When a person doesn’t have colours in his life, he puts them in his clothing

‘When a person doesn’t have colours in his life, he puts them in his clothing’. (Jab insaan ki zindagi mein rang nahin hotey, toh wo unhe apne kapdo mein daal deta hai).

Said Govinda offering an insight into his core audience during his best days in Bollywood. That’s why brand Govinda’s ‘trademark look’ was (to our eyes) outlandishly colourful.

It tells us something about us from our choice of clothes. Clothes are like the outer skin we can choose – to be what we want to be (and suspect we aren’t).

On the other end – wearing whites often signals our desire to belong to the privileged class. An idea Rin tapped into in their communication. White projects other meanings too – purity, abstinence (widows, saadhvis), simplicity (political leaders), virginity (for girls), conformity (school uniform)..

The value of ‘Power dressing’ stems from our desire to either restore the power balance when not in our favour or assert it, if not self-evident.

Friday dressing offered a dash of colour and release in the lives of men overwhelmed by the pressures of the corporate rat race. ‘Bring the beach to office’ said one Allen Solley campaign.

Interesting, isn’t it? On the face of it, clothes help cover us, but if you look closely, they end up revealing our inner truth to everyone.