Why what you wear really matters

Looks a bit dodgy. Not my type. Seems friendly. Love at first sight. 

Just a few of the snap judgements we're prone to make about others.

On what basis?

Many people including psychologists think it's all to do with facial features (cue Roberta Flack singing The first time ever I saw your face). Symmetrical faces and wide-apart eyes are good, anger is a no-no. But my latest research has revealed that clothes makes a huge difference to these first impressions. And the upshot of it all is (you'll like this one)....clothes can be a really marvellous investment!

We carried out the research at the University of Hertfordshire in collaboration with Mathieson & Brooke Tailors. Over 300 adults (men and women) looked at images of a man and a woman for just 3 seconds before making 'snap judgements' about them. In some of the pictures the man wore a made-to-measure suit. In others he wore a very similar off-the-peg suit bought on the high street. In some pictures the woman wore a skirt suit and in others a trouser suit of the same colour and fabric.

After just a 3-second exposure people judged the man more favourably in the bespoke suit.
They rated him as more confident, successful, flexible and a higher earner than when he wore a high street equivalent. Similarly the woman received more positive ratings in a skirt suit than in a trouser suit. Since both models' faces in the pictures were blanked out these impressions must have been formed after quickly eyeing what they were wearing.

The bespoke suit on the left made a far more positive first impression that the high street suit on the right

Clothes say a great deal about who we are and can signal our social status to others. It even starts in childhood - one study found that teachers made assumptions about children's academic ability based on their clothing. And research has even hinted that women should dress more like men if they want to succeed. A study by Forsythe (1990) tested this using a mock interview for a management position. The more masculine the clothing worn by female applicants the greater the perception of their management potential. Fortunately, although it used a different methodology, my findings suggest the opposite. 
After just a 3 second exposure the female in the skirt suit received more positive ratings than in the trouser suit. 
It's reassuring that women can dress in more feminine ways and still be taken seriously.  Be careful about the plunging neckline or micro-skirt though, you can take things too far and other research shows provocative clothing is viewed as indicative of low professional status.

This woman made a more positive impression in the skirt than in the trouser suit.

Sartorial laziness is an easy habit to slip into. We may think that fashion is just profligate indulgence and our sunny personality will eclipse our dull attire or detract from the soup stains on our anorak. Untrue. What we wear speaks volumes in just a few seconds. Dressing to impress really is worthwhile and could even be the key to success. 

How do you do this in the current economic climate? In an earlier blog I gave some tips for the cash-strapped fashionista along with Style Psychologist Kate Nightingale. I also asked David Brooke of M&BT whether we could justify splashing out on bespoke tailoring. He said: 

“A made-to-measure suit is undoubtedly more expensive than some high street suits, but does not need to break the bank. In fact, an M&BT made-to-measure suit is always better quality and lasts far longer than off-the-peg suits. A bespoke, or made-to-measure suit, in light of this research, must be seen as an investment in your career and an essential ingredient to your personal success.”

As a clothes lover (and in the spirit of my new position as Professor of Fashion Psychology at the University of Bilgi, Istanbul) I naturally have to agree with David. Also, in our Do Something Different philosophy, shaking up your wardrobe and projecting a new outer image is a great way to start changing behaviour.

More fashion-related blogs coming this way soon...

You can download a summary of the research from the Psychology of Fashion page of my website