All a Mess and Put Together
A lesson in reasons for dressing well.
I’m back! A month long hiatus from writing is now over as my husband and I made our move from Austin, Texas, to Franklin, Tennessee. Moving 900 miles took all the creative juice and attention, but don’t worry, the Saturday Style Section is back.
I ran a little experiment—at first completely unintentionally—once we realized we were moving back to the East Coast. The experiment went like this: I feel sluggish in leggings even though I’m packing and lifting heavy boxes. I’m going to put on jeans and put on just a little bit of makeup.
BAM!
My productivity skyrocketed. Procrastination filled another day of packing. I escaped the house to get a cappuccino and a pastry, but no perfectly made cappuccino was going to give me the energy I needed to return to the 1000th box ready for packing. I went back to my closet and slipped on jeans and a cute t-shirt. Then I stood in front of the mirror and pulled my hair back loosely. Returning to the kitchen, I found my cappuccino and went to the box, finding renewed energy that would carry me far into the evening.
Two weeks of packing up your two bedroom apartment is exhausting. Not taking a day off work on top of that means all I was seeing and dreaming of was packing boxes. Seeing the result of simply wearing jeans instead of leggings led to my decision of giving you a style analysis of why it’s so important to dress well and dress for yourself.
Dressing up is psychological.
Dressing up is a very psychological affair. “The Power of Dressing Up,” a HuffPost article pulls back the curtain:
I was wondering what to wear (I had in mind to change out of hiking wear, and was thinking about a nice casual dress) when I saw Erin, who was in a floor-length deep green dress, and gold jewelry. We are, after all, in a chateau... Luckily I had a wedding to attend later that week, so I had packed a flesh-colored cocktail dress, which I hurriedly put on.
In our fancy dresses, we had a fabulous home-cooked meal. The dinner itself was not any fancier than any "normal" dinner (grilled fish, green beans, salad, red wine), but it was made extraordinary because we dressed up. The occasion was made more special because of what we were wearing.
The author of the article arrives at the conclusion that when she dresses up, she puts her best self forward.
This certainly rings true even as I look at the past month of packing up, saying goodbyes, moving, unpacking, and settling in. In choosing to wear jeans (a level up from athleisure), a neutral t-shirt, and a cute jacket, I felt more put-together and productive. I did my hair and makeup for myself, and the act of doing so was empowering and satisfying. So often we can think about dressing up in the context of others, “Oh, I wonder what so-and-so will be wearing,” “I don't have anything to wear” (rooted in the fear that everyone else has that perfect thing to wear), and “I wonder if I’m dressed up enough or too dressed up,” etc. So, what happens when you stop thinking about everyone else and just focus on getting dressed for you?
It’s not a narcissistic lens, it’s an empowering and creative one. In this digital age, we often think of others’ expectations and actions, but if we live lives in the real world—sans the digital realm—I think we would find ourselves to be much happier and much more confident.
Ada Polla, author of the HuffPost article above calls putting her best clothes on her “best behavior attire.” When we dress up, we rise to the occasion.
Even in hard times, dressing up has responded with gusto and confidence. Fashion responded to the end of World War I with flapper dresses, Dior responded to the end of World War II and the Great Depression with beautiful skirts and tailored jackets. After the COVID-19 lockdowns—to give an example in this century—fashion responded with dopamine dressing, an explosion of bright colors to counteract the unknown. When we dress up, we can fight the hardest times and the bluest of days.
Dressing up influences perception.
First impressions can be quite faulty; Jane Austen’s original title for Pride and Prejudice was “First Impressions”, as the characters’ first impressions created the foundation for all the relationships and misunderstandings. However, there was a study published in 2012 titled, “Shoes as a source of first impressions.” Faulty or not, first impressions always exist, and the study on shoes showed that people learned a lot—and made correction assumptions—about a stranger just by looking at their footwear.
It’s about more than clothes. Fashion is an “interplay of consumer tastes, social habits and personal identity.” Runways exhibit a variety of tastes, we look to our situations—financially, geographically, seasonally—and to others for what to wear, and then we also define ourselves in our sartorial choices. A Courier Mail article cites academic Joanne Finkelstein’s claim that “fashion and our clothing choices are tightly interwoven with ideas about who we are and how we like to be perceived.”
But the clothes don’t make a man or a woman, despite the Greek saying, “the man is his clothing.” Some days, we wear sweatpants, we go hiking, or we head to the gym and have such a long list of to dos that we never get out of the gym clothes. Appearances are never the end all be all; we are much more than what we wear, even though clothes play a role in helping us understand how we see ourselves and others.
Dressing up helps us to believe we can succeed.
Another HuffPost article, “What Does it Mean to Dress for Success?”, summarizes the “dress for success” concept in two points.
First,
In a business setting, your appearance matters. Your image educates others on how you want to be approached. Every time you go out, you reflect an image that tells others how to treat you. They are sizing you up and making an assumption of what you do for a living, your income level and your current level of success in life based solely on your appearance.
Whether or not we like it, the above statement more often than not rings true. And second,
Successful people maintain an impeccable image. Why? Because they know that their image is part of their brand. Your image is an outside indicator of who you are as a person. A big part of advancing in life is looking the part. This is especially true as a business owner. A keen sense of style when it comes to your image can lead to greater opportunities and higher levels of success.
Steve Jobs wore the exact same thing every day to minimize his decisions in the morning. He gave the impression that he was very serious, dedicated, and practical. Elizabeth Holmes so admired him that she wore the same uniform. She was trying to make her appearance the same as him, and the psychological effect was astounding (I highly recommend watching Hulu’s series The Dropout). The fraud was layers and layers deep, but she made such a confident and serious impression on the people around her that they believed her.
So, here’s the conclusion: how you dress communicates who you are, your brand, how you want to be treated, and what you think of yourself. All of that can be shown in just one outfit. So, keep following along here and on my social media, for the easiest style tips and wardrobe pieces to effortlessly elevate your everyday look.
Signing off,
Syd
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