Friends and Hair Choices
A: There’s a very important saying that goes: “Birds of a feather flock together”. This means that people who have the same sense of style, ethics, education, class, religion, nationality, etc. tend to stick together. There are of course always a lot of people who break away from these barriers, but it is natural human behavior to stick to what you know and are used to.
The fact that friends tend to have the same or very similar expectations and prospects in life, as well as share similar sense of fashion and style, will inadvertently mean that they will often admire each other’s choice of clothing, hairstyle, make-up, perfume, etc. This is also very normal human behavior and is one of the core principles that the entire beauty and fashion industry is based on.
Fashion houses will select celebrities as brand ambassadors who they feel identify best with their brand of clothing, make-up, accessories, etc. In turn, ordinary people who identify with or admire that specific celebrity will want to buy the same products that the celebrity wears to events or billboards or on the center folds of glossy magazines. Thus, it’s really normal for friends to dress alike, etc.
People tend to classify others based almost solely on their appearance. This means that people are naturally inclined to dress, act and talk the way that they want to be classified as. If you’re a Goth, you’ll dress, walk and talk accordingly. In turn fellow Goths will approach and befriend you, as you automatically seem attractive and approachable to them. This forms a group of Goth friends, who give each other advice on hair, clothes, etc., as well as influencing each other on a subconscious level.
Exactly the same will happen among highly professional people, or extreme fashion-couture driven people. Also, there’s an element of trust between friends. This means that when you’re getting ready to go out for a night of dancing or a first date, you will tend to rely heavily on the advice of your friends concerning your clothing, hairstyle, shoes, etc. There’s really nothing “good” or “bad” about this phenomenon in itself, it’s just basic human nature.
There are instances where the phenomenon could lead to something negative, though. For example; if your daughter likes to dress in a manner that attracts the attention of the group/clique of trouble makers at school, they will automatically try to befriend her, as she will look approachable and attractive. Even if her nature is not that of a trouble maker, she can easily be influenced by this group of people and give in to group pressure to do things that she wouldn’t normally do.
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See also:
Teenagers and hairstyles
Hair, teenagers and peer pressure