Lately I’ve been reading The Eyes of the Skin by Juhani Pallasmaa.

He talks about something called the hegemonic eye. The idea is that modern design tends to prioritize sight over the other senses. As a result, architectural spaces suffer when they are designed to be seen, rather than inhabited.

When I read that, it felt familiar. Because the same thing seems to happen with clothing.

Style advice is always telling you to “create visual interest.”

After thinking about it, I realized the assumption underneath that: the eye should always have something to do.

We are taught to think about how an outfit appears from the outside. From someone else’s perspective.

Which is slightly strange when you think about it.

You don’t actually see your own outfit most of the day. Unless you are looking in a mirror or taking a photo. 

Most of the time, you’re inside it. 

But the attention still goes outward.

It creates a kind of split. The eye starts asking for things: Contrast, detail or variation. But the body is usually asking for something different: Less to manage.

Those do not always lead to the same choices.

You can end up with an outfit that looks interesting and well styled. And it still feels slightly off.

This is why people keep adjusting and trying to get it right.

But the reference point never changes. It’s still external. Still visual. So the process doesn’t really resolve.

Instead of: “Does this look right?”

A better question is “What is this like to wear?”

Can I relax in this? Does anything keep pulling my attention back? Or does it disappear once it’s on?

Those are simpler questions. But they tend to produce more stable answers.

Because the body isn’t trying to be seen.

It’s trying to settle.