The surprising importance of startup t-shirts

Next time you walk down a busy city street, take note of how much you can tell about these strangers walking by, just from what they’re wearing.

The way we dress may reinforce or disguise our gender and age. It can also convey a lot of information about our occupation, recreational choices, social status and even likely relationship status.

That person’s a white collar professional in a suit and tie. That person’s a skater. This person’s a surfer. That person’s a tradesperson. This person’s a hipster. That person’s a Goth.

We categorise strangers according to how they dress all the time. It’s usually instinctive and unconscious, but if you concentrate, you can see that we’re all doing it, all the time – constantly categorising (and seeking to be categorised by) strangers.

Photo by Saketh Garuda on Unsplash.

In the photo above, who is working today and who is not? Who is dressing like their friends? Who is dressing for success? Who just wants to stay warm? Who is wearing boots and who is in trainers?

If I asked, you’d probably tell me you don’t care very much about what strangers think about you. Yet, you already know who you are, so by choosing to dress one way or another, you’re sending signals to other people. You want them to know a…