FASHION - Is It True? Is A Good Dress Just As Effective As Therapy?

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Summary - 

Clothes & accessories cop a lot of flak for being just another materialistic possession but I’m here to blow that theory out of the water by sharing a few unbelievable studies that prove that there is so much more to clothes & accessories than meets the eye. 

Things I Mention - 

  • The powerful impact & influence that clothes have on us both physically and mentally

  • Why we choose certain clothes & colours depending on our mood and how we can use this to our advantage 

  • What lights me up and sets me apart from most other Personal Stylists

  • The one thing Turia Pitt did to increase her confidence when working out at the gym

PLUS, we do a simple exercise together which will change how you feel & interact with the world through clothes.

Links & Helpful Resources - 

Make sure you hit SUBSCRIBE so you don’t miss out on any of my practical tips & tricks and if you enjoyed this episode, please leave me a rating and a review? Thanks!

What are you wearing right now? How does it make you feel? 

Seriously though, could a great dress be just as effective as therapy and can what you wear really affect how you feel and interact with the world? 

Well according 2 cognitive psychologists Hajo Adam and Adam Galinksy, yes it absolutely can and the proof is in the countless studies that they’ve conducted which examined the psychological and performance-related effects that wearing specific clothes have on the person wearing them. They’ve called this effect - enclothed cognition.

Enclothed cognition describes the influence that clothes have on the wearer’s psychological processes. It is a small part of a larger field of research that examines how humans think with both their brains and their bodies. Experts have discovered that our thought processes are based on physical experiences, including the clothes we wear. So it is true, a good dress can be just as effective as therapy by enhancing our psychological state and improving our overall performance.

You may have already experienced the effects of enclothed cognition yourself - anyone who frequently battles with anxiety will agree that they are naturally drawn to neutrals – beige, sand, stone, grey etc. - because of the calming effect of these colours.  Freelancers who work from home will know that wearing pyjamas or sweatpants all day (whilst comfy!) does not foster a focused mindset. It helps to put on some clothes that truly mean business to get into productive mode (bonus points though, if they happen to be comfy too!)

Dr. Galinsky says “ it has long been known that clothing affects how other people perceive us as well as how we think about ourselves, in fact, other experiments have shown that women who dress in more masculine outfits during a job interview are more likely to be hired, and an assistant for instance who wears formal clothes is considered to be more intelligent than one who dresses more casually.

As a qualified Personal Stylist, I’ve known since day dot that my love of Fashion far exceeds any new trend that explodes onto the market. In fact, I’ve never really paid any attention to trends or what’s currently “cool” for that matter, so I’m certainly not the stereotypical Personal Stylist most would be familiar with. Instead I’ve always had a real curiosity and interest about the science behind clothes - how to get more wear out of them, how they make you feel from the inside/ out, how to use the colour of clothes to change our state of mind. I guess you could say that my belief in the transformative power of clothes is what excites me the most, which is why I was so excited to record this episode for you today. 

Fashion journalist and psychologist Anabel Maldonado, also believes in the power of clothes to help reduce anxiety, uplift depression, inspire focus, foster ambition, slow anger and achieve calm. In fact, she hopes to demonstrate to brands that the impact that clothes have on us from a psychological perspective truly speaks for itself and that brands should use this to their advantage when designing and putting together collections to increase the success of their brand. A win/ win for all really and a very interesting crossroad between the areas of fashion and well-being.

A great example of this is a post I read recently by Turia Pitt. If you haven’t yet heard of Turia, her story is unforgettable and so incredibly inspiring. In short, Turia’s life was turned upside down at 24 years of age while competing in a 100km ultra marathon in the Australian outback. She encountered an out of control grass fire which left her with full thickness burns to 65% of her body. She lost seven fingers, spent 6 months in hospital, underwent over 200 operations and spent 2 years in recovery. An absolute tragedy but today she uses that horrific experience to prove to others that when we get out mindset right, we can achieve anything. 

Back to her Instagram post though which really struck a chord with me. She uploaded an old photo of herself wearing the mask and compression suit that she had to wear during her recovery. She goes on to say that when she had to wear that suit, she felt really self-conscious about working out, especially at the gym and she shares the small but simple thing she did to overcome this feeling which was this - she brought herself some great activewear that made her feel more confident almost instantly. This triggered a mental change that positively affected her performance and her confidence and today she is living proof of how effective that simple switch of clothing was for her mindset. 

So, how can you use enclothed cognition to change how you feel and the way you interact with the world? 

When you wake up in the morning, ask yourself this “What do I want to feel like today?” 

Once you think of a name for the intended feeling (which might be - friendly, fierce, confident, sexy, sophisticated, loving, and so on), you’re halfway there.

Then, ask yourself, “What outfit can I wear today that will make me feel [fierce, confident, sexy, sophisticated, loving …]? What colour(s) make me feel that way?”

Once you’ve created an outfit in your head, that represents how you want to feel, go to your wardrobe, pull out that outfit and wear it with your head held high. Better yet … go all out, do your make-up and hair and choose accessories that also represent how you’d like to feel. The more you do this, the better you’ll feel - science does not lie!

Happy dressing you beautiful things! 

Elisha CasagrandeWomens Confidence, FEEL BE LOOK, Confidence, Adam Galinsky, Turia Pitt, Enclothed Cognition, Brisbane Personal Stylist, Online Personal Stylist, Styling Tips, Outfit Styling, Clothes Pyschology, Anabel Maldonado, Hajo Adam, Fashion Psychology