coming off as a mumbled fool.

"Oh… but that’s not me"

When you dress into a certain archetype or stereotype, it’s not to pigeonhole your personality into a certain mold. It’s about a "tool" for communication. It’s about speaking the language of society, popular culture, and conveying your characteristics through “words” that are understood. This language does not define you. It is NOT your identity. You image or “look” is simply an expression of yourself through the medium of clothing.

Try this

As an exercise: look yourself in the mirror right now, and ask yourself:

If I saw someone dressed the way that I’m dressed now, what kind of inferences would I make about that person?

Write down some of the words or assumptions that come to your mind. When you do this, really detach yourself from your appearance, and be honest. If you saw a guy dressed like this on the street, what would you guess about his career? his social life? his love life?

Are you saying the things you want to say with your style? Are you fluent in the language of style?

To learn more about Kinowear, visit www.Kinowear.com.

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