Personally I have always dressed for warmth and comfort and been happy to wear whatever fitted and felt nice on, rather than religiously following fashion. Which as a teenager didn't go down too well. In order to be cool you had to look a certain way, be a certain way, like certain things. Unlike me.
There was a girl in my form who was always horrible to me on non uniform day in particular. I always had 'the wrong jeans'. She used to laugh at me, and tell me how horrible I looked. She was lucky, she was pretty, petite and had the 'right jeans' (if there is such an item of clothing). No one laughed at her. Ever. She was cool, popular, everything I was not. I envied her. I wished she'd like me. At the time I thought that she didn't like me because I didn't have the right clothes. That I didn't fit in. Now I realise that it wouldn't matter WHAT I wore. She wouldn't like me. I wouldn't like her that much either. We had nothing in common.
I firmly believe that in every encounter we learn something and for years I have been puzzling what she taught me. Now I get it. She taught me that people form an opinion of you based on what you're wearing, the 'you' that you project out to the world. Rightly or wrongly it happens the world over. She taught me that people who don't like you because you don't have the 'right' accessories or look, certainly aren't going to like you any more if you get the right accessories, that new designer handbag costing hundreds of pounds or a new flashy car. She also taught me not to judge myself or others based on outward appearance. You have to dig deeper, and base your self worth on who you are not what you have. I get the impression that she was raised to believe that you are what you have, not who you are.
If you buy something to impress someone else, you're likely to end up with the same amount of friends and a smaller bank balance, that's all. Do you really want to be friends with someone so shallow?
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