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The Power of Clothes and Their Impact on Personality

Categories: Clothes Fashion

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Words: 917 |

Published: Jan 30, 2024

Words: 917 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Body paragraph 1: clothing as a form of self-expression, body paragraph 2: clothing influencing first impressions, body paragraph 3: clothing and social status, body paragraph 4: cultural significance of clothing.

Braund, H., & Saito, R. (2011). The sociology and psychology of fashion: a research agenda. Sociology Compass, 5(7), 546-560.
Adam, H., & Galinsky, A. D. (2012). Enclothed cognition. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48(4), 918-925.
Radel, R., Sarrazin, P., Legrain, P., & Wild, T. C. (2010). Social comparison and performance in the domain of physical activity and sport: A review. Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 22(1), 1-22.
Lefevre, J. A., Lewis, G. J., & Bates, T. C. (2012). Facial cues to perceived height influence leadership choices in simulated war and peace contexts. Evolutionary Psychology, 10(4), 564-575.
Gordon, R. A. (1988). An examination of self-serving bias in the assessment of historical material and contemporary data regarding the class differential in dress. Clothing and Textiles Research Journal, 6(4), 10-16.

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Psychology of Clothing: How Dress Codes Affect Behavior

When we think about clothing, we often focus on style, trends, and personal preferences. However, have you ever stopped to consider the deeper psychological impact that wearable can have on your mindset and behavior?

This Psychologyorg blog post will dig into the fascinating world of the psychology of clothing, exploring how what you wear can significantly influence the way you think and feel.

Psychology of clothing.

The psychology of clothing is about how what we wear affects how we feel and behave. It’s not just about covering up or staying warm; our clothes say a lot about us. For example, wearing bright colors might make us feel happier, while wearing something uncomfortable might make us feel less confident.

Our clothes also show others what kind of person we are. People often make judgments based on what we wear. If someone wears a suit, we might think they’re professional and successful. If someone wears casual clothes, we might think they’re laid-back and easy-going.

Cultural and societal rules also affect what we wear. Different cultures have different ideas about what’s appropriate in different situations.

According to Scientific American , clothing color can influence performance; for example, athletes wearing red jerseys could lift heavier weights before a match and have higher heart rates during the match compared to those wearing blue.

So, the psychology of clothing is all about understanding how our clothes affect our thoughts, feelings, and how others see us.

The Influence of Clothing on Psychology

The influence of wearables on psychology refers to how the clothes we wear affect our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. Clothing is not just about covering our bodies; it plays a significant role in shaping our self-perception and interactions with others.

One aspect of this influence is self-expression. The clothes we choose can reflect our personality, mood, and identity. Whether we opt for bold, colorful outfits or prefer more understated styles, our dress choices convey messages about who we are and how we want to be perceived.

Additionally, clothing can impact our confidence levels. When we wear clothes that make us feel comfortable and confident, it can positively affect our self-esteem and overall mood. On the other hand, ill-fitting or inappropriate dress may lead to feelings of self-consciousness or discomfort.

Moreover, cultural and societal influences play a significant role in shaping our apparel choices. Different cultures have their norms and expectations regarding dress, which can influence the types of clothing people wear and the meanings attributed to them.

Furthermore, clothes can influence how others perceive us. People often make judgments based on appearance, including dress choices. The clothes we wear can convey information about our social status, occupation, and personality traits, influencing how others interact with us.

Overall, the influence of clothing on psychology highlights the complex relationship between what we wear and how we think, feel, and behave. By understanding this relationship, we can better harness the power of clothes to express ourselves authentically and navigate social situations effectively.

Enclothed Cognition

Enclothed cognition is a term that describes the systematic influence that clothes have on the wearer’s psychological processes. But, what we wear can impact our cognitive functions, such as attention, memory, and perception. Studies have shown that wearing certain types of clothing can enhance performance in specific tasks and even alter our behavior.

The Power of Wearing a Suit

The psychology of wearing a suit goes beyond just looking polished and professional. A suit can make you feel more confident, competent, and authoritative, affecting how you perceive yourself and how others perceive you. The symbolic meaning of a suit as a form of armor and identity can influence your mindset in various social and professional settings.

Casual Friday

On the flip side, the psychology of clothing of Casual Friday in the workplace highlights how a more relaxed dress code can impact productivity, creativity, and employee morale. Dressing casually can signal a shift in mindset from formal to informal, fostering a more laid-back and collaborative work environment.

Dressing for the Gym

The psychology of gym clothes reveals how what you wear to the gym can influence your workout performance and motivation. Activewear designed for exercise not only provides comfort and functionality but also signals to your brain that it’s time to get active. The right workout attire can enhance your focus, endurance, and overall exercise experience.

How Dress Codes Affect Behavior

Dress codes can significantly impact how people behave in various settings. When individuals are required to adhere to a specific dress code, it often influences their demeanor, mindset, and actions.

For example, in professional environments where formal attire is expected, such as offices or corporate settings, dress codes can promote a sense of professionalism and seriousness among employees. People may feel more inclined to conduct themselves in a manner that aligns with the formal atmosphere, focusing on tasks and responsibilities with greater diligence.

Similarly, in educational institutions where uniforms are mandated, dress codes can foster a sense of unity and equality among students. Uniformity in attire minimizes distractions related to the psychology of clothing choices and reduces socio-economic disparities, leading to a more conducive learning environment.

Furthermore, dress codes can also impact behavior by shaping individuals’ perceptions of themselves and others. When people dress according to established norms, they may experience a sense of belonging and conformity to social expectations. Conversely, deviating from dress code guidelines may result in feelings of self-consciousness or social stigma.

Overall, the psychology of clothing and dress codes plays a multifaceted role in influencing behavior by setting standards for attire, promoting specific values or norms, and shaping individuals’ self-perceptions and interactions within social contexts.

Luxury Goods and Politics

The psychology of luxury goods examines the intricate relationship between material possessions, status symbols, and political ideologies. The psychology of clothing brands associated with luxury and exclusivity can signify social status, wealth, and power, influencing how individuals perceive themselves and others. The political implications of luxury fashion reflect broader societal values and economic disparities.

How Clothing Affects Mood

Psychology of Clothing and colors, textures, and styles of wearable can evoke specific emotions and moods, affecting your psychological well-being. Bright and vibrant colors like red and yellow can energize and uplift your spirits, while dark and subdued tones like black and gray can evoke feelings of melancholy or sophistication. Understanding how clothes influence mood can help you consciously choose attire that aligns with your desired emotional state.

Revealing Hidden Secrets Through Clothing

Clothing can be a form of self-expression, identity, and storytelling. The garments you choose to wear can reveal hidden aspects of your personality, values, and beliefs. Whether you prefer bold and daring fashion or classic and timeless styles, your dress choices can speak volumes about who you are and how you want to be perceived by the world.

In conclusion, the psychology of clothing is a fascinating field that highlights the intricate connection between what we wear and how we think, feel, and behave. From the empowering effect of wearing a suit to the mood-boosting benefits of colorful attire, clothes have the power to shape our self-image, social interactions, and emotional well-being.

By understanding the psychology of clothing, you can make intentional wardrobe choices that support your mental health and personal growth. Next time you get dressed, consider the hidden messages and emotions woven into your outfit and embrace the power of enclosed cognition.

What is the clothing theory of psychology?

The clothing theory of psychology explores how apparel influences human behavior, emotions, and perceptions. It suggests that what we wear not only serves practical purposes but also reflects and shapes our psychological states and interactions with others.

What is the psychological reason for wearing clothes?

The psychological reason for wearing clothes is multifaceted. First, clothing protects us from environmental elements, enhancing our physical comfort and safety. Second, clothes serve as a means of self-expression, allowing individuals to communicate aspects of their identity, personality, and mood through their attire. Third, clothes can influence how others perceive us, shaping social interactions and relationships.

What can clothing tell you about a person?

Clothing can provide valuable insights into a person’s personality, interests, social status, and cultural background. For example, someone who consistently wears formal business attire may be perceived as professional and ambitious. In contrast, someone who prefers casual, bohemian clothes may be seen as laid-back and creative. Additionally, specific dress choices, such as band t-shirts or sports jerseys, can reveal a person’s hobbies or affiliations.

