• MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    10 hours ago

    With clothing specifically, it generally has a purpose. Socks can make you more comfortable, warm up your feet, pull sweat away from your skin and generally reduce odors… Not all of those in all cases, mind you, but depending on the circumstances and the type of sock, any/all of these could be the case.

    Undergarments in general have similar stories.

    All undergarments also play a role in keeping your over garments cleaner. Changing out your underpants and throwing on yesterday’s jeans can get you through a day with nearly no compromises… Depending on how dirty your jeans get on an average day.

    Over clothes protect you from getting dirty to a limited extent, they’ll block/absorb spills that reduces the amount you have to wash/bathe/shower… It’s easier to just throw on a new shirt than get into the shower and clean yourself up. Same with pants and other over garments.

    Outerwear usually provides a protective element, eg jackets can help prevent things like thorns from scratching you, or keep you warm in cold weather, or dry in wet weather…

    Clothes, to me, are a useful thing to be wearing, each piece serving it’s own small function, all of it coming together to create a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts.

    There’s plenty of social constructs, this is true, but clothing definitely has a practical purpose, along with so many other things.