“Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak,” American fashion designer Rachel Zoe once wrote. The way this idea could be interpreted is that clothes and other kinds of fashion pieces we choose to wear send abstract and pretty obscure signals to people around us about who we are as people: our occupation, mood, personality, colors we like, and so on.
Though apparently, some fashion pieces speak exceptionally loudly and the signals they send are far from abstract or obscure. Recently, a redditor asked fellow users to share some hidden dress codes people wear to identify themselves that one has to already know about to notice. And of course, Reddit delivered. Without further ado, Bored Panda invites you to find out about some of the most intriguing secret dress codes people use to send signals about themselves.
#1
Not wearing a mask means you’re an a******.
Image credits: pizzamassage
#2
So this is probably a very spesific Norwegian thing, but the colour of your hat is signalling your availability when hiking in the mountains. Red hat means taken, green means available (and orange means that you’re open for a chat). This is important knowledge if you’re trying to pull a Norwegian, because hiking is the only (non alcoholic) activity where a Norwegian will ever talk to a stranger. Ever.
Image credits: DreamersVoid
#3
Red shirt means you’re expendable and aren’t coming back from the away mission alive.
Image credits: WaitMysterious6704
#4
Socks with sandals means you’ve pretty much given up
Image credits: Westnile84
#5
Cat hair means I have a cat
Image credits: michelleholman
#6
If you see someone with a tattooed on wedding ring it’s usually because they work with machine tools or electricity where having something metal and or conductive on their hand while working can lead to very bad things.
Image credits: ChefRoquefort
#7
Its an old sailors tradition to wear a golden earring. (Dont know if its just the netherlands or worldwide) but some of the mainly fishermen towns here have their own specific type of golden earring. So if you see a dutch guy wearing a big golden earring with a detailed design, you know he comes from a fishermen town.
(Golden earring tradition was historically done incase a fishermen would fall overboard, the golden earring could cover the costs of a proper burial)
Image credits: justalittleprickly
#8
Hawaiians wear flowers behind left ear to signify married. Right ear to signify single.
Image credits: RunnerDee
#9
In China, your zodiac year is your unlucky year (so your unlucky year occurs once every 12 years). The way to mitigate the unlucky-ness of the said year, is to wear some form of the color red each day. Doesn’t need to be a complete red outfit, just something that has red as a part of the pattern.
But wearing red everyday is a dead give away for their age (24, 36, 48, 60) in the workplace, thus explaining the phenomenon of the red underwear gift. The red underwear is a way to beat the unluckiness of your zodiac year while blending in.
So some water cooler talk could go like, “Hey, did you notice that has worn red 3/7 days this week? Is she 24 or 36?” Fascinating stuff!
Image credits: dtanmango
#10
I used to wonder why certain people in my office would wear the same colors as each other sometimes. Turns out they were listening to a radio station here in NYC that would suggest a color for you to wear that day.
Image credits: Offthepoint
#11
I grew up spending a lot of time in the Great Lakes and overall sailing culture.
The height of manliness is a pink “Mt. Gay” baseball cap. No, I’m not joking.
The caps are given out at major sailing races, since Mt. Gay rum has a sponsorship. The caps are originally red but if you’ve used and had one for a long time, it fades to pink. You want one.
You can also tell, in port, who is a local and who boats, by their dog. Locals like BIG doggos for guarding against animals and pulling sleds (huskies and husky crosses) and sailors like medium sized, water friendly doggos. Don’t like to get very big ones because they’re hard to lift in and out of boats, eat, and poop out more, but don’t like toy dogs either, because they’re not tough enough to stand the weather and the water. Mostly Aussies, small retrievers, and the occasional tough terrier.
Image credits: SchnarchendeSchwein
#12
Red ball caps have become a signal that they are d***** bags. Fred Durst started it, but MAGA solidified it.
Image credits: hanginonwith2fingers
#13
If you’re actually rich, you’re not flashing brands. The rich rich of California wear subtly expensive workout or hiking clothes as much as humanly possible. Patagonia, north face, Columbia, etc. Logos are gauche. Also, for women’s jewelry, you’ll see a lot of subtle wealth and minimalism- nothing big or clunky or super sparkly. My experience mostly in LA, Santa Barbara and SF!
Image credits: Time-Box128
#14
Sunflower lanyards means the wearer has a hidden disability. Some places like Heathrow train staff to recognise them and offer assistance.
