I was watching an old Looney Tunes Cartoon, called Bugs' Bonnet. Probably the greatest exercise in character psychology known to the human race, let alone an extremely funny cartoon. In it, a narrator explains how sometimes what we wear, affects our behaviour. For example if a Businessman swapped clothes with a pirate, they'd act like a pirate. In the cartoon proper, they were trying to demonstrate how a single article of clothing, in this case a hat, would be just enough to change the behaviour. Naturally like all Looney Tunes Cartoons, this was taken to the extreme. With Bugs and Elmer wearing different hats and changing accordingly. Such as Bugs becoming a Military Sergeant and Elmer outranking him by wearing a General's hat and quoting MacArthur.

Now this was mostly done for laughs even if there was some commentary in it. However, it got me thinking, does what we wear really affect our personalities at one point or another. Strangely enough while this is an open question. My answer to it is neither a yes or a no, but a solid maybe.

On the no side of things, you could be wearing a black trenchcoat and people at best would assume you're gothic or at worst the next Columbine Gunman. However, the person underneath could very well be very nice and kind, a complete contrast. Which in turn would make some ordinary person in average clothing, doing the deed and shocking anyone that hears the news about it.

On the yes side of things there are times when what we do wear does affect our personality. In a few examples:

1. A person in a service like the military could go from a nice and affable person, to a cold, aggressive yet disciplined individual.
2. A person who becomes a religious personality, be it a priest, a rabbi or an imam, could very well act more wise or more mystical, depending on how devoted to their religion they are. Whereas the bad side of the coin could have them act more like an extremist.
3. Even something as simple as wearing dark clothing, could be a relfection of what people are feeling inside and expressing outward.

However while these are solid examples, outside factors could also come into play. Such as environment and expectation. For example, the military one only acts that way, because it's what his or her commanding officer expects of him or her. A religious personality would act that way, because they believe that's how their respective deities would want them to spread the word. And someone wearing dark clothes, would probably act dark because that's what his or her peers expect him or her to be like.

But I leave it up to you. What do you think?

Also what kind of clothes and costumes, do you wear that you think would affect your personality?