How closely people position themselves to a person during a discussion communicates what type of relationship exists between the two people. This space and meaning differs from culture to culture but in American culture the following standards exist. In today s society, the purpose of clothing has changed from fulfilling a need to expressing oneself. Teens use fashion to determine cliques such as prep, jock, punk, or gangster. Clothing communication is continued later in life by identifying someone in a suit as a businessperson, someone wearing a black robe as a judge, doctors wearing lab coats and stethoscopes or various other positions wearing required uniforms of dress.
Adornments are another form of appearance.
Wearing expensive jewelry communicates one message while wearing ceremonial ornaments communicates a completely different message. Appearance also takes into account personal grooming such as cleanliness, doing one s hair, nail trimming or wearing make-up. Overall appearance is the nonverbal that people are most aware of and manipulate the most. Appearance communicates how we feel and how we want to be viewed. Eye Contact Many sayings hold that the eye is the window to the mind.