What
Your Clothing Says About You
What is in a closet?
Heaps of unworn clothing, dresses with tags still on them, an ex-boyfriend’s
sweaters, or jeans that are too tight? Often what we find in a woman's closet
gives us a peek into her personality, emotional state, fears or desires. How
does a closet project who you are to other people, and more importantly, is
your wardrobe covering up your potential? We spoke with Tracy DiNunzio, the CEO
and founder of Tradesy, to give us a little insight about what exactly is
lurking in our closets.
To find out what our
wardrobes signify, we spoke with Tracy DiNunzio, the CEO and founder of
Tradesy, a site that easily and efficiently sells designer clothing straight
from women's closets. Before starting Tradesy, Tracy was busy preparing for her
PhD in Clothing Psychology at UCLA.
When she began
Tradesy, Tracy bootstrapped her business by renting out her room, sleeping on
the couch, and working on her kitchen counter, “I was working mostly from home
and I realized early on that working in my pajamas kind of hindered my
productivity and my focus.” In order to curb this, Tracy started dressing for
the position that she envisioned herself having, “I would take the bus
[throughout L.A], but I would take it wearing secondhand Chanel. When I dressed
for the job and the life that I wanted, it kind of helped me get there.” In
just three years, Tradesy has grossed over 10 million dollars.
Tracy gave us a
stripped-down analysis of what our closets are actually harboring. Time to dig
deep inside your dresser and find out what really is lying in your wardrobe —
you may just want to change out of those sweats.
If almost everything
you own is logo-ridden, you may be trying to hide your true identity.
"I definitely see
women who will only buy stuff if it has the designer logo on it. That’s always
a really interesting personality type because there is so much about what you
want the world to see and what you don’t want the world to see when you put
someone’s name front and center on your body.
It is really a form of
hiding. Again this is an extreme, when everything you buy has a logo on it, it
may mean that these women had something happen in their transition from
teenager to adulthood. By kind of covering yourself in logos and symbols of
other concepts other than yourself, you avoid having to form your own
identity."
You may be having a
difficult time leaving the past behind.
"The most common
thing I see is when most of the clothing in the closet is not being worn. That
whole big pile of unworn clothing represents an unwillingness to let go of the
past. It could be a mother who is holding onto her pre-baby wardrobe or just a
person who never lets anything go because they think it might come back in
style or that they might wear it again. These tend to be the anxious
personality types who have a hard time letting go in general — they hold on to
types of things like anger and fear."
You could be wearing your future, but not building it.
“For a woman whose
closet is filled with unworn clothing with the tags still on, she isn’t holding
onto anything in the past but she has an ideal of what she wants her life to
look like. Yet, the reality isn't matching up. Rather than doing something more
constructive about it, she is buying clothes for that life and not wearing
them. That is my favorite type of profile because all you have to do in that
case is start wearing those clothes no matter what you are doing or where you
are going. You will kind of free yourself to pursue that type of life that you
bought all of those clothes for in the first place rather than having them sit
in the closet.”
You may want to go into hiding.
"When you have a
woman who is dressing solely in neutrals, there is a sense of almost wanting to
disappear and not wanting to be seen. It can be related to any number of
things. It could be a self-esteem issue, or perhaps the person is more of an
introvert who only feels comfortable with their closer circle and is wary of
new people in social situations."
Your Closet is Filled
With...Identical Clothing
That same sweater in
ten different colors may mean you are scared of change.
“When a woman has a
closet full of a lot of identical clothing — meaning you like that sweater so
you get it in ten colors or you only wear black pants or white tops — those
women tend to be afraid of commitment or change in work or relationships.
Women will often say,
‘It’s because I don’t want to think about it, so that’s why I buy the same
thing of everything.' Yet, whenever I would get the chance to dig a little
deeper, I would find that there were these unresolved things around career or
relationship. Those are the two main things where there was an impending change
or a desire to change but it wasn’t being fulfilled or a risk wasn’t being
taken.
A New Closet and a New You
Tips for a Cleaning
Your Closet.
"I recommend that
you do not clean out your closet yourself — you often need an objective opinon.
It's hard for us to see ourselves, so a trusted friend that could give a really
objective opinon is the best when you are cleaning out your closet.
There is no better
feeling or symbolic gesture than to seprate your closet into a 'I Wear This
Frequently' and 'I Don't Wear This' pile. Take everything you haven't worn and
get rid of it, sell it or donate it. Then think about who you want to be and
'how does that woman dress', not a specific person, but your ideal self, and
start dressing like her."
No comments:
Post a Comment