> How can it be that so many people say they "don't care" about what they wear, yet their overall style is so uniform?
That kind of goes in with "not caring". I agree with your overall thrust here - clothing is a social signal whether or not you want it to be. Even the lack of someone signaling is in itself a signal. It legitimately took me a very long while to figure this out.
For me - comfort is all that matters, even in public, until I get into a social situation. Then it's simply dressing to "the average" as to not stick out. I used to describe this as not caring, but it definitely is caring in my own way. Plenty of other folks dress specifically to stand out, so the opposite is certainly a positive action as well.
In the end, me simply wearing pretty much the same dumpy thing everyday sort of became a personal brand in of itself.
That said, I'd be perfectly happy with everyday uniforms assuming they are comfortable. It would save me mental effort of having to imagine what other folks will be wearing in a given situation.
That kind of goes in with "not caring". I agree with your overall thrust here - clothing is a social signal whether or not you want it to be. Even the lack of someone signaling is in itself a signal. It legitimately took me a very long while to figure this out.
For me - comfort is all that matters, even in public, until I get into a social situation. Then it's simply dressing to "the average" as to not stick out. I used to describe this as not caring, but it definitely is caring in my own way. Plenty of other folks dress specifically to stand out, so the opposite is certainly a positive action as well.
In the end, me simply wearing pretty much the same dumpy thing everyday sort of became a personal brand in of itself.
That said, I'd be perfectly happy with everyday uniforms assuming they are comfortable. It would save me mental effort of having to imagine what other folks will be wearing in a given situation.