Yesterday I wore red

[placebo]

Usually i'm not a guy easily noticed because of my clothes. I'm probably a regular guy who is just a bit taller than most of people. Few days ago I've decided to buy a red shirt and go out in it. It was some kind of experiment on physical appearance.

And it was extremely fun doing that. I've realised that 99% of people are tending to fit in some social groups and they are paying the fitting with the way they appear. Everyone wears black or brown things. Everyone looks the same.
It is so ridiculous that society imposed the way people will live and even more ridiculous is that they are unaware of that.

Is it cool to go in an "ultra-cool" night club looking like everyone else and think you're cool and you have your own style? I don't think so. People lost courage to be different from others if they ever had that kind of courage. And if they decide to be alternative to mainstream culture they become rocker looking guys, or rave party dudes, or copies of David Beckham. Running from one imposed uniformed group they enter in another one. Who is brave enough to be totally different, not belong to any group and do everything oposite?
Genius or a fool?

I was inspired to this small experiment by two books of Malcolm Gladwell.
The Tipping point and Blink. First is about epidemics in society and the second one is about decisions we make in blink of eye. I recomend these two books to all of you.

[RT Wolf]

So...what happened when you wore red? Did a lot more people pay attention to you? Red is an eyecatching colour, and its suppposed to mean passion and fire and dominance.

[bellbird]

The Tipping point is a really good book, one to re read actually
Yep, I'm curious too, what happened after you put the red shirt on and went dashing around in it?? Come on, juicy details please!

[placebo]

I went to visit my old friend to another city. Usually i'm surrounded by people like me, we go out to some not fancy places to play snooker and just chill or get drunk sometimes. And he is a guy who goes to elite bars where people come to be seen and pretend they're having fun. I knew that i won't fit in there wearing white basketball shoes and red sweatshirt, but tried anyway. Of course they didn't let me in but my friend entered and left me alone in strange town.

So i used that chance and went exploring by myself. Yes, people look at you weird when you go out on saturday in red sweatshirt. If it was black, i'm sure no one would care. During the day it is kind of ok, but still people notice you more and it's wasn't just in my head. I don't have problems with that. I actually heard one girl asking her boyfriend quitelly, would he ever where something red. And he said, no way, i'm not a dork.

There's a saying in my coutry, goes something like this: suit is not what makes you a man. And i think it is wrong. Your suit is exactly what makes you who you are.

[bellbird]

I don't agree with that:
the suit is an image, so is the red sweater. Whether you wear one or even both it doesn't matter one thing to who you really are. People do perceive who you are by what you wear, how you look, smell, speak etc, but that doesn't mean that you as a person are changed inwardly.

[placebo]

You can smile wearing "poor" clothes all the time and you won't get a job, an angry men in armani suit will.
Or try being a punker in a town with 20 000 people. You'll be perceived as a junkie no matter are you or you're not.

I don't like this uniformed world. We had that kind of world in comunism and now we follow an example of American democracy. But there's no democracy at all. All we have are rules hidden in imposed templates of behaviour. Fashion trends, pop culture, TV, comercials, celebrities, it all suck big time.
I know it, you maybe know it, but 99% of people don't know it and we live surrounded by them

[Mark Lapierre]

Is being different from the norm, for the sake of being different, any improvement on following the herd? How is it bravery to be totally different? And what's the point? We're a social species, we wouldn't be alive if we had a habit of going off and doing our own thing. How many of our ancestors would have survived if they didn't avoid new, different and unusual things?

That's not to say that things can't be different now, but it explains part of why things are currently this way.

I used to refuse to wear black because everyone else did. Black was boring. Same went for brown. And grey. Now most of my clothes are brown. Why? Because they're comfortable, fit well, and look good; they suit me. The colour is irrelevant except where certain combinations don't go together.

I've had bleached copper hair, dreadlocks (including a couple of purple ones) and a purple afro. Some people looked at me strangely then, but no-one treated me any less respectfully then than they do now. They might have had some derisive thoughts, but what do I care if they don't act on them?

