MDD123 wrote:
I can't say I personally pick up on style deviations, but I also know better than to go out in khakis, pants with "tapered" legs, or hawaiian shirts, because of the feedback I get. There's definitely a range of acceptable attire for guys in my demographic.
That gave me a funny picture!
I think it's important to know how people will receive how you dress. This is because it's very unpleasant to, on top of being made fun of, to not expect that might happen. This isn't to say conformism is better. At the end of the day, it's a personal choice -- and one that sometimes must be made in accordance with whatever one's individual needs are (i.e. if they're hypersensitive, allergic to things, have to wear certain garments for health reasons, etc.).
Personally, I dressed in many different ways in high school. Some days, teachers would compliment me on the pants suit I was wearing, other days, the principal would tell me to take off my spiked collar because it's considered a weapon and wasn't allowed in school (understandably, that only happened once because then I wasn't allowed). People made fun of me, but they did anyway...all the time...and about things that didn't even make any sense -- not that making fun of me for what I was wearing made sense, but the other things made even less sense to me. Through a mixture of being a bit too socially naive to notice every time it was happening and too much of a free-thinker to care what they thought, I made it through fairly intact. All of that experience being made fun of, and I still don't understand why people would make fun of anyone, though. Most cruelty is beyond me, though...
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~~Beauty is trust and understanding and safety and love...