Look around you. Notice how Americans dress. I’m sure you’ll see a lot of “casual” outfits. Many different kinds of outfits, but they’re all boring. A lot of sports wear outfits, especially, in places like high school, college, stores, etc.
The casual outfit would be sweatpants and a sweatshirt or in other cases shorts and a t-shirt. It has become normalized in the United States to dress casually. According to TIME, they believe Americans dress casual because clothes are freedom. This, I totally agree with, but that should be a reason to dress up and express yourself.
And furthermore, not to dress with sweatpants everyday.
I’m not saying that I have a problem with people who wear sweatpants, t-shirts or shorts, etc., considering, when running errands you would want to wear something comfortable rather than fancy. However, there is a line that shouldn’t be crossed and it seems like most Americans are not aware of that.
Sometimes, I think to myself that little children can dress better than our generation.
The only time you get to dress nice is when you go out, and the majority of people don’t do that. It seems like Americans only dress nicely when they must as a requirement, whether that be for work, an event, parties, etc. Other than that, you won’t see Americans dress nicely by choice.
You might not see anything wrong with it because it’s so normalized but there truly is a problem. As little as 30 years ago, you would not see people dress like how they do now. As explained by the Washington Post, Americans were way more formal back then. Men used to wear suits not only to work but to school and women would wear long dresses.
I do believe that fashion has changed, meaning that wearing a dress or suit to school would not be normal, nowadays. American fashion has improved and has gotten more diversified which is great. So, that gives people the freedom to dress differently.
However, that has given a reason for Americans to dress lazy. It has lowered the expectations for many people.
Now, I do believe that you don’t need designer clothes or expensive clothes to have fashion. A lot of people wear thrifted clothes and make it look like expensive clothes. It truly depends on the person’s style and comfort in how they dress and from there you can improve from sweatpants everyday to a better look.
Improving your style and dressing up has many benefits. You might have heard of the expression “dress for success” or “dress to impress.” A study done by Yale used 128 men, between the ages of 18 and 32, to see how their style affected them. Those who were poorly dressed in sweatpants profited less money than those who wore nicely dressed in suits. The way you dress can affect the way people perceive you and how confident you feel.
Now, I know not everyone is into fashion and likes dressing up, but I think everyone should be open minded on how they can improve their style.
And when you have the opportunity, dress better.
