Whether you’re new to us or part of our beautiful community, it’s always good to remind ourselves about the meaning of core terms and concepts within this growing field. As with any discipline, especially those within psychology, people think a lot of it is “just common sense”, but it’s far deeper than that. Fashion psychology is a science, validated by tonnes of research and peer-reviewed papers (I’m still geeked that mine is among them). In our continued effort to spread the gospel of fashion psychology, combat armchair psychologists and this current wave of misinformation, we’re delighted to start this (long overdue) Fashion Psychology 101 series, starting with arguably the most crucial definition: what the hell is Fashion Psychology anyway?
As much as we value their opinions and respect their taste, no fashion expert, no stylist, or influencer can objectively tell you the “right” way to dress. They should be thought of as beautiful fountains of inspiration and not an opportunity for you to ctrl+c, ctrl+v their style into your wardrobe. When you dress according to this approach, the results are never consistent, and you increase the risk of an identity crisis.
I know, back when I considered skinny Tumblr girls to be the epitome of fashion with a capital F, I often experienced that quiet discomfort. I just knew my look didn’t “bang” (whatever my version of “bang” was back then), and when you feel like that, nothing, not even the reassuring comments from your friends, can lessen that feeling that you made the wrong decision. You might be wearing something that’s highly coveted, something from a respected designer, something that got a zillion likes on social media. Still, there’s a difference between something being right and something being right for you.
When you take a second and think about the number of hours you spend in your clothes, you’ll realise that they’re more than bits of fabric that protect you from the elements, conceal your naughty bits and occasionally make you look nice. Your clothes are a second skin or, better yet, they’re like a flexible suit of armour. They have the power to protect you from negative mood states ranging from the classic ‘blues’ to more severe things like Imposter Syndrome.
Your clothes have the power to help you express your authentic self and experience all of the wonderful benefits that come with it. Clothes can empower you to change the way you think and even change the way you act, helping you step into your purpose and present the best version of yourself to the world. If you knew your clothes could do all of that and more, would you still treat them as an afterthought? These benefits have been well-documented over the years by a little-known discipline called fashion psychology.
What the hell is fashion psychology?
Many people think fashion psychology is some weird type of telepathy, but with clothes. “Tell me about myself then, based on my outfit?” That question still sends shivers down my spine.
While fashion psychology does involve an understanding of what your clothing choices say about you, it’s (1) not that simple and (2) so much more than that. Fashion psychology (and every type of psychology for that matter) is not mind-reading, it’s an awareness that your styling choices can function as symbols. These symbols can dictate your personality, social status, political allegiance, sexual identity, religion, all of which make up our identity. When you think about the amount of media we consume and how we’re constantly told that we can buy our way into a new life, it’s easier to understand how the clothes we buy form part of our identity.
In a nutshell, fashion psychology is:
- The way your clothes allow you to navigate different versions of yourself
- The reasons why you buy the things you do
- The way your clothes change not only your mood (wearapy) but how you think and behave (enclothed cognition)
- The way clothes impact your body image
- The way people use their style to define themselves and others
Fashion psychology attempts to uncover the meaning behind our personal appearance and answers questions like:
- Why do I dress in a certain way?
- How can I dress in a way that is authentic to me?
- How does the way I look impact the way I feel about myself?
- How does my appearance impact the way other people view me?
- Can my style affect how I act?
- Why am I inclined to purchase these products and not those?
Some people are of the opinion that your outward appearance shouldn’t count for much in the grand scheme of things. The strength of your character should be worth more than how you look, but I think we should be looking at it in a different way. Your appearance is a medium through which you can express your character. Your personal styling choices can help you position yourself and help you to balance your need to belong against your need to be unique.
Of course, there are things that restrain us. Things like money and cultural norms can push you into a certain aesthetic direction but the way you present yourself to the world is largely in your control. Even choosing to wear a certain coloured pair of socks, a certain brand of trousers or a particular type of accessory might seem like a little, even insignificant decision, but as you’ll learn, fashion psychology teaches us that it can have a lasting impact.
I’ll let Virginia Woolf sum it up for us:
Vain trifles as they seem, clothes have, they say, more important offices than to merely keep us warm. They change our view of the world and the world's view of us.
