Some people say that it is possible to tell a lot about a person’s culture and character from their choice of clothes. Do you agree or disagree?

There is a view that a person’s

culture

and personality can be established simply by recognising the clothes they choose to wear. In my opinion,

although

one’s choice of clothing can tell us a little about these traits, we cannot learn a lot as appearances are only informative up to a point.

To begin

with, it is important to acknowledge that the dress sense of many people is reflective of their

culture

and interests.

This

is because in many cultures there is a particular code for how to dress appropriately.

For instance

, a man wearing an expensive suit and holding a briefcase is un-derstood to be steeped in business

culture

. Because of these social symbols, including suits,

sun-glasses

spectacles that are darkened or polarized to protect the eyes from the glare of the sun

sunglasses

and religious garments, it is possible to quickly ascertain that people live in one

culture

in-stead

in place of, or as an alternative to

instead

of another. That said, there are limits to how much we can discover just by looking at someone’s clothes, especially when it comes to their character. After all, it is said that you should never judge a book by its cover. To illustrate, a woman dressed all in black may be judged to have a depressed, morose, pessimistic personality as we associate

such

feelings with

this

colour.

However

, it is more than possible that

such

a woman is returning from a funeral or simply thinks she looks good in black, and, more importantly, that she has a happy, cheerful disposition. In conclusion, while it is not impossible to gather accurate information about a person’s background and character via their dress sense, there is a real danger of being misled if we rely on

this

method of assessment at all times.