How many times a week do you leave the house in sweats and gym shoes? How often do you walk out the door dressed to the nines? How often do you wear your very favorite outfit? Now, obviously these questions are somewhat irrelevant if you are a gym teacher and have to wear sweats, don’t happen to own any nines to dress to, or are a nudist- and therefore have no favorite outfit. But, if you’re like most of us, you have at least a vague idea of what kind of image you’re projecting most of the time through your style choices. We’ve all heard (and been raised to pretty much accept) that (unfortunately) the way you look will affect how onlookers may perceive you. Does it then follow that the way we look will affect how we perceive ourselves? Think back to the best day of last week- what were you wearing? Personally, I had on some grey jeans and a black v-neck sweater over a white button-down shirt- one of my favorite outfits. I remember it vividly- I was energetic, friendly, and generally on top of my game. However, I also remember the worst day of my week- I woke up late, had bad hair and an argument with a good friend of mine. Incidentally, I was wearing jeans that didn’t quite fit, old tennis shoes and a hoodie that’s been around since I was in high school.
Let’s face it- if you don’t look your best, it’s a lot harder to feel your best-especially when the weather is the way it’s been lately- cold, grey and rainy or snowy. When the weather gets like this, some people fall victim to a certain type of depression called Seasonal Affective Disorder. According to http://www.Mayoclinic.com, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is triggered by seasonal change- especially the transition from summer into fall and then winter. As things get colder and darker and the world retreats indoors as the days get shorter, it’s an accepted fact that moods tend to get crummier. However, one way to combat the slumping feeling that comes with drudging through these last, frigid days of winter is to lighten up your style!
Try going through your wardrobe and picking out not necessarily your favorite pieces, but the ones that make you feel the best. It could be that the blazer you rarely don gets your blood pumping and really helps you do your best work at the office or in class. Maybe the scarf you bought last year is exactly the splash of color you need to work up the perky courage to approach the guy or girl you’ve had your eye on. There is a diagram you can find online at http://www.color-chart.org called “Color Mood Chart” that will illustrate exactly what different colors have to do with your mood. These colors have the ability to put you in a certain mood, elevate an already-existing mood, and draw your attention to them as they hang in the closet when you feel the corresponding emotion, making you perpetuate your mood to yourself and to others. Color has as much to do with your state of mind as the seasons do. Think of the correlations- there are ‘spring ‘ or ‘fall’ colors just as designers release their spring and fall collections. It’s all about the way things are marketed. Designers and their marketing teams know what looks good to people at different times of the year and when they are in different states of mind and they use that information to their advantage and make plenty of capital off it.
It’s never a good idea to dress yourself for someone else. The most important part of personal style is that it is just that- personal. None of us will ever look the same and we shouldn’t want to. Identity is vital to our happiness and unique to our personalities. However, if you know what makes you feel good and it comes in the form of a sweater, an up-do and a favorite pair of jeans- why not use it to its fullest mood- enhancing capabilities? So the next time you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, just remember that the perfect remedy for a case of the “Mondays,” “Tuesdays,” “Flag Days…” whatever… is dressing on the right side of your wardrobe.