I love to experiment with different outfits and styles. While I would love to say that these ideas are all mine, they are clearly not. I am a major trend follower. I tend to get all of my ideas from celebrities. For instance, Lindsay Lohan is into wearing leggings, therefore I put them together with just about every outfit. Let me clear something up real quick, Lindsay Lohan is not one of my favorite celebrities but she looks really cute sporting the leggings so that is why I am attracted to it. Another big trend I am into is the just below-the-knee boots, both with a heel or without. Now that is spring, I am really attracted to the gladiator sandals. The pattern with each trend I am attracted to is linked somehow to a celebrity. Whether I like the celebrity or not doesn’t really matter to me, I tend to see past my dislike when these “fashion icons” look so fabulous in their outfits. For my social experiment I dressed in a peace sign shirt, black leggings, brown just below-the-knee flat boots, complete with an elastic head band across my forehead. The headband trend is getting more and more popular. Just last night I was watching America’s Next Top Model and saw one of the competitors, London, wearing one during the judging part of the show. Before I went out in public dressed as modern day hippie (who showers and shaves by the way) I took a look at myself in the mirror, and thought well I think it’s cute, let’s see what others have to say. Surprisingly, not one person asked me what the heck I was wearing. I was flooded with compliments. So in response to the compliments I said, “Oh yeah Nicole Ritchie rocks the hippie look all the time, I thought I would give it a shot.” Everyone just agreed, no one thought twice about the fact that I am copying a celebrity. After my response I definitely didn’t get asked why I was wearing what I had on.
My friend was having a girly get together and this is where I made my debut. My style is a lot different than my friends but stick me on the Cal State Fullerton campus and I’d blend right in with everyone. I had never worn the hippie headband before but I had seen others do it. I was really self conscious about going out in public the way I was dressed. As soon as I walked in the door all nervousness disappeared. Of course I thought that all the credit was due to yours truly but it is clear that what I wear is heavily influenced by what the celebrities are wearing. If I try out a new trend and get a positive outcome I feel really good about myself as if the idea were all mine. When I get a negative outcome, you better believe that I am quick to point the finger.
According to an article from American Psychologist, researchers have found that when people are unable or unwilling to evaluate the logic of messages carefully, persuasive appeals should rely on simpler psychological principles such as capitalizing on the authority of a “trusted expert” or the charisma of a likable and attractive communicator, such as a celebrity, to convey the message. Not only is that true for persuasive messages but trends as well. I wish that I was a trend setter and I very well could be to my friends but I am taking from someone else too. My co-workers have different themes for me each time I come in. I like to experiment with my clothing, so I get all sorts of crazy themes like I look a cowgirl, southern belle, soccer mom, hippie, Egyptian goddess, or a business woman, etc. But these themes always follow with you look so cute. I tend to attribute the positive reactions from my peers as my own disposition. This is called internal disposition. And who wouldn’t take credit for looking fabulous. Same goes for getting an A on a test. You wouldn’t have gotten and A if the teacher didn’t give a detailed lecture. Our society is quick to take credit when something positive happens to themselves, aka trait attribution. On the other hand when you fail a test, you immediately blame the teacher for not having a study session or not being very helpful after class when you asked a question. This is an example of state attribution. It is so easy to put blame on someone else and it takes the weight off of your own shoulders. For example if I were to carry a purse around and stick my Chihuahua in it and someone came up to me and said, “Why are you carrying your dog in a purse?”, with a disgusted look on their face, I would quickly respond with, “Well Paris Hilton does it all the time and no one is getting on her case about it.” I also think people do this without realizing it. Somewhere along the line this has been socially constructed as acceptable behavior.
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