April 4th, 2018

I did an experiment in the company of four girls on a Sunday afternoon. Four girls who already have a well defined style and are reluctant to try new clothes. I also suggested make-up, the kind they would never wear on a daily basis, and clothes that they would never choose or match.

After grabbing some photos with them, I wanted to find out about their comfort-discomfort line when it comes to clothing.

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Ana kept her head down while Raluca was putting her makeup on. She even avoided the mirror because she felt the make-up had too much red around the eyes and the clothes were too colorful. When she had to wear a hat, she tried to negotiate with me, arguing that the hat didn’t match the rest of the outfit. At the end of the day, after a lot of back-and-forth, Ana told me in a low voice: “I would have liked to pose for photos a little longer”.

The comfort of Ana’s clothes

Ana associates comfort with black, long, asymmetrical clothes, usually dark or plain ones. “I feel comfortable in clothes that suit my body – with straight, simple and classical lines. When I buy clothes, my choices are predictable, stable, balanced, consistent. Sometimes I surprise my friends with a combination of conservative and intimidating garments. I can’t say I have clothes that I wouldn’t give up, I just develop fixations for some of them.

Now I have one for sneakers. Six or seven years ago, I honestly hated them. Now, after a love-hate relationship, I’ve grown to consider them wonderful and I would wear them everywhere, no matter the outfit.

Over time, I had some slight changes in my style. The last one was after a breakup. I can say that i’m more masculine now. It’s weird because I’ve been having this fetish with classic men’s clothes for a long time – with t-shirts and wide blouses – but it only recently surfaced. The funny thing is that I don’t perceive it as  something weird or very different from how I was before the change happened. It’s something that came naturally to me, as if it had always been there. I think that’s about the third change in style for me.”

The discomfort

“I associate discomfort with skin-tight clothes and I totally reject poor quality fabrics. I would never wear animal prints, strong colors, glitter, pompons or bows.

The line between comfort and discomfort is drawn by one’s own mind. I think it very much depends on the reactions of those who see you in those clothes.”

The experiment regarding the comfort-discomfort line in clothing

About today’s experiment… on a comfort scale of 1 to 10, I felt about 7 – which is great for me. At the end I wanted to stay for more photos.

The blue hat definitely made me uncomfortable. I would never wear it (like, ever) the way it was staged in the experiment. I feel the same way about the lace socks, the broad shoulder shirt and the plaid skirt. I would wear the red dress though, but only if it were black.”

Photo credit: Simona Petrica. Make-up: Ra luca