ENCLOTHED COGNITION - CONTENT WRITING

PSYCHOLOGY ISSUE NO. 1

JULY 2018

"I love black because it affirms, designs and styles. A woman in a black dress is a pencil stroke" Yves Saint Laurent

HEALTHY LIFE

Enclothed Cognition "One is never overdressed or underdressed with a little black dress" - Karl Lagerfeld

it involves the co-occurrence of twoindependent factors – the symbolic meaning of the clothes and the physical experience of wearing them.

It has long been known that “clothing affects how other people perceive us as well as how we think about ourselves”.

For business hours most of us choose dark colors – black, navy blue. Have you ever wondered what do these colors say about you?

Black. Black is always in fashion and associated with class. In color psychology this color gives protection from external emotional stress – keep the person wearing it at a safe distance from troubles; it sets him/her apart from the crowd. It creates an air of mystery, sobriety while radiating authority and creating some fear in the process.

They say that a salesman wearing all black will make a lot of sales. It is because black sends the message of power and control, hanging on to information and things. It seems like the person wearing all black knows something that you don’t. Implies selfcontrol and discipline, independence and a strong will. It creates a feeling of superiority, of out-of-reach personality.

Have you ever wondered why you put on a specific outfit every day?

Does it have the power to influence you or the others around you? Can you explain why you feel good wearing some clothes and bad, wearing others?

Researchers say that there is such a thing called “Confidence Dressing” – the way the clothes we wear affect our mind; they say that “assembling an outfit is like assembling an army” – what does actually go on in our minds when choosing our outfits?

The psychology of colors let us believe that colors can be used to determine personality traits of people, to affect their mood and to even control their behavior.

So what does your professional attire say about you? Do you dress casual most of the times? Or do you prefer business clothing? What is your color of choice for office hours?

For formal meetings, it is the color of choice – it suggests a strong, disciplined, contained, formal, sophisticated, efficient individual with uncompromising excellence, belonging to the upper class.

At the same time, it is considered quite elegant and simple. Coco Chanel put it best in “simplicity is the keynote of all true elegance” Women often choose to wear black to give an impression of elegance, confidence and success. It is a color, or better said non-color, that gives the impression of strength. Like Ives Saint Laurent used to say – “ I have always believed that fashion was not only to make women more beautiful, but also to reassure them, give them confidence”

Enclothed cognition describes the systematic influence that clothes have on the wearer’s psychological processes; MASTERMIND| 30