Do All Twins Dress the Same??

It’s always fun to dress like your friends isn’t it?! Well, not really…but Bri and I tend to dress almost identical whether we like it or not. Even when we don’t have to dress exactly the same, we usually do!

Well, maybe the picture above isn’t the best representation (it was THON weekend after all), but we run into matching outfit situations like this on a daily basis. Bri and I share a lot of our clothes with each other pretty much every single day. It is really great having a double closet, don’t get me wrong, but a lot of the outfits we have are exactly the same or just different colors. This usually wouldn’t really be a major problem. I mean, we just have to make sure that we don’t wear the same thing, right? Nope! A problem always arises because Bri and I have classes at different times. She starts class earlier than me on some days and I don’t see her before she goes to class. (I can barely wake up on time for my own class, yet alone wake up early just to check out her outfit!) When we meet up later for lunch, there are times when we look exactly the same and it just makes us laugh! I mean IDENTICAL. Even our hair will be pulled the exact same way and we’ll have the same shoes on. It’s really weird! This doesn’t always happen, but a lot of the time if we don’t match entirely, we’ll have the same headband, pair of jeans, or same color shirt on.  I guess that’s what we get for liking the same things!

Like most twins, when we were babies and little kids, my mom would dress us in the same outfits. Apparently at age 3, however, we began to refuse to wear matching outfits. We would settle for matching colors sometimes, but that was it! We went through this stage for many years, even in High School. We just wanted to look different, to be different people. Now, we just find it funny when we have the same outfit on. It has led to many interesting conversations and reactions. Plus, sometimes it’s just fun to confuse other people!



Some Friendly Competition...

So, who really is the “better” twin? At least once a day, it seems like Bri and I are put up against each other and compared. I guess it’s bound to happen. Maybe people are just curious about who has better grades or who is better at playing sports? The questions don’t really bother us too much because we’re really a lot alike.

However, some of the comparisons made between us are actually somewhat offensive. Instead of referring to Brianna and I by our names, some people will say “You know, the prettier twin,” “the smarter twin,” and even “the fatter twin.” It’s not like Bri and I look the same or anything like that…

With all of these comparisons, are Bri and I always in competition with each other?

A little sibling rivalry is pretty normal for every family and a little competition never hurt anyone. With that said, Bri and I also engage in little competitions between one another. However, these competitions are very subtle. It’s like we only know about these competitions because we keep them to ourselves. When we’re in the same classes as one another, we secretly hope that we’ll get the same grade as one another because then one of us is not “smarter” than the other one. It really is no fun coming in second place to your twin, especially when other people point it out. I know other siblings are compared against each other, but when people say, “Oh I thought you two were supposed to be the same,” it feels like you are not being who you are supposed to be.

In high school, for instance, I sat next to a boy who referred to Brianna as the Alpha twin. He would make comments about how Bri was the better twin and that I was inferior to her. This was all because she got one point higher on a psych test! Comments like these can really get to your self-esteem!

So, Bri and I are actually in competition with each other even if we’re not the ones who want to be compared against one another. It’s mostly the influence of other people!

Good Question...

I was out with my some of my friends last night and, once again, the topic of twins came up. There were the typical guessing name games and the surprised faces people we met gave us when they found out we were twins. We had heard the typical array of questions once again (not that we minded), but then my friend Tami asked a question that I’ve always wondered about as well: do twins have the same fingerprints?

I really didn’t know how to answer her question. I know that identical twins share the same DNA and look practically the same, but genetically, would everything be identical? Could two people really have the exact same fingerprints?

When I got home, I decided to research twin fingerprints myself to see if Bri and I had the same ones or not.  I assumed that there was a great possibility that our fingerprints would be exact copies. I mean, we have the same DNA, why not fingerprints?

It turns out that this is not the case. According to EarthSky.org, although identical twins have similar fingerprints, they are not exactly identical. However, the fingerprints of twins are more similar than two people who are not related to each other. (Well that makes sense!)

Why would Bri and I have the same DNA, but not the exact same fingerprints? According to forensic-evidence.com, there are two reasons why identical twins have varying fingerprints. For one, genes determine only the general characteristics of the pattern that develops on the tip of the fingers. Because they are general characteristics, they vary from person to person, including twins. Also, when babies are still in the uterus, the skin on their fingertips is in contact with amniotic fluid. They also touch other parts of the uterus, themselves, and the other fetus. Because of this, the cells on their fingertips are in flux which creates different patterns on the fingers. Thus, different fingerprints!

I guess everything about identical twins really isn’t exactly the same. (I’ve been telling people Bri and I are different for years!) Even though it’s not a distinguishable way to tell us apart, it shows that we really are different. So, to answer the question, no, identical twins do not have identical fingerprints.

Resources: 

http://earthsky.org/health/identical-twins-fingerprint

http://www.forensic-evidence.com/site/ID/ID_Twins.html

Picture from: http://symblogogy.blogspot.com/2007/09/fingerprint-biometric-system-delivers.html