You don’t have to be a fashion enthusiast to realize the importance of how we dress for the way others see us. Clothing belongs to all the elements we analyze when, for example, they introduce us to someone. project the image of ourselves that we want to show others, all encompassed by the psychology of fashion.
Even if that’s not our intention, the way we dress can say a lot about others. In addition, what we try to convey through our clothes may not be what others interpret.
- Various scientific studies and psychological research have studied the real impact of clothing choice on how we perceive and judge ourselves.
- These different experiments have had amazing results.
“The specific characteristics that make a person attractive depend on the fashion of the time, both physically and mentally. “Erich Fromm, The Art of Love (1956)?
The belief that women are more fashion conscious than men is widespread; however, research shows that men are more fashion-driven than most of us realize.
Solomon and Schopler (1982) demonstrated that men are often more influenced than women when it comes to how they dress and how they are evaluated.
In addition, whether you are male or female, the fashion choices you make can affect both your own image and the impression you give on others, as well as the way people behave with you.
In this sense, a study has found that wearing red in sportswear can increase the chances of winning. Another survey was conducted to determine the extent to which a candidate’s clothing influences the interviewer’s considerations of their management characteristics and hiring decisions. women for board positions.
The masculinity of the garments was significant to predict the perception of all the management characteristics examined. Candidates were considered more energetic and aggressive when wearing “more masculine” clothing. Candidates also received more favorable hiring recommendations when wearing more masculine clothing.
Clothing and dress were not always as varied within a culture, nor so influential, the technical advances that have emerged over the centuries are what have made clothing important.
At first, the main goal of clothing was to keep us warm and dry, as well as protecting ourselves from the sun or dust, was just a matter of survival. Gradually, it has also acquired a practical utility to facilitate daily tasks (we see it in the inclusion of pockets in the trousers). As the technological means progressed, clothing began to become so important in terms of survival and utility.
Today, clothing not only helps us survive, but facilitates our tasks, so it is true that clothing has not ceased to be a practical tool, but it has also made sense in other areas. We see how a certain garment or brands can symbolize a certain state, for example.
In many societies, the way we dress represents wealth and personal taste, as demonstrated by George Taylor with the Hemline Index (1926). Taylor said that when a country enters recession and adopts austere spending habits, women prefer longer dresses, while in times of prosperity, the trend is reversed.
“It’s much easier to be good when clothes are fashionable. “Lucy Montgomery, in Anne of Green Gables (1908) –
A second key influence on how we dress is the result of millions of years of development as a species. As with many animals, the concept of selecting loving couples in evolutionary psychology suggests that our behavior is determined by our efforts to mate and procreate.
The possibility of selecting a garment also gives us an opportunity: to differentiate ourselves, to become more attractive to the person we want as a loving couple. Consider, given the differences, a peacock showing off its hidden plumage when trying to attract a female. to raise.
We can also wear clothes to mingle in a crowd and hide our individuality; for example, wearing a uniform or adopting a more or less homogeneous style in a given environment.
Many of the discoveries in fashion psychology research and clothing choice are subject to the cultural values of the society in which we live. Cultural differences are quite important. In fact, it is not in all cultures that we perceive the same qualities associated, for example, with a certain color.
It should also be noted that the superficiality of the choice of clothing is rarely the only factor, in terms of clothing, that conditions the image that one makes of others or that others make of us. dress them or combine them with other pieces.
Fashion is linked to two things: evolution and quite the opposite. “Karl Lagerfeld?