What are the psychological needs of clothing?

Clothes fulfill psychological needs such as self-expression, identity formation, social integration, and emotional well-being. They allow individuals to express their unique personalities, establish belongingness within social groups, and feel confident and comfortable in their skin. Moreover, clothes can fulfill deeper psychological needs by serving as a source of comfort, security, and self-esteem.

Does clothing affect psychology?

Yes, clothing can significantly affect psychology by influencing thoughts, emotions, and behaviors. The clothes we wear can impact our self-perception, confidence levels, and mood. Additionally, dress choices can shape how we are perceived by others and influence social interactions. Overall, clothes play a complex and dynamic role in shaping psychological processes and experiences.

Do clothes affect your behavior?

Yes, clothes can affect behavior through a phenomenon known as “enclothed cognition.” What we wear can influence our cognitive processes, emotions, and behaviors. For example, wearing formal attire may enhance feelings of professionalism and focus, leading to more confident and assertive behavior in professional settings. Similarly, dressing casually may promote relaxation and informality, influencing how we interact with others in social contexts.

If you want to read more articles similar to Psychology of Clothing: Dress, Body, and Self, we recommend that you enter our Psychology category.

I'm Waqar, a passionate psychologist and dedicated content writer. With a deep interest in understanding human behavior, I aim to share insights and knowledge in the field of psychology through this blog. Feel free to reach out for collaborations, queries, or discussions. Let's dig into the fascinating world of psychology together!

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Dress for Success: How Clothes Influence Our Performance

What you wear can influence your thinking and negotiating skills, and even hormone levels and heart rate

By Matthew Hutson & Tori Rodriguez

Joanne Yong Getty Images

The old advice to dress for the job you want, not the job you have, may have roots in more than simply how others perceive you—many studies show that the clothes you wear can affect your mental and physical performance. Although such findings about so-called enclothed cognition are mostly from small studies in the laboratory that have not yet been replicated or investigated in the real world, a growing body of research suggests that there is something biological happening when we put on a snazzy outfit and feel like a new person.

If you want to be a big-ideas person at work, suit up. A paper in August 2015 in Social Psychological and Personality Science asked subjects to change into formal or casual clothing before cognitive tests. Wearing formal business attire increased abstract thinking—an important aspect of creativity and long-term strategizing. The experiments suggest the effect is related to feelings of power.

Informal clothing may hurt in negotiations. In a study reported in December 2014 in the Journal of Experimental Psychology: General , male subjects wore their usual duds or were placed in a suit or in sweats. Then they engaged in a game that involved negotiating with a partner. Those who dressed up obtained more profitable deals than the other two groups, and those who dressed down had lower testosterone levels.

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For better focus, get decked out like a doctor. In research published in July 2012 in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , subjects made half as many mistakes on an attention-demanding task when wearing a white lab coat. On another attention task, those told their lab coat was a doctor's coat performed better than either those who were told it was a painter's smock or those who merely saw a doctor's coat on display. — Matthew Hutson

Inspired by findings that winning combat fighters in the 2004 Olympics had worn red more often than blue, researchers investigated the physiological effects of wearing these colors. As reported in February 2013 in the Journal of Sport and Exercise Psychology , they paired 28 male athletes of similar age and size, who competed against one another once while wearing a red jersey and again while wearing blue. Compared with fighters in blue, those wearing red were able to lift a heavier weight before the match and had higher heart rates during the match—but they were not more likely to be victorious. — Tori Rodriguez

Trying too hard to look sharp can backfire. When women donned expensive sunglasses and were told the specs were counterfeit, as opposed to when they thought they were real, they cheated more often on lab experiments with cash payouts. Fake sunglasses also seemed to make women see others' behavior as suspect. Authors of the study, published in May 2010 in Psychological Science , theorize that counterfeit glasses increase unethical behavior by making their wearers feel less authentic. — M.H.

The Red Sneakers Effect

It's not news to anyone that we judge others based on their clothes. In general, studies that investigate these judgments find that people prefer clothing that matches expectations—surgeons in scrubs, little boys in blue—with one notable exception. A series of studies published in an article in June 2014 in the Journal of Consumer Research explored observers' reactions to people who broke established norms only slightly. In one scenario, a man at a black-tie affair was viewed as having higher status and competence when wearing a red bow tie. The researchers also found that valuing uniqueness increased audience members' ratings of the status and competence of a professor who wore red Converse sneakers while giving a lecture.

The results suggest that people judge these slight deviations from the norm as positive because they suggest that the individual is powerful enough to risk the social costs of such behaviors. — T.R.

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Behavioral Psychology

Fashion Psychology: What clothes say about you

The psychology driving our clothing choices and how fashion affects your dating prospects..

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Fashion Psychology: What clothes say about you

You needn't be an avid fashionista, nor a London Fashion Week regular, to be aware of how important our dress sense is to our reputations in the 21st Century. The clothes we wear send powerful signals to our peers and strangers, projecting the self image of us that we want to display.

Yet, how many of us truly understand the psychology of how people in the street or office interpret our wardrobe choices , and how this impression might differ to the one that we believe we're conveying to them?

An array of psychological surveys have revealed the true impact of clothing choices on the way in which we perceive and judge each other, with experiments showing some surprising results. They even reveal how subtle varieties in dress sense can affect our ability to attract a partner whilst we are dating.

Defying stereotypes

Against the gender stereotype of females being more fashion-aware and conscious of others' clothes and makeup efforts than males, studies have also lifted the lid on men's insecurities with regards to clothes.

Contrary to commonly held beliefs, men have been shown to be often more self-conscious than females with regards to their personal dress sense and the way in which they are viewed in public ( Solomon and Schopler, 1982 ). 1

Therefore, we need to understand the significance of clothing choices regardless of our gender. Whether you are male or female, your fashion choices can affect both your self image , the impression that you convey to others and in turn, the way in which people behave towards you. They can influence everything from the outcome of a sports match ( Hill and Barton, 2005 ) to an interviewer's impression of your ability to perform effectively in a job position ( Forsythe, 2006 ). 2 3

In this article, we look at the effect that our fashion choices today can have on our lives, and how our unconscious clothing choices are interpreted by those around us.

Why clothes matter: what your wardrobe says about you

Clothes have not always been as influential a 'tell' of our personalities as they are today. Only as a result of technical advancements over centuries have fashion choices become significant.

Where in early civilizations, the key purpose of clothing was to keep us warm and relatively dry, today, central heating warms our homes, reducing our dependence on clothes alone to help us to survive. Clothes have developed from a practical asset to a social marker: they affect the way we see ourselves. They help us to be seen in the light that we wish to be, and also exude our personalities and social status.

In many societies, dress sense embodies personal wealth and taste. For example, Economist George Taylor demonstrated this most vividly with the Hemline Index (Taylor, 1926). 4 Taylor noted that as a country enters recession and adopts austere spending habits, women often show a preference towards longer dresses, whilst during times of prosperity, the opposite result can be seen - hemlines often become shorter.

A second key influence on our dress sense is a result of millions of years of development as a species. As with many animals, the concept of mate selection in evolutionary psychology suggests that our behavior is determined by our efforts to find a mate and to reproduce.

According to signalling theory, a male peacock will display his vibrant fan of covert feathers in a ritual to attract a female with whom to mate. Such rituals vary from species to species, but in humans, our ability to create and wear clothes gives us a equivalent advantage in being able to distinguish ourselves from a crowd and demonstrate our individuality in an effort to find a mate. Conversely, too, we might use clothing to merge into a crowd and hide our individuality by dressing in a uniform.

Dressing to Impress?

Aside from the adage of "dressing to impress" what do we know about the psychology of clothing choices in relation to dating?

Firstly, let's consider the idea of how we seek to 'impress' potential partners. A study by Joseph Benz at the University of Nebraska surveyed more than 90 men and women with regards to the way in which they deceive potential partners whilst on dates. The researchers found that both genders tend to use deception when dating but for different purposes.

