How to follow fashion, without being a slave to it
Caring for the personal aspect is much more than going to fashion; is to love oneself, is to want to show how we are inside, is to give importance to the reflection that we provoke in others. But if what matters to us is just the exterior façade, we may have to make war on vanity. You have to look for a sensible balance, for follow fashion without being a slave to it.
The need for adolescents to reinforce their identity through the clothes they wear, in a moment of transition in which their entire universe is being built little by little, is revealed as a compelling motive that moves them to consumption. Although "an identity built from the possession and exhibition of consumer products does not constitute a true personal identity, but a kind of mask that serves to get out of step and act socially, but which reveals a very striking personal poverty", say Idoia Portilla and Elena Izco, in their studio Spanish teenagers and clothing brands. Therefore, it is not to affirm that consumption does not reinforce the identity of adolescents, but rather that it does so in a direction that could be wrong.
Presumed vain and presumptuous attractive
It is good to go to the dictionary of the Royal Academy to find out the meaning of the words and use them with precision. There is talk of presumed in two wayss: as much as the vain, boastful, proud person who has a high self-concept; like the one that is composed or arranged a lot. But it also uses as a synonym for presumed the flirtatious person, careful in his personal arrangement and in everything that can make it seem attractive.
The first idea brings us closer to the vanity, to the one who has vanity and shows it; and vanity refers to arrogance, presumption, pride or insubstantiality. The second refers to the concept of the attractive person, which is one that by his physique arouses interest and pleasure in others. This is where we must make a difference in our children: do they manage to please others or just to please themselves?
Follow fashion without becoming enslaved
We could say that to be presumed in a positive sense supposes to cultivate the aesthetic taste. It also requires that strength that forces you to stop for a while to examine your own personal appearance and see if it is appropriate or not. So, It can be said that it is a way to take others into account, as we strive to be pleasing to the eye: wear clean hair, ironed clothes, smell good, etc.
Parents should teach children to combine colors well, find out what they feel best by the physical constitution of each one, what is most appropriate in each circumstance of life, etc. It requires instilling in the children that effort to get to know each other and get the most out of it.
This aesthetic taste and this well-formed criterion at the time of dressing is cultivated from small teaching the children to dress appropriately in each situation: with sportswear for exercise, with the uniform clean and ironed to go to school, with decent clothes although more used to be at home, sport to go out with friends, with shoes and shirt (not any shirt and sneakers) for a more important celebration -such as family gatherings or going to mass-, etc. With affection and firmness we must go marking those rules of conduct, They also teach knowing how to be through "knowing how to dress and get ready", taking into account the elegance and that there are some clothes that never go out of style.
When the center of gravity is oneself
But very different is the boy or girl who focuses all his world on himself, who "is exhausted in his own contemplation" and rejoices before the mirror to proudly contemplate his appearance. A) Yes, the vain is arranged only to stand out, to be better than the partner or friend, to show off with fashion brands, to look like a summer guy or brunette - teaching, perhaps, more than what should be done in front or behind -, in short, to feel superior to others or make a classmate or gang feel inferior.
Vanity is linked to the cult of the body: the vain does not dress to please those around him, but to look at him; he does not do sports because he likes them and is good for his health, but to show off a "muscle" more spectacular than the rest of the beach vacationers. It is to be loved in a disorderly and superficial way. It is to stay in the window without entering to see what is inside the person.
This can lead to other attitudes such as contempt for others, excessive consumerism, lack of aesthetic criteria not to feel well dressed if you do not wear brand clothes, to spend hours and hours in front of the mirror contemplating, to be saddened without measure when some kilos get fat or dawn with a treacherous granite in the face. It can also lead to a bad distribution of time, spending excessive hours shopping or preening, an excessive obsession to always be fashionable, etc.
Ana Aznar
Advice: Alfonso Aguiló Pastrana. President of CECE
