By Ripples Turquand
Look good, feel good. That little mantra women tell themselves. It’s a secret weapon for women to conquer the day with confidence and a good outfit. Maybe you have a friend who always dresses up on exam days, or a roommate who cannot leave the house without completing a full skincare routine. And the best part? Our brain is wired to notice a connection.
One of the first things we do in the morning after waking up is get dressed. For some, that might be the first outfit of the day; for others, it’s the outfit you wear until you change back into your pajamas. Your choice of outfit sets the tone for the day, and can even positively dictate your mood.
Outfits aren’t just fabric anymore – they’re extensions of mood and identity. For many Fashion Media majors at SMU, this is instilled in us during introductory-level courses through topics such as identity management theories (how we use clothing to stabilize or control our identities) and JC Flügel’s book, The Psychology of Clothes.
At SMU, you’ll spot students color-coding their sneakers to their tote bags or carefully tucking their t-shirts into their jeans. Generally, SMU students dress up much more for class than at other universities. Jeans are considered a staple, and sweatpants are a “crime.” It’s not vanity; instead, it’s a careful, intentional curation of how you present yourself, ensuring every detail aligns with who you are or how you want to be seen.
And psychology backs this up: what we wear doesn’t just reflect how we feel, it can shape it.
Enter the concept of enclothed cognition, a concept introduced by researchers Hajo Adam and Adam Galinsky in their 2012 study. In essence, Adam and Galinsky coined a term for shaping our thoughts, emotions, focus, confidence, and even behavior in a structured, predictable way. They predicted that wearing a lab coat, as opposed to an artist’s coat, would increase performance on attention-related tasks.
Participants who wore a lab coat labeled a “doctor’s coat” showed sharper attention and focus than those who wore the same coat labeled a “painter’s smock.” Their research suggested that enclothed cognition depends on both the symbolic meaning (e.g., the name or label of the smock) and the physical experience of wearing the clothes, which together influence the wearer’s cognitive processes. As a result, the clothes affected actions.
Just as you wear cozy clothes to relax or a more tailored suit to a professional event, our minds attach symbolic meaning to the clothes we wear, as well as to the physical and sensory experience of wearing them. It’s the same principle as the lab coat experiments: clothes don’t magically make you smart, but when you assign meaning to the sensation of wearing certain clothes, your psychological processes follow suit – boosting performance in ways that pajamas to a presentation simply cannot trigger.
In conversation with Dr. Olivia Breedin, a lecturer in the Department of Psychology at SMU, I gained valuable insight into the deeper psychological ways our clothing choices influence mood, self-perception, and even performance.
When asked about the correlation between clothes and self-presentation, Dr. Breedin noted, “Self-presentation and impression management essentially mean the same thing: we want to control how other people perceive us. In doing so, we engage in different types of impression management to present ourselves in ways that align with our identity or the image we want to project. People present in ways that indicate their status, wealth, or other forms, such as being decorated with military medals.”
Dr. Breedin also noted how the halo effect and the facial feedback hypothesis play a role in looking good and feeling good. The halo effect is an unconscious bias in which an initial positive impression of a person influences our overall perception of them. The facial feedback hypothesis suggests that a person’s emotional experiences are shaped by their facial expressions. We, in a sense, are fully in control of our emotions by simply manipulating our faces. Dr. Breedin connects this to clothes: “making a smiling shape with your mouth makes you feel happier; frowning does the opposite. Something similar could happen with clothes – if dressed sloppily, you might feel sloppy; dressed nicely, you feel better. It’s certainly associated with feeling more put-together.”
According to the halo effect, when we look polished or attractive, others unconsciously assume we’re smarter, kinder, or more competent, “even if it’s untrue. That’s the halo effect: perceiving attractive individuals as smarter, kinder, funnier. People see rewards from attractiveness; it’s like pretty privilege, a motivating effort to look good.” This pretty privilege can, in turn, motivate effort in appearance, leading to real-world rewards such as better impressions or job opportunities.
Kimber Reeves, a student at SMU, has unique fashion taste in the best way possible. She can be seen sporting maximalist jewelry and bright glasses, because they “make any outfit feel like a reflection of me and my personal style. Sometimes you wouldn’t think about pairing [these accessories] with certain outfits, but when you do, it makes it iconic.”
Reeves also notes that “Wearing a cute outfit changes the trajectory of my day. When I’m wearing an outfit I like, I’m automatically in a good mood because it gives me an immediate confidence boost. I embrace the vibe that my outfits give off, which is fun and fresh.”
The takeaway? Looking good isn’t just about perfection or wearing the highest-quality pieces. Yes, those factors can empower you to be more productive and help with impression management, but to look good, you need to feel aligned with yourself. When clothes carry meaning that truly resonates – confidence, creativity, calmness – they become tools for well-being and overall happiness.
In a world of constant comparison, finding the “right” outfit might be an over-stressor and unnecessary part of the day. Instead, see those few extra minutes as an act of power. They’re a deliberate choice to decide exactly how you want to show up for yourself and the world.