Males were found to try to impress their dates by emphasizing the security that they could offer the partner - for example, by exaggerating their financial position or by trying to demonstrate a preparedness to commit. Women, however, were deceptive with regards to their body image , exaggerating physical features in an effort to appear more attractive to their date ( Benz et al, 2005 ). 5

In both cases, clothing may play a part in this dating ritual of deception.

Another factor in our clothing choices is the way in which males and females perceive and interpret different colors .

In one experiment, researchers photographed people in different colored clothes and then asked participants to rate the attractiveness of people in the resulting photos. They found that the color of clothing affects the way in which men rate both males' and females' attractiveness, and how women rate men's attractiveness. Interestingly however, clothing color did not influence women's judgement of other females ( Roberts et al, 2000 ). 6

This brings us to the question: which colors are viewed as attractive?

Roberts and his fellow researchers found that red clothes would tend to lead participants to rate subjects more favorably in terms of attractiveness compared to when they wore clothes of other colors.

This result might explain the findings of a study which found that, when waitresses wore different colored t-shirts whilst serving in a restaurant, men would tend to leave higher tips for those wearing red tops than those with t-shirts of other colors. However, shirt color had no effect on the tips left by female customers ( Guéguen and Jacob, 2010 ). 7

Learn more about the psychology of color here

Of course, the color of garments is far from the only factor used in judging a person based on clothing.

Timothy Brown and his fellow researchers of the Department of Psychology at Old Dominion University looked at the effect of clothing on college students' judgement of both people's attractiveness and masculinity or femininity.

Brown found that in both genders, posture and the way in which people moved influenced perceptions of their masculinity or femininity, which was intrinsically linked to their judgement of their attractiveness.

Specifically in males, tight-fitting clothes as opposed helped lead to perceptions of increased masculinity over those who wore baggy garments ( Brown et al, 1986 ). 8

Naturally, many of the findings from research into the psychology of fashion and clothing choices are subject to the cultural values of the society in which a person lives. Cultural differences in the interpretation of color, for example, mean that red may be perceived to have different qualities to those valued by participants in Guéguen and Jacob's waitress experiment, depending on the country a restaurant is situated in.

We should also note that the superficiality of clothing choices are rarely the sole determinant of how people are perceived: Brown's study into clothing and attractiveness demonstrated the influence of body language in addition to clothing choices. And for those of us with limited fashion sense, as the English writer William Hazlitt cautioned, "Those who make their dress a principal part of themselves, will, in general, become of no more value than their dress".

Solomon, M.R. and Schopler, J. (1982). Self-Consciousness and Clothing. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin . 8 (3). 508-514.
Hill, R.A. and Barton, R.A. (2005). Psychology: red enhances human performance in contests. Nature . 435 (7040). 293.
Forsythe, S.M. (1990). Effect of Applicant's Clothing on Interviews' Decision to Hire. Journal of Applied Psychology . 20 (19). 1579-1595.
Taylor, G. (1926).
Benz, J.J., Anderson, M.K., Miller, R.L. (2005). Attributions of Deception in Dating Situations. The Psychological Record . 55 . 305-314.
Roberts, S.C., Owen, R.C. and Havlicek, J. (2010). Distinguishing between perceiver and wearer effects in clothing color-associated attributions. Evolutionary Psychology . 8 (3). 350-364.
Guéguen, N and Jacob, C. (2010). Clothing Color and Tipping. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism . 38 (2). 275-280.
Brown, T.A., Cash, T.F. and Noles, S.W. (1986). Perceptions of Physical Attractiveness Among College Students: Selected Determinants and Methodological Matters. Journal of Social Psychology . 126 (3). 305-316.

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What Our Clothing Say About Us? Essay

The assertion that we are what we put on is true and remains largely accepted by the majority. The clothes we wear and how we wear them say a lot about us. What we put on portrays our outward appearance, which is the mirror of our character and personality. In the contemporary world, where beauty is a highly cherished value and a place where our clothing changes our psychological feeling and view of ourselves and our outer behavior, people tend to easily pass judgment on us based on our appearance. The dressing has taken a particular pattern that is associated with certain age groups and easily tied to pre-defined character stereotypes. These stereotypes have relatively unique common characteristics. For example, a man wearing a baseball cap backward has a totally different character to that wearing a round hat. Consequently, a lot of people, companies, and institutions have come up with their professional dressing codes aimed at portraying a certain image and level of professionalism.

When it comes to seeking employment opportunities, there is a mode of dressing that you are expected to adapt to succeed. Indeed there are many articles that have been written on “How to dress for the interview” to help people know how they are required to appear before interviewing panels and be able to get the post. This is because the mode of dressing during this occasion has some requirements aimed at portraying a certain personality. A man in a well-trimmed black suit with a matching striped tie is seen to be confident, decent, fitting to the occasion, and mature. A man who attends a job interview in a polo T-shirt and jeans is seen to be less serious. Her clothes have been used as a symbol of possession of the right qualifications for a certain job.

In the social sphere, our outside appearance counts for who become our friends are and where we spend most of our leisure time. Our appearance portrays our social and economic status. A rich man is more likely to put on well-trimmed designer clothes and shoes as compared to a man who has a low income. He is likely to go for simple second-hand clothes, which he can easily stretch his budget into. In a world where certain clothes are associated with certain designer cloth stores, celebrity status, and social class, it is easy to judge one social status by his / her way of dressing.

Our clothing also says a lot about our level of physical and mental maturity, ethics, and moral values. A lady who puts on a suit with her skirt just above her knees gets more respect than another one who puts on a micro mini skirt to a party. The first lady is seen to have more personal respect and social ethics and has more favor in the eyes of society. On the same note, our dressing shows our cultural backgrounds and origin. Different cultures and societies value different modes of dressing, and what may appear as decent in one culture may turn to be indecent in others. A man who wears a kikoi and turban to his office in Pakistan may need to put on a suit if he is employed in another country like the USA.

Our appearance also symbolizes our emotional communication. When someone is in a melancholic mood or is sick, he/ she is more likely to put on clothes having cool colors. And when we are happy, we reflect this happiness by wearing bright-colored clothes. I the same note, our choice of clothes indicates our level of comfort and sense of belonging to a certain group. We have a feeling that we “fit in” in that group. They also indicate our affiliations to certain clubs, groups, and associations when we wear club-labeled clothes.

In conclusion, we can say that what we wear sends signals of who we are to our surroundings, and these affect the way the people around us view and interact with us.

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IvyPanda. (2021, August 28). What Our Clothing Say About Us? https://ivypanda.com/essays/what-our-clothing-say-about-us/

"What Our Clothing Say About Us?" IvyPanda , 28 Aug. 2021, ivypanda.com/essays/what-our-clothing-say-about-us/.

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1. IvyPanda . "What Our Clothing Say About Us?" August 28, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/what-our-clothing-say-about-us/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "What Our Clothing Say About Us?" August 28, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/what-our-clothing-say-about-us/.

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International Journal of Interdisciplinary Research

Open access
Published: 22 November 2014

Dress, body and self: research in the social psychology of dress

Kim Johnson 1 ,
Sharron J Lennon 2 &
Nancy Rudd 3

Fashion and Textiles volume 1 , Article number: 20 ( 2014 ) Cite this article

371k Accesses

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The purpose of this research was to provide a critical review of key research areas within the social psychology of dress. The review addresses published research in two broad areas: (1) dress as a stimulus and its influence on (a) attributions by others, attributions about self, and on one's behavior and (2) relationships between dress, the body, and the self. We identify theoretical approaches used in conducting research in these areas, provide an abbreviated background of research in these areas highlighting key findings, and identify future research directions and possibilities. The subject matter presented features developing topics within the social psychology of dress and is useful for undergraduate students who want an overview of the content area. It is also useful for graduate students (1) who want to learn about the major scholars in these key areas of inquiry who have moved the field forward, or (2) who are looking for ideas for their own thesis or dissertation research. Finally, information in this paper is useful for professors who research or teach the social psychology of dress.

