Mind what you wear … because it could change your life.

We spend billions of pounds on clothes annually, so surely the cry 'I don’t know what to wear!’ should never be heard. Yet it is. 

A wardrobe crisis may seem like a minor dilemma in a day packed with important decisions, but it's actually not frivolous. Because the clothes we choose can shape the day ahead, determining who we meet, how we behave and how others react to us. No wonder the psychology of fashion is so fascinating.

That’s why my new book ‘Mind What You Wear’ helps you understand the impact of what you wear, on yourself.

Because clothing can literally be life-changing.

Mind What You Wear is just £1.99 from Amazon UK

The book includes the story of Meg who, on a whim, bought a hat, that made a man approach her at a party, that led to them marrying. It’s a poignant  reminder of how our apparently insignifcant choices have a huge impact on others. And where that can lead.

But the main focus of the book is on how what we wear changes us too.

We walk taller and act more confidently in the right outfit. When we’re dressed down we withdraw and hide away. Clothes speak to others but they have the power to speak to us too. Sensations and associations in the body lead to new ideas in the mind.

Every day we pull something from the wardrobe, or try on something in a store, that has life-changing potential. 

 - The suit that subliminally convinces an interviewer we’re perfect for the job. 

 - The red dress that stirs something in a future lover that leads them to ask for a date. 

 - Even the swimsuit that can strip us of our intellectual powers. 

(Yes, when Barbara Fredrickson gave a maths test to groups of women and men who wore either a swimsuit or a sweater, she showed that wearing a swimsuit diminished a woman’s maths performance).

This was a startling discovery - that what we wear can actually change the way our brains function. Later, researchers from Northwestern University in the US showed that putting on a white coat improved a person’s mental agility. By associating the white coat with a doctor their brain was primed to take on different mental capacities.

So in my lab we have been putting students in Superman t-shirts! We’ve found it makes them see themselves as more likeable and superior to other students, and even to believe they are physically stronger. Every day the brain’s functions are primed by sights, smells and experiences. Now we know our mental processes can also primed by a piece of clothing, which opens up exciting opportunities.

What we wear has cognitive, social and emotional consequences. 

The right clothing can change who we are, how we think and how we feel. So we should never underestimate this power. My research has revealed that when women are depressed they are more likely to wear jeans. What would happen if, on waking up feeling glum, instead of dragging on the sad pants the woman pulled on a favourite frock? The effect could be intrapersonal, priming her brain and lifting her mood. Or it could be interpersonal, the message her clothes send to the world determining others’ responses to her, triggering a positive feedback loop capable of changing her mood. 

The book has lots of tips to lift your mood with the right clothes. 

One day we may even see clothes prescribed as therapy, as an alternative to medication. In the meantime why not learn a little more about how the right clothes can impact on your life by getting hold of a copy of Mind What You Wear.

What that 'red dress' symbolises: The psychology of fashion.

The dress sends many signals that explain why this image went viral. (Image: Reuters)

The image above, currently circulating on the internet, shouts fashion psychology more than people realise.

It’s of a young woman in a red dress being sprayed with tear gas by a policeman during the Istanbul riots. I have just come back from Istanbul (where I work in the fashion department at Bilgi University) and I was struck by the multitude of messages in this simple, momentary image. This is what fashion psychology can tell us:

Red and white outfit. Red and white flag.

First it’s not just a woman in a dress. It’s a woman in a red dress. And she’s carrying a white shoulder bag. This colour combination mimics that found on the Turkish flag. So this image will have a more powerful, albeit subliminal, impact on Turkish people at this time.

The woman's outfit echoes the Turkish flag:
more than mere coincidence?

Red for fertility

Secondly, the red dress has more resonance than any other colour. As well as being the colour of passion and love, red is the symbol of female fertility. In many species redness conveys that the female is ready to mate. So the image packs another punch; this young, fertile female is the mother of the next generation, of the future of Turkey.

Flared waist and fertility

Look at the style of the dress too. It isn’t a shift or a smock. It flares from the waist. This emphasises the women’s waist-to-hip ratio, which is about 0.7. That's the ratio that, on women, has been shown to correlate strongly with fertility.

Had she worn a blue dress, or a t-shirt and jeans, this image would not have been so powerful. Nor would it, I suspect have gone viral around the globe.

Dress choice is shaped by unconscious forces

This woman was largely unaware of the power of what she was wearing. Just as most of us are when we reach into our closets every day.  When she chose her red dress and grabbed her white bag that morning, it could have been a mere coincidence. But unconscious forces may have been at work too. We don't always understand why we wear what we wear, but our choices are rarely accidental. And they will be psychologically motivated. 

The masked man in black

And what about the guy firing tear gas at her? Research shows that his black uniform will have made him more likely to behave aggressively. His masked face will have reduced his sense of personal accountability. It will have lowered his threshold for expressing inhibited behaviours. By hiding behind his anonymity he was able to unleash his aggression on her. Was he drawn to her because of what she was wearing? It's possible. Although we do know from the indiscriminate firing of tear gas at protestors that she certainly wasn’t singled out for this treatment.

More than meets the eye

Yet the image stands out not just because of the appalling actions it depicts. The strong visual imagery reaches deep within us too. We look at it and we process the action in the photograph at a conscious level. But unconsciously the signals in the characters' clothing also have intensely powerful emotional resonance for us.

It's tempting to dismiss fashion as mere fluff. Until, that is, we start to decode its many meanings and marvel at what it reveals.