Final Blog Post: Research Reaction

After conducting my research, I've come to realize that clothing can play a big role in how others judge a person's social standing. Though I had no big infractions with store employees, I could definitely tell that they made judgments about my clothes and acted accordingly. When I wore my everyday outfit, I was basically regarded with the respect an average customer would deserve: a polite smile upon entrance and parting, but no other real acknowledgment. When I had my upper-class clothing on, I felt like a was received with more promise by employees. Since my outfit may have sent the message that I was more capable of buying each store's products, the employees took a bit more care in receiving me, and just let me pass on unnoticed in the high-end stores that I went in, probably because I looked the part. One woman in Aritzia gushed over the long, leather-and-wool peacoat I had on and asked where I got it (since I borrowed it from a friend's mom, I couldn't tell her). I was also quite tenaciously pursued by a man at a kiosk, who came over and even took my hand in an attempt to get me to stay and hear his pitch; since most people just pass by kiosks without a second glance, he probably took my wardrobe as a sign that I had money to spare on the various face products he was selling. I definitely felt most uncomfortable dressed in the low-class outfit; I felt uncomfortable and most likely to be judged in that one, unlike the somewhat powerful feeling I had while wearing my upper-class outfit, knowing that my clothes left me entitled to shop at basically any store. This experiment opened my eyes to the power of clothing, and I've unfortunately learned that in the world of shopping, most people do judge a book by its cover.