The Signature Question, or, How Do I Dress?

I never addressed the status symbol/signature question of a few weeks back, though I did think about it and read everyone else's responses with rapt interest. But since Alana just asked me about it, and since I'm on a writing roll today, here are my thoughts.

Wende clarified the question as being, "what quality of yours do you want/expect people to value?" That's too easy to answer - I got used to being "the smart one" very early on, and for better or for worse, that's going to stick with me for a long time. That makes it sound like it was a label I resented, but nothing could be more untrue - in childhood and adolescence, I relished it to the point of near-sociopathy. (The dumber your peers look, the smarter you look, so what can you do to make your peers look dumber?) I could elaborate on this, but don't think I want to commit the details to publication.

Here's the thing: Do you know a Smart person? (Smart = shorthand for book/IQ smart. Because when Smart people say smart, they always mean Smart. Sometimes they pretend to believe smart can mean other things, so as not to appear the antisocial intellectual snobs they actually are, but don't be fooled, they don't really mean it. Smart people are also prone to making confessions in the third person.)

Anyhow, do you know a Smart person? If so, do the world a favor and never let on. The one thing that Smart people want more than anything else in the universe is for other people to figure out that they're Smart. In the office, at home, in social life. It's a disease. So, if you care about your favorite brainiac's eternal soul, don't let them know your suspicions about the IQ issue. Or, as Dilbert would say, don't feed the egos.

(Does it sound like this is advice I hope my friends and family take? If so, maybe I can break into fiction after all. The truth is there, though.)

From a recent alumni mag. The brain collection has a much
more attractive home now than when I was an undergrad.
I believe the black banner reads Wilder Brain Collection -
I did not attend Brain College, as it appears say.
Photo credit Jason Koski/University Photography

So...how does this all bear on my wardrobe? I'm not sure it does, directly. Because in spite of being quite capable of analysis, my aesthetic expression is an intuitive exercise. In the jewelry post, I mentioned something to the effect of, "wearing chandelier earrings makes me feel like I'm dressing up like someone else." That concept could be broadened to describe my whole wardrobe approach. Midweight hoop earrings are "me," as are colorful, but not flamboyant necklaces that nestle near the collarbone, moderately-styled shoes, shaped blazers and cardigans, skirts an inch below the knee, and the famous fine-gauge turtleneck sweaters. Dangly earrings, waist-length scarves and necklaces that feel like they're wearing me, capri pants, fashion-forward shoes, anything described as "ethnic" or "fun", and the equally-famous three-quarter-length sleeves are not me.

Now, the "me" intuition seems to already have accounted for what suits my shape and size. Also, dressing "me" fortunately results in a wardrobe that meets my needs - "me" workwear items are professional for my role and setting and communicate what I need them to; "me" leisurewear is equally appropriate for its purpose. I don't know whether to credit that to my subconscious, or just good luck. I suppose I could be described as dressing like an intellectual, whatever that means, but it's not something to which I devote intensive pre-programming energies.

One downside of all this is that, though I can do well for myself, I don't make much of a stylist for anyone else. I can dress my body, style my hair, do my makeup, satisfy my tastes and lifestyle. I'm ok with this - I've never claimed to be that visual. But the fact remains that, if I were to write my best attempt at a style guide, it would be titled something like, A Comprehensive Guide to Dressing for the 20-Something, Size 10, Red-Haired, Hourglass-Shaped, Bibliophilic, Intellectual, Eastern-Educated Technical Professional with Creative Inclinations, Given to Abstract Thought and Spilling Coffee.

I'm not seeing the market.