GT Writing Task 2 / Essay Sample # 85
You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Write about the following topic:
Some people say that it is possible to tell a lot about a person’s culture and character from their choice of clothes.
Do you agree or disagree?
Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.
Write at least 250 words.
Model Answer: [Agreement]
Many people believe that the dresses a person wears give out a strong signal to others, projecting the self-image, religion, culture, social status and so on acutely or openly. In the case, I subscribe to the view that clothes of an individual tell a lot about this person.
To commence with, attire can serve as a communicator of culture. Put simply, dresses concerning the culture is the way to divulge the historical roots of an individual. The costume indicates someone’s belonging to a particular cultural group. A very good example here is India. In the country, dress reflects cultural identities very strongly. Sikhs wrap their heads in a turban in a particular fashion, which demonstrates that they are Sikh. Not only does it indicate their religious aspects, but also shine a light on their cultural associations. Similarly, we can tell if someone is a Muslim or a Buddhist, most of the time, from the dresses they wear.
Likewise, dress and style sense also demonstrates a person’s personality traits and economic status. It is the first thing that is looked on by others. Before communication with someone, people can get a general idea about an individual by looking upon his or her dressing style. In simple words, clothing choice is the first approach with which a person’s individuality is accessed. For instance, if a person loves to wear bright colours like red, yellow and orange, then the person is recognised as a trendsetter. With the type of costume, we also get a good overview of a person’s economic and social status and even sometimes about his or her profession.
To reiterate, a person’s dress reflects his/her personality traits, culture, religion, status and economic status to a great extent. Therefore, we should be aware of our dressing sense so that people can get a positive impression of us.
Fashion has become a crucial part of people’s lives. Nowadays, everyone wants to look better for various reasons and they are aware of the fact that better clothing improves their personality a lot. However, the question is should we judge people merely from their appearances? I agree with the proposition to some extent, but, it is not always possible to know a lot about people’s cultures and characters by merely looking at their clothes.
Firstly, in this world of globalization, jeans and T-shirts are becoming popular day by day. In fact, people get used to modern clothing easily and prefer to wear them more than their traditional clothing. Therefore, these pieces of modern fashion may not reveal anything about wearer’s ethnic roots and culture. However, when they occasionally come out wearing their traditional outfits, not a lot of things but at least something can be learnt about their culture and ethnicity. Even if, people’s religion and ethnicity can be guessed by examining a person’s outfit, it may also be misleading sometimes and might not provide any crucial details about their culture.