Introduction

A few social scientists in the 19 th Century studied dress as related to culture, individuals, and social groups, but it was not until the middle of the 20 th Century that home economists began to pursue a scholarly interest in social science aspects of dress (Roach-Higgins 1993 ). Dress is defined as “an assemblage of modifications of the body and/or supplements to the body” (Roach-Higgins & Eicher 1992 , p. 1). Body modifications include cosmetic use, suntanning, piercing, tattooing, dieting, exercising, and cosmetic surgery among others. Body supplements include, but are not limited to, accessories, clothing, hearing aids, and glasses. By the 1950s social science theories from economics, psychology, social psychology, and sociology were being used to study dress and human behavior (Rudd 1991 , p. 24).

A range of topics might be included under the phrase social psychology of dress but we use it to refer to research that attempts to answer questions concerned with how an individual’s dress-related beliefs, attitudes, perceptions, feelings, and behaviors are shaped by others and one’s self. The social psychology of dress is concerned with how an individual’s dress affects the behavior of self as well as the behavior of others toward the self (Johnson & Lennon 2014 ).

Among several topics that could be included in a critical review of research addressing the social psychology of dress, we focused our work on a review of published research in two broad areas: (1) dress as a stimulus and its influence on (a) attributions by others, attributions about self, and on one’s own behavior and (2) relationships between dress, the body, and the self. Our goal was to identify theoretical approaches used in conducting research in these areas, provide an abbreviated background of research in these areas highlighting key findings, and to identify future research directions and possibilities. The content presented features developing topics within the social psychology of dress and is useful for undergraduate students who want an overview of the content area. It is also useful for graduate students (1) who want to learn about the major scholars in these key areas of inquiry who have moved the field forward, or (2) who are looking for ideas for their own thesis or dissertation research. Finally, information in this paper is useful for professors who research or teach the social psychology of dress.

Body supplements as stimulus variables

In studying the social psychology of dress, researchers have often focused on dress as a stimulus variable; for example, the effects of dress on impression formation, attributions, and social perception (see Lennon & Davis 1989 ) or the effects of dress on behaviors (see Johnson et al. 2008 ). The context within which dress is perceived (Damhorst 1984-85 ) as well as characteristics of perceivers of clothed individuals (Burns & Lennon 1993 ) also has a profound effect on what is perceived about others. In the remainder of this section we focus on three research streams that center on dress (i.e., body supplements) as stimuli.

Provocative dress as stimuli

In the 1980s researchers were interested in women’s provocative (revealing, sexy) dress and the extent to which men and women attributed the same meaning to it. For example, both Edmonds and Cahoon ( 1986 ) and Cahoon and Edmonds ( 1987 ) found ratings of women who wore provocative dress were more negative than ratings of women who wore non-provocative dress. No specific theory was identified by these authors as guiding their research. Overall, when wearing provocative dress a model was rated more sexually appealing, more attractive, less faithful in marriage, more likely to engage in sexual teasing, more likely to use sex for personal gain, more likely to be sexually experienced, and more likely to be raped than when wearing conservative dress. Cahoon and Edmonds found that men and women made similar judgments, although men’s were more extreme than women’s. Abbey et al. ( 1987 ) studied whether women’s sexual intent and interest as conveyed by revealing dress was misinterpreted by men. The authors developed two dress conditions: revealing (slit skirt, low cut blouse, high heeled shoes) and non-revealing (skirt without a slit, blouse buttoned to neck, boots). Participants rated the stimulus person on a series of adjective traits. As compared to when wearing the non-revealing clothing, when wearing the revealing clothing the stimulus person was rated significantly more flirtatious, sexy, seductive, promiscuous, sophisticated, assertive, and less sincere and considerate. This research was not guided by theory.

Taking this research another step forward, in the 1990s dress researchers began to investigate how women’s provocative (revealing, sexy) dress was implicated in attributions of responsibility for their own sexual assaults (Lewis & Johnson 1989 ; Workman & Freeburg 1999 ; Workman & Orr 1996 ) and sexual harassment (Johnson & Workman 1992 , 1994 ; Workman & Johnson 1991 ). These researchers tended to use attribution theories (McLeod, 2010 ) to guide their research. Their results showed that provocative, skimpy, see-through, or short items of dress, as well as use of heavy makeup (body modification), were cues used to assign responsibility to women for their sexual assaults and experiences of sexual harassment. For example, Johnson and Workman ( 1992 ) studied likelihood of sexual harassment as a function of women’s provocative dress. A model was photographed wearing a dark suit jacket, above-the-knee skirt, a low-cut blouse, dark hose, and high heels (provocative condition) or wearing a dark suit jacket, below-the-knee skirt, high-cut blouse, neutral hose, and moderate heels (non-provocative condition). As compared to when wearing non-provocative dress, when wearing provocative dress the model was rated as significantly more likely to provoke sexual harassment and to be sexually harassed.

Recently, researchers have resurrected the topic of provocative (revealing, sexy) dress. However, their interest is in determining the extent to which women and girls are depicted in provocative dress in the media (in magazines, in online retail stores) and the potential consequences of those depictions, such as objectification. These researchers have often used objectification theory to guide their research. According to objectification theory (Fredrickson & Roberts 1997 ) women living in sexually saturated cultures are looked at, evaluated, and potentially objectified and treated as objects valued for their use by others. Objectification theory focuses on sexual objectification as a function of objectifying gaze, which is experienced in actual social encounters, media depictions of social encounters, and media depictions that focus on bodies and body parts. The theory explains that objectifying gaze evokes an objectified state of consciousness which influences self-perceptions. This objectified state of consciousness has consequences such as habitual body and appearance monitoring and requires cognitive effort that can result in difficulty with task performance (Szymanski et al. 2011 ). In such an environment, women may perceive their bodies from a third-person perspective, treating themselves as objects to be looked at and evaluated.

Self-objectification occurs when people perceive and describe their bodies as a function of appearance instead of accomplishments (Harrison & Fredrickson 2003 ). Experimental research shows that self-objectification in women can be induced by revealing clothing manipulations such as asking women to try on and evaluate the fit of a swimsuit as compared to a bulky sweater (Fredrickson et al. 1998 ).

To examine changes in sexualizing (provocative) characteristics with which girls are portrayed in the media, researchers have content analyzed girls’ clothing in two magazines (Graff et al. 2013 ). Clothing was coded as having sexualizing characteristics (e.g., tightness, bare midriffs, high-heeled shoes) and childlike characteristics (e.g., frills, childlike print, pigtail hair styles). The researchers found an increase in sexualized aspects of dress in depictions of girls from 1971 through 2011. To determine the extent of sexualization in girls’ clothing, researchers have content analyzed girls’ clothing available on 15 retailer websites (Goodin et al. 2011 ). Every girl’s clothing item on each of the retailer websites was coded for sexualizing aspects; 4% was coded as definitely sexualizing. Ambiguously sexualizing clothing (25%) had both sexualizing and childlike characteristics. Abercrombie Kids’ clothing had a higher percentage of sexualizing characteristics than all the other stores (44% versus 4%). These two studies document that girls are increasingly depicted in sexualizing clothing in U.S. media and that they are offered sexualized clothing by major retailers via their websites.

Since girls are increasingly sexualized, to determine if sexualized dress affects how girls are perceived by others Graff et al. ( 2012 ) designed an experiment wherein they manipulated the sexualizing aspects of the clothing of a 5 th grade girl. There were three clothing conditions: childlike (a grey t-shirt, jeans, and black Mary Jane shoes), ambiguously sexualized (leopard print dress of moderate length), highly sexualized (short dress, leopard print cardigan, purse). In the definitely sexualized condition, undergraduate students rated the girl as less moral, self-respecting, capable, determined, competent, and intelligent than when she was depicted in either the childlike or the ambiguously sexualized conditions. Thus, wearing sexualized clothing can affect how girls are perceived by others, so it is possible that sexualized clothing could lead to self-objectification in girls just as in the case of women (Tiggemann & Andrew 2012 ).