Image credits: Vusys
#15
Small stainless steel or iron pinky ring on your dominant hand is an engineer, specifically an engineer whose pledged an ethics oath. Not exactly a secret, but not well known either
Image credits: UltimateAnswer42
#16
Two lighting bolts on a ring mean your great grandfather wasn’t a war hero, thanks Opa…
Image credits: Fatdognonce
#17
Horseback riders know that real riding boots have the zippers on the back or outside.
Image credits: fourteendogs
#18
Anything with pineapple print on clothing while on a cruise means you are swingers
Image credits: Rhegarty44
#19
Reminds me of when I was in elementary school and we were told not to wear red or black to school because they were associated with certain gangs.
Image credits: Marise20
#20
Stagehands wear black. Check for a crescent wrench in the back pocket to confirm.
#21
I’m Jew(ish). I live in Scotland, and there’s not many of us around, but I’ve been to synagogue and lived in Israel, and I can easily spot a married Orthodox Jewish woman out of a crowd, mostly by her wig, but also her dress style to an extent.
It’s such a natural distinction for me that I didn’t realise it wasn’t immediately obvious to others until I was driving with my friends by Loch Ness and we saw a big gathering, (mostly behind trees) and someone said something along the lines of “I wonder what’s going on there” and I replied “looks like an organised Jewish event” because I saw several mothers and their kids by the road and I instantly recognised them as Orthodox Jews. My friends looked at me as if I had a supernatural Jewdar because there weren’t any obvious men in sight wearing heavily recognised religious clothing (think kippahs- headcaps, or payot- hair curls, ect.)
#22
Silver Crocs = I have multiple bottles of Soda in my fridge
Jorts = I’m stone cold steve Austin
Bandana + Eyebrows = I ride a motorcycle
Bandana + No Eyebrows = I am receiving chemotherapy.
T shirt with ripped off sleeves = my kids will jump on your furniture and my reaction will be inappropriate.
Image credits: SomeSuperMegaNiceGuy
#23
The style of kippah/yarmulke Jewish men wear can tell you how religious they are, where their family’s from, their political views, which sect they are/which rabbi they follow, etc.
#24
When I was a teenager a lot of the working-class, multi-generation in the area kids from the very rural West Virginian area I moved to wore these, to my teenage eyes, very funny looking polka dot caps with downward pointing brims.
At the time I just assumed they got them at this store that still had a lot of 70s deadstock and it was a trend because they were cheap and it was the 90s and we were irony poisoned. It was pretty widespread across a few counties though. They were mostly worn by the kids who already had decided they were not going to college, whether by their own choice, or their own circumstances.
They were welders’ caps. Welder is an aspirational job in the area, if you plan to stay there after graduation. They were signifying they planned to stay and work in the same field their dads did. It didn’t even occur to me what it was all about until some high school reunion.
#25
Head coverings vary among observant Muslim women from different countries. The kind many people think of is the Saudi Arabian style that has become more popular in the last decade or so. A cool one is the different traditional head coverings between Kazakhs (white scarf with a part tied back like a nurses cap), Uighurs (colorful scarf and tied in front or behind the neck), and the Hui (a cap with cloth coming down the sides) — all groups found in China (depending on how you feel about groups leaving to be independent). I think it’s like people from different countries tying knots.
#26
Military uniforms tell you a lot about the person wearing them beyond their name and rank. You can tell what campaigns they’ve been involved in, what professional military education courses they’ve completed, their proficiency with weapons, their occupational specialty and their level of proficiency, how many years they’ve served, and (at least in the USAF), their MAJCOM, wing, and possibly squadron of assignment.
Another little secret of the military dress code has to do with hats. A person in uniform wearing a hat indoors indicates that they are armed. The weapon may be concealed or carried openly, but it is a fast way to determine who in a room has weapons.
#27
Ties in specific designs can signify which university you attended or private club you belong to, to such an extent that with certain tiemakers in the UK, you have to prove membership before you can buy the tie.
#28
After coming out, I learned that, as a woman, using a carabiner to hook your keys to your belt loop is a big lesbian thing. I’ve been doing it for YEARS!
#29
If someone is wearing a belt but have the buckle on either side of their hips instead of the middle it means they spend all day leaning over engine bays of hot rods and don’t want their belt buckle scratching the paintwork.
#30
Always wearing long sleeves is sometimes an indicator of self harm (pretty sure that’s well known by now) but can often indicate hard drug use, even if they aren’t hiding track marks from current use. I’ve been clean for several years, but I still get random chills pretty often, so I usually have at least a light jacket on.
