We have heard it spinner numerous ways. Dress for Success. Dress for the job. Express yourself. We all know that the way people dress speaks a lot about their personality, but as time has proven, we can now see that science is strongly backing these concepts as well. Numerous scientific studies have shown that what people wear has a direct effect on the way they think and behave. Studies’ results show that people actually feel different while wearing different types of clothes.
Some clothes may offer a more confident and more creative state of being, other types of clothes make people feel physically stronger and certain type of clothing make people considered by others more intelligent, unique and/or rebellious.
Professor Karen Pine from the University of Hertfordshire released a book titled Mind What You Wear. This book explains the concept that clothing affects a person’s mental processes and perceptions. Ultimately, what a person wears could discern how confident they feel about themselves.
Attention
The Journal of Experimental Social Psychology released research in 2012 that showed a higher level of concentration in people who were told that they are wearing a doctor’s white coat. However, the study’s participants who were told that they were wearing a painter’s smock, lacked that same amount of focus. The subjects dressed in doctor’s coats displayed higher results in attention demanding tasks. Lacking focus? Go to your closet and be sure you are dressed for the part.
Self-Confidence
According to a paper from Social Psychological and Personality Science, a number of subjects were instructed to wear casual clothing while other subjects were instructed to wear formal clothing before taking intellectual tests. Those wearing formal clothing performed much better in the given tasks. This was especially when the test areas were creative and organizational tasks. This confirmed higher creativity capabilities. What can this tell us? Next time you are facing a challenging or difficult task at work, make sure that your outfits are dressy and complete. It can help you feel more confident and focused.
Communication
Another characteristic that is affected by clothing is communication. In a study released by the Journal of Experimental Psychology, subjects were asked to wear formal and informal clothing in negotiation meetings. Those who wore business suits performed much better, because they asserted dominance over the person with whom they were negotiating with. Those wearing informal clothes, had much lower testosterone levels and had lower scores when it came to persuasion skills in their negotiation. How can this help you? When you have an important negotiation or conversation about to take place, suit up to keep your communication skills top-notch.
Physical Performance
The color of your clothes is not something you would expect to have such as a heavy affect on your physical or mental performance. However, research shows the big effects of color in people’s physical and mental performance. The first study was published by the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology. Athletes, who were the study’s subjects, were dressed in red and blue sport shirts. Those wearing red performed much better when it came to lifting weights before combat sparring. Another important effect of the color red was that the heart rate of the participants wearing it was higher during the whole training process.
Breaking Boundaries
We are all familiar with different social norms and respective dress codes. For example, when we think of a lawyer, we imagine a man wearing a suit. When we think of a surgeon, we imagine a man in scrubs or a white coat. However, according to several experiments published in the Journal of Consumer Research, breaking the expected dress code can improve how you are perceived and help you stand out in the crowd
According to the article, a man attending a black-tie affair, courageously decided to show up in a red tie. This resulted in people viewing this individual as someone who has a higher status and who is more capable and successful in all aspects of life. He was perceived as someone who is very confident and breaking the dress code brought about other’s positive opinions of him.
Another study included a professor who wore red Converse sneakers during his lecture and captivated his audience more easily than usual as they valued his uniqueness. The professor’s audience revealed that they thought the man was more intelligent and much more competent throughout the lecture. These examples show that you can benefit from showing your unique character and going against the grain of social norms.
Digressing back to Professor Pine’s book, to highlight something artTECA strives to break the boundary of. She explains that research shows that when women are stressed, they neglect 90% of their wardrobe. The women who are stressed choose to dress up only to feel confident. We want to break this cycle. While a woman can find confidence in so many areas in her life, we believe being confident in your clothes should be one thing you never have to worry about. That’s where artTECA comes in, offering easy elegance.
artTECA was created for the mom on the go, the woman wearing many hats, the business leader and entrepreneur etc. The collection embraces the well-rounded and complex woman whose style should reflect her everyday. That is why each piece in theartTECA collection is luxurious, vibrant and comfortable. Any piece you choose can be worn countless ways, making artTECA as versatile as it is chic.
Stand apart from the crowd and embrace your unique style and the character that makes you….you. As the many studies and research have shown, fashion has more depth and importance than we could have ever imagined. It’s time to purchase clothing that elevates our state of being and is an actual positive addition to our wardrobes.
READ MORE INTERESTING POST LIKE THIS ONE AT artTECA’S BLOG