I wore a suit to the first interview for my current job because that's one way to ensure you have a chance at the job. Is that fair? Possibly not, but a suit could be considered an investment, a way of ensuring you have a greater chance of getting the job. I only wore the suit to the first interview; for the second interview I wore casual clothes, as almost everyone else working there was doing. The other interviewees wore suits. I also had the perfect credentials for the job, and my last job included work that was very similar to the work I was being considered for. Do you think it was the suit, or the lack of the suit, which got me the job?

The point is, being superficially different hasn't had any noticeable positive or negative effect on my life. And following the herd is easier. It's unfortunate that quite a lot of people are unconscious conformists, but I believe your 99% statistic is too high.

But doing something different for the sake of being different inevitably leads to the cycle of moving from one uninformed group to the next, which you already mentioned. How do you stop that cycle? I think you do so by accepting yourself for who you are, regardless of what you look like, and looking past the surface in all your dealings with others. As long as we say either, "no, I can't wear black, I'm different" or "yes, I want to wear black, I'm cool" we're perpetuating that cycle of conformism/rebellion.

[bellbird]

To me your posts suggest that you want to be different from the crowd and feel cool about it. Fair enough. We all go through the kicking and screaming I'm special fase. You might get over it or continue to differentiate yourself. No worries. Maybe the Armani guy thinks he can get the job quicker then the other dude but if he comes accross as a cocky prick and knows little about what the job is about, then bye bye see ya later. The other dude could be asked to dress a bit smarter if required (maybe not) and because he knows his stuff, he will have a good chance of getting it. because that is more important. Unfortunately a lot of businesses are deceived by the 'Armani trick'.

There's more to the one dimensional side you're portraying here. It's not all black and white. Everyone can choose what they like to portray and that's great. Don't despise people who choose to follow the norm, adapt, whatever. If you want to wear red sweaters GREAT. Honestly. Start a movement

I don't like this uniformed world. We had that kind of world in comunism and now we follow an example of American democracy. But there's no democracy at all. All we have are rules hidden in imposed templates of behaviour. Fashion trends, pop culture, TV, comercials, celebrities, it all suck big time.

Yes imaging and brandbuilding is the way of the world a lot nowadays. That's business for you. I don't like it either, but I do understand where it comes from and how it works. There's still plenty of people who decide not to go along with it and good on them. I see where you're coming from. I agree it can be very 'fake' and that's crap about it. But know the rules of the game and you don't worry about it so much anymore. Well, I decided I wouldn't, because I will always look past the outfit to the human being behind it. Make that mistake once and never make it again to judge on how someone is presenting themselves. (I knew someone once who looked like ************ and smelled like anything but boy he was very brainy and had a degree in Archeology. Go figure I tell you. A lot of people treated him like ************ too which was not very courteous.)

[Andreas]

Fascinating experiment.

It's true, most people judge first from clothing and some even stop there. I regret that fashion has become a negative element of today's society. I commend you for your experiment, placebo. In America we have a the opposite quote: "The Clothes Make the Man", and I've seen some truth in that. Clothing conveys status or responsibility, but for those who want to understand the human being behind the clothes, they are merely a piece of fabric.

Mark made an excellent point, "As long as we say either, "no, I can't wear black, I'm different" or "yes, I want to wear black, I'm cool" we're perpetuating that cycle of conformism/rebellion." What would really show courage is if people broke completely away from the dark color stereotype and wore the color that matches their attitude for the day. That's what I do if I can. Or even better, just imagine if our clothing sensed our mood from biometric sensors and changed the color accordingly. Mood clothes, anyone?

The cultural significance of red has an interesting history. I suspect it all began with blood. The blood is the life, and it's red.

As for myself, I don't recall going thru a "...kicking and screaming I'm special phase." Being a guy, it's probably easier for me, though. I've tended to drift between all the colors, except purple. Purple can give people certain inaccurate impressions.

Here's hoping you can tip a red sweater trend.