#31
Handkerchief in the back pocket is something the gay leathermen (or women) wear to symbolize they are on the hunt for a “date”. Or it was used to symbolize a sexual fetish or —
Right pocket meant you were a top or dominant.
Left pocket meant you were a bottom.
Yes, I’ve been to some interesting parties.
#32
Asexuals sometimes wear a black ring on their right middle finger.
#33
Oftentimes student nurses will wear one color of scrubs to stand out from professionals during clinicals. My color was hazel grey.
#34
Here in Japan tattoos are related to the Yakuza. Meaning, whether you are a Yakuza or not, people with tattoos are not allowed in numerous establishments like public baths, etc. Yakuza don’t generally flash their tattoos to the public so they generally use long sleeve shirts. Sometimes when they use short sleeves clothing they would use arm sleeves to cover up the arm tattoos. It’s a dead giveaway that this people are, or have been, mafia related.
#35
There is a code when it comes to livestock and equestrians that are often not well-known. It’s most common with horses, but I have seen them used for other animals such as goats who are used to carry supplies when hiking on very rough terrain. These colors can often be universal and can be represented by a ribbon on the tail, or a collar/halter of the same color.
Red means the horse/animal has a tendency to kick/bite.
Yellow (and sometimes blue) means that they are a stallion/intact male (which are known to be moody or aggressive).
Green means the horse/animal is inexperienced.
White means the horse/animal is for sale.
Pink is sometimes used if the female horse/animal is generally moody or in heat.
#36
Wearing a Canadian Tuxedo: NOT Canadian. Likely American or Britney Spears
#37
When I was working in Clearwater, Florida all of the scientologists wore white shirts and blue pants.
#38
There’s a lot of this in a hospital setting, though it probably varies quite a bit from one hospital to another.
-My hospital only provides scrubs to people who work in the OR. Everyone else has to buy their own scrubs, so you can immediately identify surgical vs nonsurgical staff.
-If someone is wearing personal scrubs and a cloth scrub cap, they’re probably from a COVID unit.
-If someone sees some COVID patients but not exclusively COVID, they’ll have their N95 clipped to their scrubs in a paper bag.
-Respiratory therapists always have small backpacks/fanny packs/sling bags with extra supplies.
-Medical students have short white coats and are required to wear them- residents usually wear fleece jackets instead of white coats.
-Doctors have pagers, nurses usually don’t.
-Emergency room staff have trauma shears for cutting off clothing.
-Someone with a reflex hammer in their pocket or safety pins on their lanyard is definitely a neurologist.
-An IUD clipped to the ID badge- definitely an OBGYN.
#39
Quite a specific one, but if you are walking round the courts/legal district in an English (or Welsh) city, you can tell who is a barrister going to/from court because even though most no longer wear robes/a wig, they do still wear detachable collars and these sort of straight white ribbon things instead of ties, but with an otherwise very sober dark suit and white shirt. Also they’re often carrying a big suitcase full of books and authorities.
#40
Fleece north face jacket
I’m crossing campus in the fall
#41
Pretrump,someone told me a red hat in my town was a sign that you were selling meth. I was like “how did I not notice this” as literally every tweaker was wearing one, some women wearing red pirate bandanas or cartoonish red logo-less ball caps.
#42
If their shirt or pants are mildly magnetic, they are probably a machinist.
#43
Apparently wearing something with upside down pineapples on it is to signal you and your spouse are swingers.
#44
White cap sleeve shirts under sleeveless tops or dresses: mormon. Edit: to cover their temple garments/ special underwear.
#45
Red trousers. Might be a UK thing, but usually associated with old money upper-class type people…or eccentricity. The two seem to overlap a fair bit though. Or at least it seems so to a commoner like me.
#46
Foremen, engineers, and important guys wear white hardhats.
#47
Dirndl, traditional German dress. If you tie your bow (from the apron) on the right it means you are single, middle =married and left is widowed… I believe. It has been a number of years since I was told about it and I might have it backwards!
#48
When you expect to see a guy naked – think intimacy or communal changing-rooms or showers – but they are in tiny denim shorts, its because they are a ‘nevernude’.
#49
If someone is wearing an Affliction shirt chances are that they are a raging d********.
#50
If they have a stainless steel pinky ring on their dominant hand they probably graduated from an engineering school in the States or Canada.
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