Most of us love to flick through a fashion magazine and appreciate the new fashions and styles but very few would go out and invest in them. We buy clothes that appeal to our innate sense. And we hardly give a passing thought as to why we choose the clothes that we do. Dressing right is more complicated than just putting to pieces of clothing together.

Our dressing habit is influenced by not just our function or job role in the society; it is developed by what we see, feel and experience around us in the course of our life. To begin with it is the family that we are born into. Dressing in this case is influenced by our family's outlook whether it is orthodox or liberal. According to Dr Samir Parikh, Psychiatrist, our upbringing does influence the choice of dress till a certain age. But we start moving out and getting exposure, we tend to drop our inhibitions and wear what feels appropriate to our present lifestyle. As we grow and learn to make our own decisions, our sense of dressing evolves and we wear things that make us feel good and help us blend in with our peers. Dressing and looking pretty is also about a woman's blossoming and growing up. As a young girl or even a young woman dressing comes under parental direction. Only when she marries or goes out to follow her career does she get space to develop her sense of dressing.

Blending In
While...