I recently asked myself, “Do other people’s opinions influence how you dress?”  I believe that others’ opinions influence your style to a certain extent. For example, would you be more likely to wear an outfit again if multiple people approached you and complimented your outfit? For me, it would be a yes. I believe many people follow fashion trends, and they do it because everyone else likes them, so they follow along and the same can be said when many people hate something. So to figure out the answer to this question, I asked students around Santaluces High School the following questions:

Do you believe other people’s opinions influence how you dress? If so, why? 

Do you feel pressured to wear more expensive clothing to impress people? 

What influences you to dress how you dress? 

Do you judge your first impressions based on someone’s outfit?

If many people said they liked your outfit, would you wear it more or less often?

If many people said they didn’t like your outfit, would you wear it more or less often? 

Interviews:

   High school senior Danyal Azafar was asked “Do you believe other people’s opinions influence how you dress? If so, why?” He had this to say” Yes because opinions matter”. He also says he doesn’t need to wear expensive items as everything he wears is not expensive. He is influenced by the music he listens to which translates into his outfits. He does make first impressions of someone based on their outfit and wears whatever he wants to wear, no matter other people’s opinions on it.

   High school senior Daniel Murillo says he doesn’t feel opinions influence how he dresses and doesn’t feel like he needs to wear expensive items to impress people and, instead, is inspired by his father who owns a lot of baggy clothing. He does feel like he makes some assumptions based on someone’s outfit, and he believes he would still wear his outfits no matter if multiple people said they liked or hated them.

   High school junior Dan Dinh says “Yes, because if a bunch of people told me my fit was bad I wouldn’t want to wear it again.” He also believes that he influences his outfits with his creativity and doesn’t need expensive items to impress people. He says he doesn’t base his first impressions on someone’s outfit and that if multiple people said they liked his outfit, he would wear it again, but if multiple people said they didn’t like his outfit, he would be more hesitant to wear it.

   High school junior Jonathan Martinez said, “ Most people get their fashion from the influence of other people.” When asked if he feels pressured to wear more expensive pieces of clothing to impress people, he believes that he doesn’t, as people can go to the thrift store and still look good for cheap. He also said that he believes his influence on his style comes from himself. He also says that you can get first impressions based on what someone wears as it can tell you what kind of person someone is. In the final 2 questions, he says he would try to wear similar outfits if he gets complimented on one multiple times or he would try to switch it up if multiple people don’t like his outfit. 

   High school junior Kenneth said this when asked these questions: Q.1 “Other people’s opinion doesn’t affect how I dress unless they say something positive, then I am more likely to wear an outfit again.” Q.2 “Sometimes wearing more expensive brands or logos affects what I wear.” Q.3 “Mostly my music taste and personal taste in clothes.” Q.4 “If they’re dressed in a certain color or style I may judge or make assumptions based on stereotypes although not necessarily negative ones.” Q.5 “I would wear it more often since they liked it and according to them, I look good in it.” Q.6 “It depends on who the people are, if it’s someone’s opinion that I care about then I might wear it less often.”

Overview:

Based on the interviews with these students, I concluded that other people’s opinions do influence how they dress, Some more than others. Most students showed that positive feedback increases the chances of them wearing that outfit again. The impact of others’ opinions seems to be minimal though as many choose to wear whatever they like and whatever fits their style. As most students showed they are more focused on their style rather than other people’s opinions, while others are more influenced by people’s feedback. Additionally, students felt as if they generally didn’t need to wear expensive clothes to impress others.