Is It Really Me? The Influences on Clothing Choices by Women Indifferent to Fashion

There is a widespread perception in contemporary society that women love fashion and shopping and are very conscious about how others perceive them. This paper reports on a study which analyzed the clothing choices of ten mothers, who ranged in age from the mid-twenties to mid-sixties. Fashion, in particular fast fashion, is often regarded as being the dominant influence in a woman’s choice of clothing, however this study revealed a very different picture, where social identity, practicality and their own individual style played an important role. Implicit and explicit influences on their clothing choices were analyzed and their clothing needs were discussed with reference to both Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Max-Neef’s Universal Human Needs. The paper concludes that further research on a more “needs based” analysis of clothing behavior is required, as this area is under-researched.