Objectification theory has been useful in identifying probable processes underlying the association between women’s provocative dress and negative inferences. In a study using adult stimuli, Gurung and Chrouser ( 2007 ) presented photos of female Olympic athletes in uniform and in provocative (defined as minimal) dress. College women rated the photos and when provocatively dressed, as compared to the uniform condition, the women were rated as more attractive, more feminine, more sexually experienced, more desirable, but also less capable, less strong, less determined, less intelligent, and as having less self-respect. These results are similar to what had previously been found by researchers in the 1980s (Abbey et al. 1987 ; Cahoon & Edmonds 1987 ; Edmonds & Cahoon 1986 ). This outcome is considered objectifying because the overall impression is negative and sexist. Thus, this line of research does more than demonstrate that provocative dress evokes inferences, it suggests the process by which that occurs: provocative dress leads to objectification of the woman so dressed and it is the objectification that leads to the inferences.

In a more direct assessment of the relationship between provocative dress and objectification of others, Holland and Haslam ( 2013 ) manipulated the dress (provocative or plain clothing) of two models (thin or overweight) who were rated equally attractive in facial attractiveness. Since objectification involves inspecting the body, the authors measured participants’ attention to the models’ bodies. Objectification also involves denying human qualities to the objectified person. Two such qualities are perceived agency (e.g., ability to think and form intentions) and moral agency (e.g., capacity to engage in moral or immoral actions). Several findings are relevant to the research on provocative dress. As compared to models wearing plain clothing, models wearing provocative clothing were attributed less perceived agency (e.g., ability to reason, ability to choose) and less moral agency [e.g., “how intentional do you believe the woman’s behavior is?” (p. 463)]. Results showed that more objectified gaze was directed toward the bodies of the models when they were dressed in provocative clothing as compared to when dressed in plain clothing. This outcome is considered objectifying because the models’ bodies were inspected more when wearing provocative dress, and because in that condition they were perceived as having less of the qualities normally attributed to humans.

In an experimental study guided by objectification theory, Tiggemann and Andrew ( 2012 ) studied the effects of clothing on self-perceptions of state self-objectification, state body shame, state body dissatisfaction, and negative mood. However, unlike studies (e.g., Fredrickson et al. 1998 ) in which participants were asked to try on and evaluate either a bathing suit or a sweater, Tiggemann and Andrew instructed their participants to “imagine what you would be seeing, feeling, and thinking” (p. 648) in scenarios. There were four scenarios: thinking about wearing a bathing suit in public, thinking about wearing a bathing suit in a dressing room, thinking about wearing a sweater in public, and thinking about wearing a sweater in a dressing room. The researchers found main effects for clothing such that as compared to thinking about wearing a sweater, thinking about wearing a bathing suit resulted in higher state self-objectification, higher state body shame, higher state body dissatisfaction, and greater negative mood. The fact that the manipulation only involved thinking about wearing clothing, rather than actually wearing such clothing, demonstrates the power of revealing (provocative, sexy) dress in that we only have to think about wearing it to have it affect our self-perceptions.

Taking extant research into account we encourage researchers to continue to investigate the topic of provocative (sexy, revealing) dress for both men and women to replicate the results for women and to determine if revealing dress for men might evoke the kinds of inferences evoked by women wearing revealing dress. Furthermore, research that delineates the role of objectification in the process by which this association between dress and inferences occurs would be useful. Although it would not be ethical to use the experimental strategy used by previous researchers (Fredrickson et al. 1998 ) with children, it is possible that researchers could devise correlational studies to investigate the extent to which wearing and/or viewing sexualized clothing might lead to self- and other-objectification in girls.

Research on red dress

Researchers who study the social psychology of dress have seldom focused on dress color. However, in the 1980s and 1990s a few researchers investigated color in the context of retail color analysis systems that focused on personal coloring (Abramov 1985 ; Francis & Evans 1987 ; Hilliker & Rogers 1988 ; Radeloff 1991 ). For example, Francis and Evans found that stimulus persons were actually perceived positively when not wearing their recommended personal colors. Hilliker and Rogers surveyed managers of apparel stores about the use of color analysis systems and found some impact on the marketplace, but disagreement among the managers on the value of the systems. Abramov critiqued color analysis for being unclear, ambiguous, and for the inability to substantiate claims. Most of these studies were not guided by a psychological theory of color.

Since the 1990s, researchers have developed a theory of color psychology (Elliot & Maier 2007 ) called color-in-context theory. Like other variables that affect social perception, the theory explains that color also conveys meaning which varies as a function of the context in which the color is perceived. Accordingly, the meanings of colors are learned over time through repeated pairings with a particular experience or message (e.g., red stop light and danger) or with biological tendencies to respond to color in certain contexts. For example, female non-human primates display red on parts of their bodies when nearing ovulation; hence red is associated with lust, fertility, and sexuality (Guéguen and Jacob 2013 ). As a function of these associations between colors and experiences, messages, or biological tendencies, people either display approach responses or avoidance responses but are largely unaware of how color affects them. In this section we review studies that examine the effects of red in relational contexts such as interpersonal attraction. However, there is evidence that red is detrimental in achievement (i.e., academic or hiring) contexts (e.g., Maier et al. 2013 ) and that red signals dominance and affects outcomes in competitive sporting contests (e.g., Feltman and Elliot 2011 ; Hagemann et al. 2008 ).

Recently researchers have used color-in-context theory to study the effects of red dress (shirts, dresses) on impressions related to sexual intent, attractiveness, dominance, and competence. Some of these studies were guided by color-in-context theory. Guéguen ( 2012 ) studied men’s perceptions of women’s sexual intent and attractiveness as a function of shirt color. Male participants viewed a photo of a woman wearing a t-shirt that varied in color. When wearing a red t-shirt as compared to the other colors, the woman was judged to be more attractive and to have greater sexual intent. Pazda et al. ( 2014a , [ b ]) conducted an experiment designed to determine why men perceive women who wear red to be more attractive than those who wear other colors. They argued that red is associated with sexual receptivity due to cultural pairings of red and female sexuality (e.g., red light district, sexy red lingerie). Men participated in an online experiment in which they were exposed to a woman wearing either a red, black, or white dress. When wearing the red dress the woman was rated as more sexually receptive than when wearing either the white or the black dresses. The woman was also rated on attractiveness and by performing a mediation analysis the researchers determined that when wearing the red dress, the ratings of her attractiveness as a function of red were no longer significant; in other words, the reason she was rated as more attractive when wearing the red dress was due to the fact that she was also perceived as more sexually receptive.

Pazda et al. ( 2014a , [ b ]), interested in women’s perceptions of other women as a function of their clothing color, conducted a series of experiments. They reasoned that like men, women would also make the connection between a woman’s red dress and her sexual receptivity and perceive her to be a sexual competitor. In their first experiment they found that women rated the stimulus woman as more sexually receptive when wearing a red dress as compared to when she was wearing a white dress. In a second experiment the woman wearing a red dress was not only rated more sexually receptive, she was also derogated more since ratings of her sexual fidelity were lower when wearing a red dress as compared to a white dress. Finally, in a third experiment the stimulus woman was again rated more sexually receptive; this time when she wore a red shirt as compared to when she wore a green shirt. The authors assessed the likelihood that their respondents would introduce the stimulus person to their boyfriends and the likelihood that they would let their boyfriends spend time with the stimulus person. Participants in the red shirt condition were more likely to keep their boyfriends from interacting with the stimulus person than participants in the green shirt condition. Thus, both men and women indicated women wearing red are sexually receptive.

Also interested in color, Roberts et al. ( 2010 ) were interested in determining whether clothing color affects the wearer of the clothing (e.g., do women act provocatively when wearing red clothing?) or does clothing color affect the perceiver of the person wearing the colored clothing. To answer this question, they devised a complicated series of experiments. In the first study, male and female models (ten of each) were photographed wearing each of six different colors of t-shirts. Undergraduates of the opposite sex rated the photographed models on attractiveness. Both male and female models were rated most attractive when wearing red and black t-shirts. In study two the same photos were used, but the t-shirts were masked by a gray rectangle. Compared to when they wore white t-shirts, male models were judged to be more attractive by both men and women when they wore the red t-shirts, even though the red color was not visible. In the third study the t-shirt colors in the photos were digitally altered, so that images could be compared in which red or white t-shirts were worn with those in which red had been altered to white and white had been altered to red. Male models wearing red were rated more attractive than male models wearing white that had been altered to appear red. Also male models wearing red shirts digitally altered to appear white were rated more attractive than male models actually photographed in white. These effects did not occur for female models. The authors reasoned that if clothing color only affected perceivers, then the results should be the same when a model is photographed in red as well as when the model is photographed in white which is subsequently altered to appear red. Since this did not happen, the authors concluded that clothing color affects both the wearer and the perceiver.

