Class and Pants - Part B
It took me a little longer to get back to this than I had planned, but nonetheless, I have returned.
So, I left off saying that I went to class with a huge hole in my pants. Like I said, I went there thinking something along the lines of "The whole in my pants will probably bother other people more that it will bother me."
Remember, the class was two days. I go there on day 1 with a big hole in my pants. On day 2, I decided that I would go a different route and I wore a pair of the more dressy black slacks1, that may have been more business than casual and didn't have any holes in them. I sat in the same exact spot in the class. The same people were in attendance. The same teacher was teaching. We were talking about the same product. My point is that pretty much everything was the same except my garb.
So, here's why I am writing what has thus far seemed like nothing more than a chronicle of my week with detailed descriptions of what I wore. At some point during the day I went to the bathroom, and as I was washing my hands, I noticed my appearance in the mirror. I thought something like, "Hmm. Don't I look all corporate America." And, then, I laughed thinking about the holey pants I wore the day before.
Later, back in the classroom, I made another realization. I noticed how much I was talking that day. The fact that I was talking and interacting in the class wasn't all that surprising, it was the realization that I had not said more than 25 words the day before that was shocking. On Tuesday, I was speaking up give my opinion on how the class was being presented, and answering people's questions. However, on Monday, I had failed to give any opinions or answer anyone's questions2.
This perplexed me. Could it be that my participation in the class was effected by my outfit? I mean, everything else seemed the same. Maybe I thought I didn't care about the hole in my pants, but I really did?!? Maybe all my confidence and expertise leaked out through the hole in my pants.
Has anyone else ever experienced anything like this3?
- back These pants were not mentioned in the first post, but they fall in line with the pants I wear with my suits. I also wore a red golf shirt. Daniel jokingly said I looked like Tiger Woods on Sunday.
- back Don't forget, I'm an expert. That's what experts do. I think. I'm sort of new at the job.
- back I don't expect many people to have stories about how they made the decision to wear pants with holes in them, according to Kim people don't do that, but maybe you've split your pants before. I'm just wondering if anyone has ever had their outfit, hair style, outward appearance, etc. effect their personality.
Labels: indiscriminate
posted by Shannon Smith @ 5/24/2007
6 Comments
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6 Comments:
My comment passed the "too long to read" threshold.
Find my thoughts here
I do think that what we wear affects our confidence level. It also helps in our "ethos"... to use a communication term, but this is the character that others attest to us as we speak. It could be that you have a good gauge of ethos, it could be that we all want to be accepted at some level and know that when we dress similarly to others we have a higher chance of being accepted, or any other range of options...
but, in order to not have to follow jeramie's trend, I'll stop here and just say, "yes"
by the way, shannon. nice footnote links.
The "back" links have been a nice addition. And what's more, they work!
i have been known to 'call in sick' on bad hair days. not proud of that. mama p.
shannon,
in a lot of my teacher prep classes my professors would encourage us to dress up on test days. they said it would help with confidence levels, attitude, etc, etc. i noticed a huge difference between days when i rolled out of bed and basically went in my PJs, and days when i actually spent time "preparing" myself.. test days or not. i think we all feel a little better about ourselves when we look nice and feel nice, even as subconscious as it may be.
It's kind of weird. I may have felt "all corporate America" when I had on my fancy pants and nice shirt, but I wouldn't say that I was more comfortable.
Thinking back to Monday, I had on my pants with the hole in the crotch, but I also had on this lame horizontal striped polo, and I remember thinking that I was having a bad hair day, or at least that I needed a haircut. The wierd thing is that I had "prepared" myself more that day, than usual. I never wear slacks to work (holed or non-holed) and I wear polos only about 25% of the time.
I think both days I was out of my element. I feel the most like me when I am rockin' my sandals, worn out jeans, and a t-shirt, or a wrinkled button up with the sleeves rolled up.
I've heard that you should dress for the job you want, not for the job you have. Most of the time when people say that I guess they are talking about dressing like your boss, but that's not exactly the job I want, plus I don't like my boss' style. I want a job where I can read books all day, talk to people, help people, and spend more time trying to participate in the restoration of all things. That's why I dress on the same level as the good reverend Ramsey.
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