1. Before you read the article discuss together possible meanings for the 

following expressions: 

9 personal image management; 

9 dressing for effect; 

9 non-verbal communication; 

9 appearances matter. 

2. Read the article and make notes on what the author says about the 

above expressions. Discuss your answers with the rest of the class. Decide 

whether or not you think he would have agreed with the quotation B in ex. 

3.5. Note anything he says which supports your opinion. 

Most people say they wear what they do for practical reasons such as com-

fort or warmth. But the truth is more complex. Like it or not, our clothes are per-

sonal statements – and we might not always mean what they say. 

Those of us who live surrounded by strangers – which in Britain in the 20th 

century is increasingly the norm – have to develop our skills of non-verbal com-

munication in what the sociologist Irving Goffman has called The Presentation of 

Self in Everyday Life. Just as people have differing abilities in most things, there 

are obviously experts in this art – the geniuses of the street who can spot a genuine 

Rolex or a pair of original Levi 501s at 100 yards. But it is also true that all of us 

require basic skills to enable us to read the messages of the walking billboards 

around us and, just as importantly, to select appropriate items for use in our own 

personal image management. 

These personal advertisements are not necessarily “legal, decent, honest and 

truthful”. If asked to check out the claims made by our walking billboards, the Ad-

vertising Standards Authority would probably take most of us to court. We dress to 

impress, to confuse and to deceive (if only ourselves). Whether we utilize the skills 

of an undercover cop to blend into our surroundings or those of a pop star to stand 

out, there is generally a considerable gap between what we project in our appear-

ance and the reality of our situation in life. It may be only when dressing for, say, a 

job interview or a first date that we are aware of our capacity for visual deceit but 

we are, in fact, at it all the time. 

Dressing for effect is a game we all play. It is also a very serious business – 

not just in the sense that the clothing and make-up industries are big business 

(clothing manufacture is Britain's fourth biggest employer) but also because our 

own personal, economic, social and romantic relationships so often derive from ef-

fective image management. Except for the minority of people who live out their 

lives in small, rural communities where everyone knows everyone else, we inevit-

ably build our relationships upon a foundation of fleeting initial visual encounters. 

It is a cliché that “Appearances Matter” but it is none the less true. At a party, onthe street, in the office, at a disco, when visiting a bank manager, verbal communi-

cation is only one aspect of our interaction – and frequently (perhaps surprisingly) 

it is often the least important source of information. How many important relation-

ships in all our lives would have never developed to the verbal level if we had not 

surmounted the initial hurdle of visual compatibility? 

The other side of the coin is our ability to interpret the appearances of others 

in order to avoid unpleasant or even dangerous encounters. On a dark, sparsely po-

pulated street the distant glimpse of a “doggy looking character” may make us 

cross to the other side or even retreat in the opposite direction – often without justi-

fication. Our prejudices about appearances frequently interfere with our logic. 

Muggers, pick-pockets, rapists and con-men rarely, in real life, look like the stereo-

types we expect. Usually it is only very subtle inconsistencies of style and manner 

that are the clues we should look out for. 

And if the interpretation of appearances is a complex game, the task of pro-

jecting to the world our own personal self-advertisement is no less so. Buying a 

new wardrobe – or even a pair of socks - is no easy matter, but the choices we 

make (yes, even in socks) are among our most important decisions. Many people 

who have abundant skills at anything from computer programming to writing pop 

songs are held back in life because they have never taken the time to develop their 

skills of image management. Yet it is not difficult to do so. 

The first point to grasp is that items of clothing, make-up, hairstyles, etc. are 

symbols. Just as in learning the vocabulary of a foreign language, one has to learn 

the meanings of these everyday style symbols. Unfortunately there are no dictiona-

ries of these things (their meanings are too ephemeral for that) but simply by tak-

ing note of what other people are “saying” with what garments, you can become 

fluent enough to begin to evaluate what you are communicating through your own 

appearance. 

The messages which we think we are transmitting are often not the ones 

which others actually read in our appearance. Get someone else to evaluate you. 

Then, independently evaluate yourself and compare your appearance profiles. 

Do not expect the message which you are sending out to correspond to your 

real life situation. The presentation of self is the act of creating a public fiction 

about a character who happens to have your name. The only thing that matters is 

whether the fiction which you project is the one which you want the world to read.

1. Look at the following description of a clothing style taken from the 

article: “Trendy means anything which is in fashion”. Working with your 

partner, look at the two lists below. One list contains classifications, like 

“trendy”; the other contains definitions, like “anything which is in fashion”. 

Match the classifications with the definitions. Sort them into pairs of oppo-

sites, e.g. hard and soft. 

Classifications 

1. Trendy means… 6. Traditional means… 

2. Sort means… 7. Mind-dressing means… 

3. Body-dressing means… 8. Conformist means… 

4. Elitist means… 9. Egalitarian means… 

5. Hard means… 10. Individual means…

Definitions 

A.casual, pastel shades, muted patterns, fussy, fine fabrics, lace, floral prints, 

frills, bows, suede, mohair and ribbons; 

B.work clothes, army surplus, practical fabrics, donkey jackets, Dr Martens,overalls, badges; 

C.“normal” clothes which do not stand out and attract attention; anything 

bought from a chain store that generally do the trick; 

D.whatever is usually, unconventional, personal and distinctive; 

E. expensive fabrics, bespoke tailoring, couture, hand-made shoes, the fami-

ly jewels, formal dress; 

F. sportswear, dance clothes, muscle T-shirts, body-hugging stretch fabrics, 

suntan; 

G.tailored, sharp, angular, severe, minimalist, strong solid colours, bold 

stripes, pointed collars, black leather, studs and metal trimming; 

H.classic – anything which is timeless and does not date; 

I. loose-fitting, carelessly assembled, slightly rumpled clothes which do not 

show much flesh, briefcase bulging with books, spectacles; 

J. Anything which is in fashion. 

2. When you have finished, look at the messages below. With your part-

ner, try to decide which classification goes with which message. The first one 

is done for you. 

1. The message is: “I’m efficient, businesslike, sharp, strong, aggressive, de-

cisive, urban, sophisticated and in control.” – Hard. 

2. The message is: “I’m an intellectual, concerned with ideas not appear-

ances, reasoning, rational, thoughtful, civilized and introspective”. 

3. The message is: “I’m a proud proletarian, salt of the earth, left wing, “Up 

the workers”. 

4. The message is: “I’m caring, nice, gentle, friendly, relaxed, innocent, pas-

sive and rural”. 

5. The message is: “I’m special, unique, creative, one in a million”. 

6. The message is: “I’m fit, sensual, instinctual, natural, intuitive”. 

7. The message is: “I’m a team player, one of the boys/girls – average, con-

ventional and middle-of-the-road. I blend with my surroundings”. 

8. The message is: “I’m a member of an exclusive coterie, not one of the 

“hoi polloi”( hoi polloi = the common people, the masses). 

9. The message is: “I’m up-to-the minute, going places, not stuck in a rut, 

progressive and in with the in crowd”. 

10. The message is: “I’m a pillar of the community – moral, upright, hon-

est, God-fearing, worthy, honourable and virtuous”. 

So… which one are you?