Dress Normal

Dress normal? I saw this ad on a London bus and it got me thinking about what dressing normal actually means. To me the word normal is a social construction and depends on ones upbringing, culture, social class, moral and beliefs. I haven’t really researched the meaning behind the campaign, however it is interesting that they chose a male and female model of different ethnic backgrounds to illustrate their point. Nevertheless, seeing this made me think about what dressing normal actually means.

Have you ever had one of those days where you just picked up any random clothing item out of your wardrobe, throw it own and everybody seems to be complimenting your on your look? In your head you are probably thinking “I am dressed normal, nothing special.”Well you might classify your outfit as normal or casual, however to somebody else the way you put those seemingly normal items together can appear extra ordinary.

The pictures I took, perfectly reinforce my point, as I decided to capture people in West End on an ordinary Friday afternoon. Most of these people were simply shopping or running errands. When I approached them about their dress sense, most of them seemed a bit surprised. To them they were just wearing 'normal' clothes, but to me the way they combined different everyday pieces with unique clothing items immediately drew my attention.