An example of the manner in which fashion and dress affects the perception of the people and influence their judgement can be seen. Majority of the individuals will perceive the image to be a man that is dressed in a suit with a unique hair style that compliments the image. The image exhibits the sex appeal of the male model. However, the hand movement showcases femininity. The boyish hairstyle and the formal suit worn by the model depicts masculinity. The information gained from viewing the image is direct and obvious. However, it is found that the depicted individual in the image is not a man but the model is a female that has borrowed the male styling and she is one of the popular models within the industry of fashion (Cappetta and Gioia, 2006). The sex of the individual is female but the gender portrayed in the image is of male. The individual namely Boucher in image has a non-binary identiy of gender linked with androgyny. The term androgynies implies having a gender that is both masculine and feminine in any amount of proportions. This can be instantly perceived by the viewer upon having the gender information of the model on the basis of the manner in which this person has presented himself and the style of dressing. This perception is also influenced through the norms of the culture for the male dressing styles. Therefore, the sexual orientation, gender, and sex are the initial perception that are formed by the viewer with respect to individual are of a male individual (Chittenden, 2010). This information is communicated by the wearer in a visual manner through subverting the conventional dress and fashion norms which are constructed culturally through the society.
The issues of identity further entail other essential expressions of nationality, race and ethnicity. There is a natural process of being attracted to the individuals that looks similar and holds mutual background or history. The studies of Crane (2012) on the change phenomenon of the 20th century discuss the global ethnoscape concept which implies the rapid and mass movement of the individuals from one region of the globe to another. Not only has this emphasized the world fashions but also it has given rise to the people’s need for expression when they are within the foreign environment in order to interact with other individuals that share similar nativity.
As suggested by Craik (2009), the ethnic dresses are worn by the group’s members that differentiates them through variance related to the items, body modifications and ensembles that illustrated the past of individual. This is performed as individual wears traditional items which illustrates the cultural heritage. It is to consider that tradition focuses on the lack of change as compared with the different dresses and fashion forms. Similarly, the national dress is linked with socio-political and nation state boundaries (Entwistle, 2015). Therefore, the citizens of specific nation is identified. Hence, in various instances, national dresses functions as the dress for an ethnic group within cosmopolitan regions.