In addition, the effects of red dress on impressions also extend to behaviors. Kayser et al. ( 2010 ) conducted a series of experiments. For experiment one, a female stimulus person was photographed in either a red t-shirt or a green one. Male participants were shown a photo of the woman and given a list of questions from which to choose five to ask her. Because women wearing red are perceived to be more sexually receptive and to have greater sexual intent than when wearing other colors, the researchers expected the men who saw the woman in the red dress to select intimate questions to ask and this is what they found. In a second experiment, the female stimulus person wore either a red or a blue t-shirt. After seeing her picture the male participants were told that they would be interacting with her, where she would be sitting, and that they could place their chairs wherever they wished to sit. The men expecting to interact with the red-shirted woman placed their chairs significantly closer to her chair than when they expected to interact with a blue-shirted woman.

In a field experiment (Guéguen 2012 ), five female confederates wore t-shirts of red or other colors and stood by the side of a road to hitchhike. The t-shirt color did not affect women drivers, but significantly more men stopped to pick up the female confederates when they wore the red t-shirts as compared to all the other colors. In a similar study researchers (Guéguen & Jacob 2013 ) altered the color of a woman’s clothing on an online meeting site so that the woman was shown wearing red or several other colors. The women received significantly more contacts when her clothing had been altered to be red than any of the other t-shirt colors.

Researchers should continue conducting research about the color of dress items using color-in-context theory. One context important to consider in this research stream is the cultural context within which the research is conducted. To begin, other colors in addition to red should be studied for their meanings within and across cultural contexts. Since red is associated with sexual receptivity, red clothing should be investigated in the context of the research on provocative dress. For example, would women wearing red revealing dress be judged more provocative than women wearing the same clothing in different colors? Also researchers interested in girls’ and women’s depictions in the media, could investigate the effects of red dress on perceptions of sexual intent and objectification.

Effects of dress on the behavior of the wearer

Several researchers studying the social psychology of dress have reviewed the research literature (Davis 1984 ; Lennon and Davis 1989 ) and some have analyzed that research (see Damhorst 1990 ; Hutton 1984 ; Johnson et al. 2008 for reviews). In these reviews, Damhorst and Hutton focused on the effect of dress on person perception or impression formation. Johnson et al., however, focused their analysis on behaviors evoked by dress. An emerging line of research focuses on the effects of dress on the behavior of the wearer (Adam and Galinsky 2012 ; Frank and Galinsky 1988 ; Fredrickson et al. 1998 ; Gino et al. 2010 ; Hebl et al. 2004 ; Kouchaki et al. 2014 ; Martins et al. 2007 ).

Fredrickson et al. ( 1998 ), Hebl et al. ( 2004 ), and Martins et al. ( 2007 ) all used objectification theory to guide experiments about women’s and men’s body image experience. They were interested in the extent to which wearing revealing dress could trigger self-objectification. The theory predicts that self-objectification manifests in performance detriments on a task subsequent to a self-objectifying experience. Frederickson et al. had participants complete a shopping task. They entered a dressing room, tried on either a one piece swimsuit or a bulky sweater, and evaluated the fit in a mirror as they would if buying the garment. Then they completed a math performance test. The women who wore a swimsuit performed more poorly on the math test than women wearing a sweater; no such effects were found for men. A few years later Hebl et al. ( 2004 ) used the same procedure to study ethnic differences in self-objectification. Participants were Caucasian, African American, Hispanic, and Asian American undergraduate men and women. Participants completed the same shopping task and math test. Participants who tried on the swimsuits performed worse on the math test than participants who tried on the sweater and these results held for both men and women of all ethnicities.

Martins et al. ( 2007 ) used the same shopping task as Frederickson et al. ( 1998 ) and Hebl et al. ( 2004 ), but employed a different behavioral measure. Their participants were gay and heterosexual men and the garment they tried on was either Speedo men’s briefs or a turtleneck sweater. After the shopping task the men were given the opportunity to sample and evaluate a snack and the amount eaten was measured. Wearing the Speedo affected eating for the gay men, but not the heterosexual men, such that gay men in the Speedo condition ate significantly less of the snack than gay men in the sweater condition. Taken together these studies demonstrate that a nominal clothing manipulation can have effects on the behavior of the wearer.

In one of the first studies to demonstrate the effects of clothing on the wearer, Frank and Gilovich ( 1988 ) noted that the color black is associated with evil and death in many cultures. They studied the extent to which players wearing black uniforms were judged more evil and aggressive than players wearing uniforms of other colors. They analyzed penalties awarded for aggressive behavior in football and ice hockey players. Players who wore black uniforms received more penalties for their aggressive behavior than those who wore other uniform colors. Since the penalty results could be due to biased refereeing, the authors videotaped a staged football game in which the defensive team wore either black or white uniforms. The same events were depicted in each version of the videotape. Participants watched short videos and rated the plays as more aggressive when the team members wore black as compared to white uniforms. In another part of the study, participants were assigned to wear either black or white uniform shirts. While wearing the shirts they were asked the type of games they would like to play; the black-shirted participants selected more aggressive games than the white-shirted participants. The authors interpreted the results of all the studies to mean that players wearing black are aggressive. Yet, when the level of aggressiveness was held constant in the staged football game, referees still perceived black-uniformed players to be more aggressive than white-uniformed players. The authors concluded that the color of the black uniform affects the wearer and the perceiver. This study’s results are similar to those of the researchers studying red dress who found that the color red is associated with a cultural meaning that affects both the wearer and the perceiver of the red dress (Roberts et al. 2010 ).

In a similar way, Adam and Galinsky ( 2012 ) determined that when clothing has symbolic meaning for the wearer, it also affects the wearer’s behavior. The researchers found that a white lab coat was associated with traits related to attentiveness. Then they conducted an experiment in which one group wore a white lab coat described as a painter’s coat and another group wore the same lab coat which was described as a medical doctor’s lab coat. A third group saw, but did not wear, a lab coat described as a medical doctor’s lab coat. Participants then performed an experimental task that required selective attention. The group that wore the coat described as a medical doctor’s lab coat outperformed both of the other two groups.

Gino et al. ( 2010 ) studied the effects of wearing designer sunglasses that were described either as counterfeit or authentic Chloe sunglasses on one’s own behaviors and perceptions of others. Although counterfeits convey status to others, they also mean that the wearers are pretending to be something they are not (i.e., wealthy enough to purchase authentic sunglasses). Participants who thought they were wearing fake sunglasses cheated significantly more on two experimental tasks than those who thought they were wearing authentic sunglasses. In a second experiment, the researchers showed that participants who believed they were wearing counterfeit sunglasses perceived others’ behaviors as more dishonest, less truthful, and more likely to be unethical than those wearing authentic sunglasses. In a third experiment the researchers showed that the effect for wearing counterfeit sunglasses on one’s own behavior was due to the meaning of inauthenticity attributed to the counterfeit sunglasses. Consistent with Adam and Galinsky ( 2012 ) and Frank and Gilovich (1988), in Gino et al. the effect of dress on one’s own behavior was due to the meaning of the dress cue in a context relevant to the meaning of that dress cue. While none of these three studies articulated a specific theory to guide their research, Adams and Galinsky outlined an enclothed cognition framework, which explained that dress affects wearers due to the symbolic meaning of the dress and the physical experience of wearing that dress item.

To summarize the research on the effects of dress on the behavior of the wearer, each of these studies reported research focused on a dress cue associated with cultural meaning. Some of the researchers had to first determine that meaning. The manipulations were designed so that the meaning of the dress cues was salient for the context of the manipulation. For example, in the objectification studies the revealingness of dress was varied in the context of a dressing room mirror where the revealing nature of the cue would be relevant. So to extend the enclothed cognition framework, we suggest that for dress to affect the wearer, the context of the experimental task needs to be such that the meaning of the dress item is salient.

