“Wait a minute!” you say. “Shouldn’t that be you are what you eat?”

Well, yes, the familiar quotation is indeed “You are what you eat”—or “Der Mensch ist was er ißt” in the original German—but the two claims are closely related. It wouldn’t be surprising for Harvard Medical School to study what you eat, but it seems a bit far afield for them to study what you wear. Nonetheless, a recent article in the Harvard Gazette lets us know why der Mensch ist was er trägt.

…a novel preference structure emerged across four types of clothing styles: essential, comfortable, feminine, and trendy. Further analysis found that preferences across each of these styles were associated with the color preferences and the self-reported traits (e.g., personality) of study participants.

Well, maybe. I think I fit into the essential category: “For people who wore essential clothing (e.g., shirts and jackets), dark blue, blue, and brown were the favored colors.” OK, that fits.

What about you?

Categories: Life