CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the Study
Clothing is generally accepted as one of the fundamental needs of individuals and
families all over the world owing to its functional and aesthetic roles, other roles of clothing
include protection from environmental hazards, enhancement and decoration among others.
Through clothing, basic human needs are satisfied, both physical and socio-psychological (Lee,
2015). The word clothing refers to all items of apparel and adornment. According to Klepp and
Rysst, (2017), clothing is any article placed on the body to protect, beautify or adorn it. Ohaka,
(2016) defined clothing as anything placed on the body to adorn, protect or to communicate an
intent. Clothing therefore includes body decorations such as cosmetics, tattoos, hair colour and
hair arrangements, ornament, jewellery, badges and insignia of office rank, extensions of the
body in the form canes, bags umbrella and handkerchiefs, as well as apparel or garment
(Oyeniyi, 2015).
Clothing serves many purposes such as providing protection, modesty, communication
and socio-psychological functions (Imo, 2013). It offers comfort, helps to fit with peer groups
and encourages following of trends (Wickramarachchi, 2013). It has a social significance, with
different rules and expectations being valid depending on circumstances and occasions
(Schlesinger, 2014). Clothes are things that cannot be separated from humans and become an
important part as one of the basic needs. Xu and Liu, (2019), stated that clothing can function as
a communication tool for identity and individual nature of its use. A person's dress style is
influenced by many things such as culture, values inherited by community, groups as well as
family, environment, media, fashion trends, and personal character, all of these give reference to
how to dress and shape their preferences (Berns, 2015).
Clothing is one of the basic needs of humans besides food and shelter as it is needed to
protect the body. Clothing is everything from head to toe that gives the wearer comfort and it is
not limited to the fabric that is worn by someone, but design creations that are deliberately
chosen after adjusting to one's circumstances. Therefore, people will not wear clothing without
understanding the self-disclosure based on habits or laws that apply in the surrounding
community (Johnson & Foster, 2018). Clothing is mainly used to cover our bodies, make us look
more elegant and also to express where we are going. For example, there are casual wears, party
wears, official wear, sportswear etc. But there are also other reasons for us to wear clothes like
protection, comfort, safety and identification (uniform).
First and most important reason for clothing is it provides protection from heat cold,
wind, and rain. The extreme weathers can affect our skin and body. Since our skin is open and
uncovered these extreme weathers can easily affect our skin for example too much cold can
make our skin itchy and cracked; too much sun can tan our skin. Therefore, there is a need for us
to protect ourselves from such conditions. It absorbs perspiration, prevents sudden chills, and
acts as a buffer between your body and accidental burns, scratches, and rough surfaces. The right
garments can insulate the body against extremely hot or extremely cold temperatures. People
who live in extreme cold weathers dress in heavy coats made of fur so that they can keep their
body and thus survive the harsh weather; whereas in deserts, nomads protect themselves from the
hot sun from dehydrating their bodies by covering up with long flowing robes and headdresses.
Also, clothing can act as a mean of identification, whereby people put on several kinds of
uniform for easy identification.
Clothing can serve as a mean of identification in various organization when people put on
uniform for easy identification and recognition. Uniform is a specific cloth worn by all the
people of an organization thereby making it easy to identify which organization one belongs to.
Clothing provides an instant image for the group. For example, the doctors have a specific kind
of uniform they wear, the lawyers and likewise the teachers. For example, the layers are expected
to put on white and black, the teachers are expected to wear cooperate dresses and the doctors are
expected to put on their white coat and scrubs. Workers of textile industry have a specific
uniform, students of a school have their special uniform differentiating them from the students of
the other schools, people working in government organizations has a particular uniform in sports
like football, cricket each team has a specific uniform for their members. In certain occupation
specific has to be worn like, members of the police, restaurant workers, airline personnel, and
hotel staff also wear a special uniform. These uniforms help to identify the worker to their
customers, as well as create an image for the company, organization and association. Clothing
also serves the purpose of safety.
Another function of clothing is that it protects us from any possible injury. For example,
some jobs like firefighters, some sportsmen like cycling etc. Wear particular clothing for safety
reasons. In today’s world, some of our jobs are really very hazardous which requires safety
measures like wearing proper clothing. Thus, clothes offer safety, in fact, some of the clothing is
specially termed as “safety” to identify them from regular clothing. Fire-fighters wear asbestos
clothing in hazardous situations. Police officers wear bulletproof vests. Road workers wear
fluorescent orange vests so that drivers can see them easily and prevent accidents. Clothing can
also show the status and occupation of an individual.
Clothes are one of the important factors that represent the status symbol and occupation
of an individual. In olden days the kings and queens had a specific style of dressing which was
very unique from the other people, which made it easier to identify them and understand their
status. In today’s world in an official meeting, the official wears like suits and coat that too of a
reputed company or brand represents the status of every individual. Some of the things
representing high-status today are designer clothes, designer jewelry, fur coats, pure leather item,
cost of classy fabrics etc. because these items tend to be more expensive than others. Certain
types of clothing, colors, and accessories have become representative of certain groups,
activities, and occupations. This means that a specific style of dressing along with a specified
accessory helps every individual to easily identify them in a big crowd as to what their
occupation is. We teach our kids in kindergarten to identify people based on their clothing as to
what is their occupation.
People decorate themselves to enhance their appearance. They wear clothes, jewelry, and
cosmetics in hopes of improving their looks and attracting favorable attention. Adornment, or
decoration, also helps people to express their uniqueness and creativity. Clothing and accessories
can be used to improve appearance in different ways. Clothing can also be decorated to make it
special and unique.
However, people wear clothing for functional as well as social reasons. Apart from the
practical functions of placing a piece of garment above the skin, wearing clothes also carries
specific cultural and social meanings. In numerous cultures, for instance, it is bad sight to show
to others parts of the human body anatomy and particularly the genitals. Thus, clothes serve as a
method to hide from the rest of the world the particular areas of a person's body. Religion,
customs and of course, particular historically important circumstances have shaped the way
different people in various times feel about clothing and exposure. Moreover, clothing has been
regarded as one of the best ways to distinguish social classes, sexes, occupation, marital status
and ethnic or religious affiliation. But in order to interpret correctly the messages a particular set
of clothes may transmit to others; one has to be familiar with the translation of the specific code.
Wearing white during a western funeral for example is highly inappropriate, while eastern
societies endorse such a color selection for mourning people. Therefore, it can be categorically
stated that clothing enhances people’s dressing pattern.
Dressing pattern is very important and unique in different kinds of occasions. it is a set of
rules that specifically requiring participants or people in the event to wear prescribed dress. The
dress code at a workplace and occasions is very important. The dress code represents the image
and qualities of a professional. The dress code is also important because the first impressions
give a large impact in the future if he/she will meet the people for the second time, and only have
one and only chance to have a positive impression. First impressions are formed about how they
dress on a particular situation. Being modest is one of the traits of being a professional, it is
important to be recognize on your great works rather than recognized on how you dress and how
you follow on the latest fashion. It is also important to be mindful on basic etiquette for wearing
an appropriate attire. Following dress codes especially on business is a dress to success. And in
the future if we became an employee or employer, we are the one who will represent the
workplace of a company. The dress code standards are different in different kinds of company or
occasion. The importance of dress code cannot be ignored. A true professional respect’s his/her
workplace’s rules like dress code. Personal expression must give justice with the rules inside the
company or in the workplace.