Clothing and Social Identity

Abstract

Individuals are believed to use clothing to define and communicate their social identities to others. If this is the case, observers should be able to read and show consensus about the social information present in clothing cues, and there should be substantial agreement between the perceived meaning of the cues to observers and the actual social identities of the individuals but only if the clothes are specifically selected by the individuals to represent themselves. In Study 1 observers were able to perceive the social information presented in outfits selected by others to be representative of their personalities, and these perceptions were significantly correlated with the individuals' views of themselves. In Study 2 observers were similarly able to read social information present in jeans brand labels. However, these perceptions were not found to be related to the identities of individuals who would wear them. These findings suggest that clothing may have meaning, but the relationship between clothing, its meaning, and identity is not a simple one.