Reflection Of Group Identity In Clothing By Bolsa De Santiago

Clothing as a reflection of group identity

This picture was taken outside of the Bolsa de Santiago. The man in the picture is wearing what is known as typical business attire in Santiago. This is usually made up of a dress shirt, tie, suit jacket, dress pants and dress shoes. It should be noted that when it gets cold in Santiago men will wear a jacket over their suit, just like the man in the picture. This attire is also typical in North America, Europe and some parts of Asia. This image is a reflection of group identity because all businessmen in Santiago wear this type of clothes, although they may not be exactly the same. I was also told by most of the Chileans that I study with that this is the typical business attire. Even most of the business professors wear this attire. In the article the author states

In the picture, there are four stations set up, with one that is in use at the back of the picture. This picture represents non-verbal communication in a public space because there is no direct advertisement stating what this man’s business is or what he is doing sitting there. It is therefore implied that this a shoe shinning station, whereby the customer sits in the metal, movable seat, while the shoe shiner sits lower. It is also implied, non-verbally, that it is a shoe shinning station because of all the products on the ground next to the shoe shiner. The shoe shiners in this picture have used the street in the financial district to establish their business environment. They know that business professional need to get their shoes polished before going to important, so they strategically placed themselves in the street where they would walk by. This is similar to how the Chinese use art, feng shui, to manipulate their physical environment (Jandt,Fred Edmund; page 126), the shoe shiners changed the environment to conduct their