In this BIT: The clothing we wear impacts our mood and self-confidence! Below are simple ways to dress better, feel confident, and build outfit confidence.
Have you ever heard of color psychology? Or perhaps, Dopamine Dressing? In her book, Dress Your Best Life, fashion psychologist Dr. Dawnn Karen explains the fact that the clothing we dress in has an impact on our mood. Yes – certain clothes can trigger happiness hormones (i.e. dopamine), boosting happiness and confidence. While we may not always feel confident, tailoring our clothing to suit a confident mood is a simple and effective step towards boosting our mood. Most of all, why should we wear clothing that makes us feel uncomfortable, unconfident, and unlike ourselves? Below are simple steps to dressing for confidence, all of which are budget-friendly.
It’s all too easy to pull out an outfit from our closet, and wear it for the day. However, when our clothing is wrinkled, or stained, we feel (even on a subconscious level), unkept and unpolished. We feel confident when our clothing is clean and fits properly! Keep your clothing clean and wrinkle free by properly folding and hanging it. In addition, resist the urge to procrastinate doing the laundry, wash your clothing whenever you notice a stain.
As we mentioned in our BITS post on Color Psychology, certain colors convey certain meanings to our mind. Red evokes power and boldness. Yellow evokes energy and optimism. Pink conveys feelings of gentleness. Depending on how you are feeling, choose to wear a color that conveys the emotion you crave.
While this point may seem blatantly obvious, an essential component of outfit confidence is fit. Make sure that your clothing fits you well! For instance, perhaps you decide to wear a suit, to evoke confidence within yourself. If the suit doesn’t fit properly; it’s too baggy, or too short, you won’t feel confident – you’ll feel self conscious. This point extends past clothing that simply fits your body – ensure that you wear clothing that fits your personality and likings. For instance, red is a color that evokes confidence. However, if you dislike the way that red looks with your skin tone, wearing red will not boost your mood or confidence.
We hope that these self-confidence style hacks help you dress better and feel confident, bringing you a small bit of happiness.
For more happiness check out our Mood Boost page.
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