The apparel oft proclaims the man

[Noble Savage]

What symbols? How do you know what tweed, the four-in-hand or the oxford shoe means to me? It may have a completely different significance to me, at an individual level, from whatever meaning you give them for yourself.

What clothes mean to the wearer is a private matter of little consequence. The impact they have on others is what “makes the man” in society. Or Society.

[Costi]

I hope that the impact we make on others is a consequence, not the purpose of our dress. Making an impact (of some kind) is inevitable when living in society. Making a purpose of this impact is something else...
If the meaning of clothes to the wearer were a matter of little consequence, we would probably give up any personal quest and just wear standard articles, according to the impact we intend to make. Fortunately we don't, this is why we are here, to discover what dressing means to each of us, not to learn schemes that maximize impact. Isn't it refreshing and inspiring when you sense in someone's dress that they have gone beyond the commonplace mastery of the handbook principles and have attained a personal expression of some kind? That they don't purposely "dress to impress", yet they do impress in some way? That they can exude power of expression without resorting to a "power suit"?