That’s why we ask Google how to dress

Just like all of us, Google draws its own conclusions every year and, based on user searches, gives us a surprisingly accurate social snapshot of our society and our times. The existential questions, desires, curiosities and needs that we entrust to the search engine say a lot about us.

Among the most searched answers in 2025, those related to fashion and aesthetics stand out, areas that are only superficially shallow but are actually deeply connected to our identity. Some examples? “How to dress to look younger?”, “How to dress for a wedding?”, “How to dress for a funeral?”.

Simple, almost trivial questions, but ones that hide an indisputable truth: we ask the algorithm how to present ourselves to the world, how to be appropriate, how not to make mistakes. Behind these studies lies the desire to be accepted, recognised and understood. Dressing thus becomes a powerful act of communication, a form of non-verbal language that precedes words and often replaces them.

While some questions highlight our fragility in relation to the passing of time and the need not to look bad in public, at the same time they show us how aesthetics and the much-maligned appearance are central to our lives and deeply influence our moods. Appearance, in fact, is not just an empty mask, but a tool through which we construct and negotiate our social identity. In a society where image precedes experience, the way we dress becomes a statement of intent.

It is therefore not just a matter of frivolity or insecurity, as the subject of fashion is often dismissed, but rather a deeper need: to express, through clothing, who we are or who we would like to be. Clothing becomes a projection of the self, a means of bridging the gap between perceived identity and desired identity. Wearing a particular garment can instil confidence, a sense of belonging or, conversely, mark a distance, a rebellion, a stance.

After all, fashion also serves this purpose: to present ourselves to the world for who we are (or who we would like to be). There is an implicit dress code for every social context, a set of unwritten rules that we learn to decipher from childhood. Knowing how to dress for a wedding or a funeral means knowing and respecting the cultural codes that govern social coexistence and allow us to express respect, emotional participation and empathy.

For every occasion in life, from the lightest and most celebratory moments to the most sacred or painful ones, fashion can become our emotional grammar. Through colours, fabrics, shapes and styles, we express joy, mourning, love, transition and change. Even when we think we are choosing “without thinking too much about it”, we are actually communicating something about ourselves. And perhaps this is precisely why we continue to ask Google how to dress: because, deep down, we are looking for a way to feel like we are in the right place, at the right time, in the best possible version of ourselves.

Ph: Studio Carabas