Lately I noticed a strange pattern spotting several students in school strutting about wearing socks and flip flops. Later on I confirmed with a Korean friend that ladies wear very fashionable footwear (i.e. heels) on the journey to work, and they change into something more (or I would say very comfortable) upon reaching their workplace.
The weird factor is that in other cultures elsewhere, say in Singapore, it's completely the other way round. People (mostly ladies) would be in their comfy sneakers or even slippers on during their way to work and then change into the 'proper' shoes/heels.
The former scenario would prove beneficial to oneself but tarnish the image of the organization that the person is in. Whereas the latter disregards self-identity by not looking good and then 'style-up' to match the environment. So which is worst?
This is a general observation, obviously not applicable to a scenario say for one who works in the Condé Nast building in New York City (she'd be highly image conscious to begin working there in the first place). This whole insight just scratches the surface of social identity these days, there are many interesting examples that reflect this and the one I've just mentioned is one of them.
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