Photos by Laura O'Brien
I have always admired my friend Laura's fashion sense. Her look is whimsical, eclectic, quirky and always chic. Recently she confessed that her clothes selection is almost always based on nostalgia. In all her clothes purchases, there is a wistful desire to return to her childhood.
On the evening of our discussion she was sporting an 80's dress with drawsting waist and cuffs. Black with thin stripes in primary colours, she could not resist the purchase because of its visual reference to the LightBrite© she loved as a child.
I had been wondering about the knowledge issues implicit in fashion purchases prior to our conversation.
When I attack a thrift store bin, I clear a three foot space at the far right end and pull items one by one from the pile I have created. If bins are too full to accommodate my method, I curse the over-zealous bin stockers and move on.
As a general rule, other shoppers tend to give me sole custody of the bin during the procedure. I do, however, have occasional visitors.
What I note about these shoppers is that they seem guided by a more intuitive approach and inspect only garments of interest to them. I do an initial screen based largely on colour and many items are simply "moved" to the right, but I do feel compelled to touch and sometimes even hold to my cheek (no wonder my son finds me embarrassing at times) items of interest.
In a chapter titled "The Burning House", in the 1994 publication by the same name, Jay Ingram writes about the implications of decisions made by patients suffering from neglect. He makes reference to experiments conducted in the 70s by Timothy De Camp Wilson and Richard Nisbet which demonstrated that in everyday life most people are unaware of the influences that prompt their decisions. When asked to list possible factors influencing their choices in word-association experiments the carefully engineered word cues which had an "obvious and potent influence on the answers these subjects gave" where seldom mentioned as reasons for the decisions.
What was interesting about the experiments was that, "not only (were) most people unaware of the factors that are truly influencing their decisions -- they just don't know -- but they are also more than willing to identify a set of bogus factors --they tell more than they know.
Texture, as the cheek rubbing attests, plays a role in the decisions I make in the thrift store. Laura seems to have a more global and nostalgic connection with her purchases. What I wonder now, however, is the influence the LightBright© dress conversation has had on me. I do think about it when I clear the end of the bin and I will, no doubt, one day make such a purchase. When I do, I am certain I will recognize the influence which prompted the decision, but I wonder how many garments in my closet are mine now without my knowing why.
