Adolescents' Clothing Conformity, Awareness, and Peer Acceptance1

The observed similarity in the clothing and appearance of adolescents from the same school led to the hypothesis that awareness of and conformity to the modal pattern of dress would be associated with social acceptance by peers. Filmed observations of the clothing of 121 boys and 110 girls from a high school sophomore class and reactions from a questionnaire concerning what “most were wearing” were analyzed and related to general peer acceptance. Significant positive relationships were found to exist between awareness of and conformity to the clothing mode and peer acceptance. Awareness of the mode and conformity to the mode were significantly related to each other. These findings indicate that clothing and adornment may serve a strategic function in the socialization of high school students.