Parts of Fashion: Comfort

I've decided to do a series of posts of on what I view as the most important parts of fashion, starting with the most important, comfort. Comfort is the number one reason people choose the wear what they wear. Keep in mind, this is wearing clothes, not buying them. Many people, I might even say most, buy clothes that are cute, cool, super chic, whatever, and leave them to hang forever in their closets, never to be worn. Tim Gunn calls these clothes "Those Items that -- For Reasons Unknown -- You Never Wear" in his book A Guide to Quality, Taste & Style. I would say that there is one reason. You don't feel comfortable in it.

There are different types of comfort. Some types may not apply to some people, all may apply to others. I may not even know all of them. Sure, I analyze clothing and why I wear what I wear, why others wear what they wear and why certain styles stick and others don't, but that doesn't mean I have figured out every type of comfort. I am a mostly self-taught when it comes to fashion theories. I do think I have a good start on the list, and I'm open to other ideas.

1. Mental comfort. A huge part of fashion is self-expression (which I will go more in depth on in a later post). Since self-expression is so big, it only stands to reason that, if a piece of clothing does not accurately represent you, you will not want to wear it. A lot of people don't seem to think about what their clothes say about them, but I think it's because it comes naturally to people...because of comfort...no way.
   
   To test this theory, I would talk to people I didn't know very well (aka was sitting next to in a class), and tell them about a fashion class I was taking. I would bring up how clothing is our first form of communication, that what we wear is an expression of ourselves and you can tell a lot about a person just based on their clothes. Most of the time the person would look at me skeptically and ask me what their clothes say about them, if they are so telling. I would then tell the person my first impression of them, which was based on their clothes (as most first impressions are. I call it the first-first impression). The people I talked to were always impressed at how accurate I was.
   
   I concluded, based on my experiment as well as studies and books I've read, that people automatically wear clothes that make them mentally comfortable.
   
2. Situational comfort. There are clothes that are made for certain events. An evening gown is not typically worn to work and athletic clothes are not normally worn on dates (unless it's an athletic date). Some clothes are made to cross events, but only with a change in combination. People generally do not want to under- or over-dress, even if it happens more often than anyone wants to admit.
   
   Imagine you're having a pick-me-up day. You're not feeling so hot and you want to feel better about yourself. What do you wear? Does it depend on how you're making yourself feel better? I bet it does. If you pick yourself up by binge watching your favorite TV show while chowing down on snacks, I doubt you are wearing the outfit that flatters you the most. No one else is going to see you, so you wear whatever you want. If you're the type of person that needs to get out of the house to feel better, I would wager that you are wearing a casual outfit that you feel the most attractive in. Perhaps you go somewhere fancy when you feel bad. You're probably wearing your nicest outfit. Each situation calls for a different outfit.
   
   Now imagine you're going to work. What do you wear? A uniform? Casual clothes? Clothes that can get dirty? Traditional business attire? Trendy business attire? Does it depend on where you're working? Of course it does. Would you feel uncomfortable coming in something else? I would say most people would say yes.
   
3. Physical comfort. This one, I think, is the most obvious. No one wants to wear something that's itchy or pulling funny or falls off all the time. OK, maybe someone does, but I can't understand why. I don't think this needs much explaining. The best example I can think of is, when people are adamant that fashion means nothing, they always say "I just dress to be comfortable." Upon further prying, they usually mean physically.

While I may have spent this entire post talking about personal fashion, it can't be denied that this plays a big part in the fashion industry. It doesn't matter how innovative, cool-looking, awe-inspiring or awesome a piece of clothing is, if no one will feel comfortable in it, it won't sell and the item will disappear from the shelves. Comfort is the biggest aspect of personal fashion, but it does not completely make up personal fashion, which is why there will be more posts to follow!