Future researchers may continue to pursue the effects of dress on the wearer. The extended enclothed cognition framework could be applied to school uniforms. A possible research question could be that if school uniforms are associated with powerlessness among schoolchildren, would wearing school uniforms affect the level of effort children expend to solve homework problems or write papers?

It is interesting that previous researchers who examined the effect of school uniforms on various tasks did not ask children what associations uniforms had for them (e.g., Behling 1994 , 1995 ; Behling and Williams 1991 ). This question is clearly an avenue for renewed research in this area. Another situation to which the extended enclothed cognition framework might be investigated is in the context of professional sports. Since wearing a sweatshirt or cap with a professional team’s logo is associated with being a fan of that team, would people wearing those items evaluate that team’s performance higher than people wearing another team’s logos? Would they provide more excuses for their team than fans not wearing the team’s logos? We encourage researchers to continue to investigate the effects of dress on one’s own behaviors utilizing a range of dress cues (e.g., cosmetics, tattoos, and piercings).

Dress and the self

An ongoing area of research within the social psychology of dress is relationships between dress and the self. Although some researchers use the terms identity and self interchangeably, it is our position that they are not the same concepts but are related. We begin our discussion of the self with research on the body.

The physical body and the self

Whereas the first section of our review focused on body supplements (i.e., the clothed body), this section focuses on body modifications or how the body is altered. Within this discussion, the two research directions that we include are (1) body modifications that carry some risk, as opposed to routine modifications that typically do not, and (2) the influence of body talk and social comparison as variables influencing body image.

Body modifications that carry some risk

Societal standards of attractiveness in the Western world often focus on a thin appearance for women and a mesomorphic but muscular appearance for men (Karazia et al. 2013 ). Internalization of societal standards presented through various media outlets is widely recognized as a primary predictor of body dissatisfaction and risky appearance management behaviors including eating pathology among women (Cafri et al. 2005a , [ b ]), muscle enhancement and disordered eating behaviors in men (Tylka 2011 ), tattooing among young adults (Mun et al. 2012 ), and tanning among adolescents (Prior et al. 2014 ; Yoo & Kim, 2014 ). While there are several other risky appearance management behaviors in the early stages of investigation (e.g., extreme body makeovers, cosmetic procedures on male and female private parts, multiple cosmetic procedures), we isolate just a few behaviors to illustrate the impact of changing standards of attractiveness on widespread appearance management practices in the presentation of self.

Experimental research has demonstrated that exposure to social and cultural norms for appearance (via idealized images) leads to greater dissatisfaction with the body in general for both men and women (Blond 2008 ; Grabe et al. 2008 ); yet a meta-analysis of eight research studies conducted in real life settings suggested that these appearance norms were more rigid, narrowly defined, and prevalent for women than for men (Buote et al. 2011 ). These researchers also noted that women reported frequent exposure to social norms of appearance (i.e., considered bombardment by many women), the norms themselves were unrealistic, yet the nature of the messages was that these norms are perfectly attainable with enough time, money, and effort. Men, on the other hand, indicated that they were exposed to flexible social norms of appearance, and therefore report feeling less pressure to attain a particular standard in presenting their appearance to others (Buote et al. 2011 ).

Eating disorders

A recent stream of research related to individuals with eating disorders is concerned with the practice of body checking (i.e., weighing, measuring or otherwise assessing body parts through pinching, sucking in the abdomen, tapping it for flatness). Such checking behaviors may morph into body avoidance (i.e., avoiding looking in mirrors or windows at one’s reflection, avoiding gym locker rooms or situations involving showing the body to others) (White & Warren 2011 ), the manifestation of eating disorders (Haase et al. 2011 ), obsession with one’s weight or body shape, and a critical evaluation of either aspect (Smeets et al. 2011 ). The propensity to engage in body checking appears to be tied to ethnicity as White and Warren found, in their comparison of Caucasian women and women of color (Asian American, African American, and Latin American). They found significant differences in body checking and avoidance behaviors in Caucasian women and Asian American women over African American and Latin American women. Across all the women, White and Warren found positive and significant correlations between body checking and (1) avoidance behaviors and higher body mass index, (2) internalization of a thin ideal appearance, (3) eating disturbances, and (4) other clinical impairments such as debilitating negative thoughts.

Another characteristic of individuals with eating disorders is that they habitually weigh themselves. Self-weighing behaviors and their connection to body modification has been the focus of several researchers. Research teams have documented that self-weighing led to weight loss maintenance (Butryn et al. 2007 ) and prevention of weight gain (Levitsky et al. 2006 ). Other researchers found that self-weighing contributed to risky weight control behaviors such as fasting (Neumark-Sztainer et al. 2006 ) and even to weight gain (Needham et al. 2010 ). Lately, gender differences have also been investigated relative to self-weighing. Klos et al. ( 2012 ) found self-weighing was related to a strong investment in appearance, preoccupation with body shape, and higher weight among women. However, among men self-weighing was related to body satisfaction, investment in health and fitness, and positive evaluation of health.

One interesting departure from weight as a generalized aspect of body concern among women is the examination of wedding-related weight change. Considering the enormous cost of weddings, estimated to average $20,000 in the United States (Wong 2005 ), and the number of wedding magazines, websites, and self-help books on weddings (Villepigue et al. 2005 ), it is not surprising that many brides-to-be want to lose weight for their special occasion. Researchers have shown that an average amount of intended weight loss prior to a wedding is 20 pounds in both the U.S. and Australia with between 12% and 33% of brides-to-be reporting that they had been advised by someone else to lose weight (Prichard & Tiggemann 2009 ). About 50% of brides hoped to achieve weight loss, yet most brides did not actually experience a change in weight (Prichard & Tiggemann, 2014 ); however, when questioned about six months after their weddings, brides indicated that they had gained about four pounds. Those who were told to lose weight by significant others such as friends, family members, or fiancé gained significantly more than those who were not told to do so, suggesting that wedding-related weight change can have repercussions for post wedding body satisfaction and eating behaviors. Regaining weight is typical, given that many people who lose weight regain it with a year or so of losing it.

Drive for muscularity

Researchers have found that body modifications practiced by men are related more to developing muscularity than to striving for a thin body (Cafri et al. 2005a , [ b ]) with particular emphasis placed on developing the upper body areas of chest and biceps (Thompson & Cafri 2007 ). The means to achieve this body modification may include risky behaviors such as excessive exercise and weight training, extreme dieting and dehydration to emphasize musculature, and use of appearance or performance enhancing substances (Hildebrandt et al. 2010 ).

One possible explanation for men’s drive for muscularity may be objectification. While objectification theory was originally proposed to address women’s objectification, it has been extended to men (Hebl et al. 2004 ; Martins et al. 2007 ). These researchers determined that like women, men are objectified in Western and westernized culture and can be induced to self-objectify via revealing clothing manipulations.

Researchers have also examined how men are affected by media imagery that features buff, well-muscled, thin, attractive male bodies as the aesthetic norm. Kolbe and Albanese ( 1996 ) undertook a content analysis of men’s lifestyle magazines and found that most of the advertised male bodies were not “ordinary,” but were strong and hard bodies, or as the authors concluded, objectified and depersonalized. Pope et al. ( 2000 ) found that advertisements for many types of products from cars to underwear utilized male models with body-builder physiques (i.e., exaggerated “6 pack” abdominal muscles, huge chests and shoulders, yet lean); they suggested that men had become focused on muscularity as a cultural symbol of masculinity because they perceived that women were usurping some of their social standing in the workforce. Hellmich ( 2000 ) concurred and suggested that men were overwhelmed with images of half-naked, muscular men and that they too were targets of objectification. Other researchers (e.g., Elliott & Elliott 2005 ; Patterson & England 2000 ) confirmed these findings – that most images in men’s magazines featured mesomorphic, strong, muscular, and hyper-masculine bodies.

