You Are What You Wear as Well as What You Read and Eat

 

Who are we? Or, if one is an author, who exactly is that character I am trying to create?

It's no secret that the attire people wear tends to define them. Think about what royalties and aristocracies wore in comparison to the typical attire of ordinary subjects or peasants -- and how a king could often easily disguise himself simply by exchanging his royal vestments for clothing worn by a commoner.

"Dress for success," used to be a slogan of the American apparel industry, aimed at urging consumers to think that their chances of getting a good job, or perhaps a promotion, depended as much on how they visually presented themselves as on anything else. There was, of course, some truth to it: we are all influenced by what we see and the values we associate with images.

Above left one sees a "new" Michele Obama, making her entrance at Brooklyn's large arena known as the Barclay Center. This was part of her on-going book tour -- a landslide success, by all accounts.

As explained by Washington Post fashion critic Robin Givhan, Ms Obama appeared, quite out of character it seemed, in a "shimmery yellow shirt dress with a pair of gold, holographic thigh-high boots." The boots, as per the middle photo, were from Balenciaga's 2018 runway show while the dress was shown by the fashion house for 2019.

What's the message here?  According to Givhan, Michele's outfit says the role of First Lady was but a chapter in her life.

"Obama's book tour is the equivalent of a rock concert, so she dressed like a rock star," the Washington Post critic said. "Whether the ensemble is flattering is beside the point."

When Michelle was in the White House, the public wanted "a picture of understandable elegance -- aspirational, but not beyond the average person's wildest dreams." In contrast, the ensemble shown above suggests wants to move on to something else -- "a celebrity, which carries greater value in the broader culture."

You are what you wear.  That's one way to build character. And, after all, Michelle Obama's book is entitled "Becoming."