... but should you be? Whether it’s dirty denim or designer duds, does it really matter what clothes we sport, asks Eve Dugdale

As she marches down the supermarket aisle in her perfectly pressed pinstripe suit and super shiny patent shoes, mums pull their children to the side to get out of her way.

She’s obviously a powerful businesswoman with a busy day ahead of her who doesn’t need mischievous tots getting under her feet.

Right? Actually, she’s a hardworking mum-of-four who decided to don her smart togs for a one-off interview with the bank manager and would’ve quite relished the chance to break up her day with a jovial chat with a plucky three-year-old.

That’s the power of clothes for you. Without even knowing a person you construct an idea in your head about who they are, how they think and what their lives must be like.

Admit it, we all do it to some extent.

Whether it’s peering down your nose at the woman with the skinny jeans and too-tight T-shirt on in the mall and assuming she must think of herself as some kind of supermodel or seeing a guy with unbrushed hair and scruffy board shorts on in the coffee shop and casting the judgement that he’s lazy - we have all been guilty of creating personalities for individuals based solely on the choice of material they choose to hang on their bodies.

Crazy isn’t it?

Just this week the 7DAYS letters page has been flooded with stories from women who wear abayas and claim they have been refused work because of them.

One letter writer, a Western Muslim who started wearing the abaya and hijab last year, says she has noticed that since she changed her attire, she’s been unable to find work. And rather than blaming the credit crunch for her lack of luck, she says she has reached interview stage, but claims it’s there where employers decide they don’t want her.

She also says she’s been asked if she wears ‘this’ everyday - in reference to her abaya.

Another woman says one of the main reasons she moved here as a Western Muslim was because she wanted to be confident she could wear her hijab wherever she goes, but she also says she faces prejudice from Dubai employers. And it’s not just women in abayas.

In this city of vast malls and rows and rows of designer stores, the way we dress affects how we’re judged more than the way we speak to
people at times.

Despite being a suited and booted powerful businessman throughout the working week, like a lot of men, British-born Ayaz Sultan enjoys relaxing in his comfy wear on days off. And he says the reaction he gets from people around him is unbelievable.  

“I went to the airshow two years ago wearing shorts, T-shirt and flip flops. I wasn’t going for business, just to look around with my friend and walk around in the sun all day so I didn’t feel the need to dress smart,” he says.

“All day visitors and exhibitors looked me up and down and made myself and my friend, feel really embarrassed.

“I imagine if I had worn the suit I wear everyday for work the reaction would’ve been completely different. But for all these exhibitors knew I could’ve been a millionaire ready to invest in a private jet!”

American David Rudd says he encountered a similar situation while out to get his expensive watch repaired.

“It’s a family tradition of ours for my father to buy us a Rolex when we reach 18. I recently had to have mine repaired, so I visited a Rolex store here in Dubai,” he explains.

“When I’ve been there in the past after work wearing a shirt and tie, the staff are quick to approach me and ask if I need help, but when I entered in my ripped jeans and T-shirt it was like I was invisible. I wonder whether people realise that some of the richest men and women in the world never wear suits.”

Fair enough, clothes have evolved from tools to protect our dignity to devices designed to allow us to do everything from advertise what music we like to keeping us as comfortable on the move as we are in bed, but at the end of the day they are just pieces of material.

With so much importance being placed on how a person looks in Dubai, from the absent minded mother who wears too little on her trip around Spinneys to the experienced businesswoman who wears too much to her interview, isn’t it about time we all started to look past the cotton?