First Impressions

Union Mine High SchoolFashion Design

What is your first thought?

First ImpressionsNo matter who you are, people are judged by first impressions. What first impression have you formed lately about different people you’ve met?

First impression affect your judgment of others, just as your own appearance and behavior affect what others think about you.

What does clothing communicate?

PersonalityConformityIndividuality

PersonalityPersonality is an individual’s unique combination of mental, emotional, and social qualities. You express your personality though attitudes, emotions, and behavior.

Your personality influences the clothing styles you prefer. In turn, your clothing choices can reflect your changing moods and self-image.

Emotions

Emotions can affect clothing choices. If you’re happy and cheerful, you may reach for bright bold colors. If you’re feeling down, you may subconsciously select dark colors.

Self - Concept

Thoughts about who you are and what you’re like can be positive, negative, or somewhere in between. People with positive self0concept often have a sense of pride in appearance than influences what clothing they decide to wear and how they take care f it. Negative Self-Concept can be projected too – through mannerisms as well as clothing.

Conformity

To feel good about themselves, most people want approval from others. Through conformity, a teen goes along with certain standards, attitudes, or practices followed by a group.

Peer Pressure

The peer group’s push to conform is called peer pressure. Clothing that doesn’t fit the group’s standards may be criticized.

Individuality

People often need to fit in – but they also feel the need to be original in some way. As a teen’s self-confidence grows, the need to express individuality increase. Individuality is the total combination of characteristics that set one person apart from another.

AssignmentFirst ImpressionsFrom the internet, a magazine or a newspaper, cut/paste three pictures of people on a sheet of paper. Write your impression of each person based on the clothing worn on a separate sheet of paper. Also write about what type of job you think they do – what is their story? Exchange your pictures with a friend or classmate and repeat the activity. Compare descriptions. What does this activity suggest about first impressions. (Min. 3 sentence response.)