How the Clothes You Wear Can Improve Your Confidence
The fact that your attire can affect your self confidence both positively and negatively isn’t really something that any of us need to be told because we have all experienced both spectrums of this little fact at some point in time or the other. However, science says that it goes deeper than that and the clothes and fashion we wear can affect our mood, perception, attention, and obviously confidence at a much deeper level than just providing an ego boost. On that note, let’s take a look at some of the facts that research has found in regard to this.
The Personality of Your Clothes
According to research, the clothes we wear directly affect our personality. What it means is, the social perception of the attire we are wearing transfers itself onto our personality and therefore we behave in accordance to that. For example, a T-shirt and shorts depict a relaxed mood and that’s exactly what we prefer wearing when we chill out with close friends. On the other hand, a suit or a formal dress for a business meeting helps us attain and maintain the necessary persona of seriousness and professionalism. Imagine yourself attending an important business meeting in a Hawaiian shirt and a straw hat to understand the implications of this particular point!
It May Boost Performance
Through social and psychological experimentations, it was determined that clothes can actually help to boost performance. Individuals in most professions seemed to deliver an overall better performance when they were wearing the “right clothes” or uniforms that were fit for the job. When the same individuals worked without their uniforms (or other outfits that were not perceived as fit for the job at hand), their performance declined. Additionally, it was established that a symbolic attire like the lab coat of a doctor, even when put on by someone who had no medical background, managed to get a bit more attention and performance out of the subjects during experiments. This is once again a result of the social perception that specific types of clothes hold in our society as a whole and is transferred onto the mind of the individual. The lab coats of a doctor symbolizes importance, duty, and reverence; therefore it managed to bring some of those socially attributed qualities out of the person wearing it.
A Tool for Deception?
Clothes can be a deceptive tool in the hands of an expert poker player. A lot of the world’s professional poker players actually dress goofily to deceive new players into thinking that they are amateurs and foolish. In fact, most poker experts agree that how you come dressed to the poker table has a significant impact on the opponent’s perception of you and therefore the game itself. In other words, veteran poker players can actually use social perception in regard to one’s dressing sense for deceiving and somewhat controlling the opponent’s approach towards a game. 888poker.com has more detailed information about dressing for success in poker if you are interested.
While there are no universal rules set when it comes to dressing for confidence, there are a few tips that won’t let you down.
- Dress for the occasion.
- Don’t overdo it.
- It is okay to stand out from the crowd, but it’s not okay to stick out like a sore thumb.
- Look at yourself in the mirror, repeatedly.
- Ask yourself; do I feel confident in it? Whatever the answer is, it’s the right one.
At the end of the day, it all comes down to your goals, how your body is structured, and your personality. What someone else may feel uncomfortable in may work wonders for you.