Our fashion choices are a form of communication. When we decide how to dress, we are making statements about who we are, and who we want to be seen as. Depending on our choices, we might be saying ‘I’m a goth,’ or ‘I’m a football fan,’ or ‘I want to get ahead in business.’
Above all, fashion mostly says, ‘I care what others think about me, and I want to fit in with people I consider similar to me.’
Using fashion in this way – to make statements about ourselves and form bonds with others – is not surprising. We are social mammals and – alone among mammals – we wear clothes, which give us a wide array of fashion options.
But maybe it is a little more surprising to learn that some other social mammals are interested in fashion too.
For example, back in 1987, people observed orcas off the coast of British Columbia wearing dead salmon as hats. They’d been known to playfully wear kelp at times, but this was the first time they’d been seen wearing dead salmon. At first it was just one or two, and then many of them started doing it.
When the behaviour died out after a year or two, researchers concluded that it had been a fashion trend that had simply gone out of style, as human trends do all the time.
Until 2024, when suddenly dead salmon hats were apparently in style again, perhaps among older orcas (they can live up to the age of 90) reliving their glory days!
Photo Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/a-couple-of-orcas-swimming-in-a-body-of-water-qM9tSt_5orU
