What a physicist sees when she looks at a fancy gown

Re:What a physicist sees when she looks at a fancy gown by kxyvr on Sunday August 27, 2017 @01:56PM (#15111819)

I would also say that clothing is a form of communication. Certainly, it's one that you may not value, but I believe it's something that we should be aware of if we're to be effective communicators. First, there's the forms of clothing and their association with certain people and certain kinds of respect. If we see a person dressed as a pastor, that immediately affords them a certain kind of respect within a certain community. There are fights within hospitals over the role of the lab coat worn by doctors. Second, clothing is designed to enhance certain physical characteristics that afford a different kind of perception and respect. In a man's suit jacket, the button stance is designed to create a V-effect on the chest, which suggests physical power and strength similar to a V-shaped figure. The layering of colors within the clothing is designed to bring attention to the face, which we as people tend to value very highly.

Again, you may not value these things, but the vast majority of the world does. One of the things that I struggle with from fresh graduates out of technical schools is that they don't value it and it hurts them professionally because their peers and management do. That might not be right, but until one becomes the boss, it's important to understand and effectively utilize this language. I'd feel pretty stupid if I didn't reach my professional goals because I didn't value how I dress sufficiently enough. And, yes, there's a limit to how much it matters just as there are limits to all language. Though, that doesn't minimize its impact.

With respect to the article, the physics and modeling of fabric is incredibly difficult. Part of the reason that clothing manufacturing hasn't been as automated as other fields is a testament to how difficult it is. Personally, I find such models fascinating.

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Re:What a physicist sees when she looks at a fancy gown by amelius on Sunday August 27, 2017 @02:54PM (#15112081)

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate a well-dressed man or woman, but fashion is something you get bombarded with.

As a thought-experiment, replace fashion by typography. Imagine you wake up, and you have to think about typography, then you get to work, people talk about typography, you come home and turn on the TV, people talk about typography, then at some point, it becomes too much. Personally, I'll probably still appreciate the craft, but I consider it a "solved" problem for myself, something that others deal with, and I direct my attention elsewhere.

As for the communication aspect of clothing, that's actually something I have resentment against. You change clothes only once or perhaps twice a day, so the communication is extremely low-bandwidth to start with. And an even bigger problem: it reduces the person to one thing. A person wearing a pilot suit becomes a pilot (only), a person wearing a labcoat becomes a doctor (only). But obviously people are more than their profession.

And clothing can also be a way to intimidate or to mask intentions (think of the used car salesman wearing a suit, not because he likes it, but because he wants to sell that car).

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Re:What a physicist sees when she looks at a fancy gown by skybrian on Sunday August 27, 2017 @04:21PM (#15112511)

Whether fashion is covered too much or too little seems pretty subjective; it's going to depend on what you read, etc. The physics aspect doesn't get talked about much and you don't see much on Hacker News normally, so I wouldn't say it's over-covered here?

(On the other hand, we do see an awful lot of criticism of UI design and that includes complaints about typography :-)

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