Recently, I chaired the ‘Notions of Beauty,’ debate at the London College of Fashion which was food for thought.

Of course the fashion industry takes a very superficial approach to beauty and this impacts on our perceptions of ourselves and others.

This would be alright if there was a balance, but unfortunately the fashion and beauty industries colonise our viewing space quite literally by creating never ending urban wallpaper, featuring digitally perfect and unobtainable beauty. So we have very little variety.

I started by asking my panel…

“What do you see when you look at another person and how do you read people?”

I got a variety of replies, which reminded that we are being read in so many different ways all the time.

Dr Adrienne Key, consultant psychiatrist and specialist in eating disorders at The Priory and consultant on the Model Health Enquiry, said she looked at bodies and body language. And that she saw bodies before she saw faces. She could read a lot about the way the person treated their body and therefore make assumptions about their self esteem and how they might be feeling about themselves.

Winnie Coutinho, Head of Campaigns & Communications, Changing Faces (a charity that supports & represents people with disfigurements) said she also looked at people’s eyes and into their energy to get more information. A smile was the most important beauty tool for her because she tried to see the person not the veneer.

Michael Shamash, Lecturer and researcher in Social Policy, fashion journalist and former chair of the Restrictive Growth Association, rather interestingly said he looked at people for their reactions to him. He existed in a state of always knowing that he might have to respond to comment either directed at him or about him. He was funny and talked about how parents with their young children sometimes behaved like they might catch ‘viral Dwarfism’ and he felt duty bound to deal with strange attitudes to help educate those around him.

Ruby Hammer a renowned make-up artist and one half of the Ruby and Millie Brand said she looked at skin and could tell quite a bit about a person’s vitality from the texture and hydration of their skin. Working with people so close up was a very intimate space and she learned a great deal about their inner peace (or lack of it) from the outer layer of their face.

I volunteered that I found myself looking at shoes and as a marker of how interested that person was in their appearance. And colour in clothes as a marker of how confidently that person had styled themselves.

You see we all look at people differently, and people perceive us in a variety of ways. That why dressing to please others is never going to be very satisfying because what if you don’t get the response you want? Sometimes you can’t tell whether you have made the right impression.

It did reassure me that using your own taste guidelines and dressing for your body shape is the best route to confidence. When I am wearing clothes that support me, and look good on my body I never worry how people perceive me because I have used the best tools to hand and I am confident that I am looking the best I can.

And confidence, vitality and a smile are everything. My panelists on the ‘Notions of Beauty’ debate taught me quite a bit about looking good that night.

Related posts:

1. Lavish and lovely
2. Bodies
3. Is your body saying something?
4. The Disappearing Dress
5. In a live show you always get more than you bargained for…