In the eye of the beholder

Who are the people we play dress up for, the people that we meet, walking down our life's main street, the people that we meet each day?

Public personas  reflect the person we want to be, or think we should be, or are afraid not to be.

A woman I volunteer with mentioned that when she went home, she and her husband put on their "home uniforms" and it occurred to me that most of us probably have those.  These are the clothes that reflect who we really are.

I run around in a pair of elastic waist crop pants, clunky Naot sandals, and a huge comfy shirt.  That's it.  If I could get by in those everywhere now, I would.  But the truth is, I am uncomfortable when I go out in public that way.   Some part of me still needs to impress people and that bothers me a little bit.

So I don underclothes and over clothes to shape me and shape your view of me.

We found those people in National Geographic with neck rings and ear lobe discs odd way back when.  It was the way those societies displayed their wealth, their station in life.  A lot of ours aren't all that different.

Perhaps in the future we will cut to the chase and simply wear little bands of modesty with electronic read outs displaying our net worth.  Beauty will be based on dollars and cents.

But eventually I think it will be simpler, more functional, closer to what we all wear at home.  A very long time from now. . .