What are the similarities between food and clothing?
In this article I shall draw a few parallels between clothing and food. I hope this will help you to look into your own habits and wardrobe from a different angle, but you should not take it too seriously ;)
Just as we all need to eat, we all need to put on clothing every day. We could try to avoid this and go hungry or naked, but how long would we survive?
We can be foodies and just love food, or we might just use food as fuel and not really care about what we eat. In the first case we would buy only the freshest produce and highest quality delicacies. In the second case it is more likely to be ready-to-cook products or fast food.
People who don’t like cooking and have no desire to learn about what is involved, can order takeout meals or eat in a restaurant, depending on their budget.
It’s the same with clothing. Those who love clothes will only buy expensive and quality items made of natural materials. Others just want clothing to hide their nakedness and to keep warm. Some people are able to create the perfect wardrobe for themselves, while others prefer to order their clothing from specialists such a personal shoppers and stylists .
Most people are somewhere in the middle, with a bias towards one side or the other.
At some stage in our lives we may get tired of our current eating habits. A change in our circumstances, for example when we have a baby, fall ill with some disease or find a new partner, can cause us to reconsider our views and our eating habits. Then we may want to learn how to cook, start buying healthier products or spend less money in restaurants.
It’s the same with clothing – new circumstances can bring about new preferences.
People who usually go to a grocery store with a shopping list know approximately what they are going to cook and what they need to buy. But just going out to buy something to eat often results in buying a few different products, just to satisfy your hunger.
Someone with experience in cooking will be able to assemble a set of ingredients and cook a whole meal without requiring a shopping list.
A person who has not learned how to cook well will often take a recipe and try to follow it. Some people try to customize recipes by adding the ingredients they have and leaving out the ones they don’t have.
The main ingredients required for cooking are those that make up the base, and the spices are additions of choice. Food can be tasteless without any spices at all, but adding too much of a spice will make it hard to eat. The basic ingredients and the amount of spices used can vary according to regional and personal preferences.
We can buy basic foods such as pasta or potatoes and then prepare a dozen different variations. By adding different seasonings we don’t need to spend a lot of money. But when we buy expensive items such as papaya and passion fruit, there is no money left and very little to eat.
As a final analogy between food and clothing, for very little money we can create basic outfits that we spice up with accessories, so we always have something to wear. When we buy a designer item, or the latest fashions, these end up hanging in the closet because they don’t match the rest of our clothing. All our money has been spent and we have nothing suitable to wear.
Let’s keep it balanced! :)