How do men respond to such advertising images? Elliott and Elliott ( 2005 ) conducted focus interviews with 40 male college students, ages 18-31, and showed them six different advertisements in lifestyles magazines. They found six distinct types of response, two negative, two neutral, and two positive. Negative responses were (1) homophobic (those who saw the ads as stereotypically homosexual, bordering on pornography), perhaps threatening their own perceived masculinity or (2) gender stereotyping (those who saw the ads as depicting body consciousness or vanity, traits that they considered to be feminine). Neutral responses were (3) legitimizing exploitation as a marketing tool (those who recognized that naked chests or exaggerated body parts were shown and sometimes with no heads, making them less than human, but recognizing that sex sells products), and (4) disassociating oneself from the muscular body ideals shown in the ads (recognizing that the images represented unattainable body types or shapes). Positive responses were (5) admiration of real or attainable “average” male bodies and (6) appreciating some naked advertising images as art, rather than as sexual objects. The researchers concluded that men do see their gender objectified in advertising, resulting in different responses or perceived threats to self.

There is evidence that experiencing these objectified images of the male body is also partially responsible for muscle dysmorphia, a condition in which men become obsessed with achieving muscularity (Leit et al. 2002 ). Understanding contributors to the development of muscle dysmorphia is important as the condition can lead to risky appearance management behaviors such as extreme body-building, eating disorders, and use of anabolic steroids to gain bulk (Bradley et al. 2014 ; Maida & Armstrong 2005 ). In an experiment, Maida and Armstrong exposed 82 undergraduate men to 30 slides of advertisements and then asked them to complete a body image perception test. Men’s body satisfaction was affected by exposure to the images, such that they wanted to be notably more muscular than they were.

Contemporary researchers have found that drive for muscularity is heightened among men when there is a perceived threat to their masculinity such as performance on some task (Steinfeldt et al. 2011 ) or perceiving that they hold some less masculine traits (Blashill, 2011). Conversely, researchers have also suggested that body dissatisfaction and drive for muscularity can be reduced by developing a mindfulness approach to the body characterized by attention to present-moment experiences such as how one might feel during a certain activity like yoga or riding a bicycle (Lavender et al. 2012 ). While the investigation of mindfulness to mitigate negative body image and negative appearance behaviors is relatively new, it is a promising area of investigation.

Tattooing is not necessarily a risky behavior in and of itself, as most tattoo parlors take health precautions with the use of sterile instruments and clean environments. However, research has focused on other risk-taking behaviors that tattooed individuals may engage in, including drinking, smoking, shoplifting, and drug use (Deschesnes et al. 2006 ) as well as and early and risky sexual activity (Koch, Roberts, Armstrong, & Owen, 2007). Tattoos have also been studied as a bodily expression of uniqueness (Mun et al. 2012 ; Tiggemann & Hopkins 2011 ) but not necessarily reflecting a stronger investment in appearance (Tiggemann & Hopkins 2011 ).

Tanning behaviors are strongly associated with skin cancer, just as smoking is associated with lung cancer. In fact, the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organization has classified ultraviolet radiation from the sun and tanning devices that emit ultraviolet light as group 1 carcinogens, placing ultraviolet radiation in the same category as tobacco use (World Health Organization, 2012 ). Yet, tanning behaviors are prevalent among many young adults and adolescents causing them to be at increased risk of skin cancer, particularly with indoor tanning devices (Boniol et al. 2012 ; Lostritto et al. 2012 ). Studies of motives for tanning among these populations suggest that greater tanning behavior, for both genders, is correlated with high investment in appearance, media influences, and the influence of friends and significant others (Prior et al. 2014 ). Frequent tanning behaviors in adolescent boys have been related to extreme weight control, substance use, and victimization (Blashill 2013 ). Among young adults, Yoo and Kim ( 2014 ) identified three attitudes toward tanning that were related to tanning behaviors. The attitude that tanning was a pleasurable activity influenced indoor and outdoor tanning behaviors. The attitude that a tan enhances physical attractiveness influenced use of tanning beds and sunless tanning products. The attitude that tanning is a healthy behavior influenced outdoor tanning. They advised that tanning behaviors could be studied further particularly in relation to other risky behaviors.

Body talk and the self

A relatively recent line of investigation concerns the impact of talk about the body on perceptions of self. One would think that communication among friends would typically strengthen feelings of self-esteem and psychological well-being (Knickmeyer et al. 2002 ). Yet, certain types of communication, such as complaining about one’s body or appearance, may negatively impact feelings about the self (Tucker et al. 2007 ), particularly in the case of “fat talk” or disparaging comments about body size, weight, and fear of becoming fat (Ousley et al. 2008 ; Warren et al. 2012 ). Such fat talk has become normative behavior among women and, according to one study, occurs in over 90% of women (Salk & Engeln-Maddox 2011 ) and, according to another study, occurs in women of all ages and body sizes (Martz et al. 2009 ) because women feel pressure to be self-critical about their bodies. More women than men reported exposure to fat talk in their circle of friends and acquaintances and greater pressure to engage in it (Salk & Engeln-Maddox). Thus, fat talk extends body dissatisfaction into interpersonal relationships (Arroyo & Harwood 2012 ).

Sladek et al. ( 2014 ) reported a series of studies that elaborated on the investigation of body talk among men, concluding that men’s body talk has two distinct aspects, one related to weight and the other to muscularity. After developing a scale that showed strong test-retest reliability among college men, they found that body talk about muscularity was associated with dissatisfaction with the upper body, strong drive for muscularity, symptoms of muscle dysmorphia, and investment in appearance. Body talk about weight was associated with upper body dissatisfaction, symptoms of muscle dysmorphia, and disordered eating attitudes and behaviors. They suggest future research in body talk conversations among men and boys of all ages, from different cultural backgrounds, and in different contexts.

Negative body talk among men appears to be less straightforward than that among women (Engeln et al. 2013 ). These researchers reported that men’s body talk included both positive elements and negative elements, while that of women tended to focus on the negative, perhaps reflecting an accepting body culture among men in which they can praise one another as well as commiserate with other men on issues regarding muscularity and weight. Yet, both muscle talk and fat talk were found to decrease state appearance self-esteem and to increase state body dissatisfaction among men.

While the fat talk literature clearly establishes the normative occurrence of this type of communication, as well as establishes the negative impact on the self, the literature has not delved into theoretical explanations for its existence. Arroyo ( 2014 ) has posited a relationship between fat talk and three body image theories (self-discrepancy, social comparison, and objectification), and suggested that degree of body dissatisfaction could serve as a mediating mechanism. Self-discrepancy theory suggests that the discrepancy between one’s actual self and one’s ideal self on any variable, such as weight or attractiveness, motivates people to try to achieve that ideal (Jacobi & Cash 1994 ). Social comparison theory (Festinger 1954 ) explains that we compare ourselves to others on some variable of comparison. When we compare ourselves to others who we believe to be better than ourselves (upward comparison) on this variable (say, for example, thinner or more attractive), we may feel worse about ourselves and engage in both non-risky and risky behaviors such as extreme weight control to try to meet those expectations (Ridolfi et al. 2011 ; Rudd & Lennon 1994 ). Objectification theory, as mentioned earlier in this paper, states that bodies are treated as objects to be evaluated and perceived by others (Szymanski et al. 2011 ); self-objectification occurs when individuals look upon themselves as objects to be evaluated by others.

Arroyo ( 2014 ) surveyed 201 college women to see what effect weight discrepancy, upward comparison, and objectified body consciousness had on fat talk; a mediating variable of body dissatisfaction was investigated. She found that how satisfied or dissatisfied the women did indeed impact how they felt about each variable. Each of the three predictor variables was positively associated with body dissatisfaction and higher body dissatisfaction predicted fat talk. She concluded that fat talk is more insidious than other social behaviors; it is a type of communication that perpetuates negative perceptions among women as well as the attitude that women should be dissatisfied with their bodies. Future research suggestions included examining the impact of downward social comparisons (in which the individual assumes they fare better than peers on the variables of comparison, such as weight), and examining all three phenomena of self-discrepancy, social comparison, and objectification together to determine their cumulative impact on self-disparaging talk.

Negative body talk or fat talk is related to perceptions about the self and to appearance-management behaviors in presenting the self to others. In a sample of 203 young adult women, negative body talk was related to body dissatisfaction and poor self-esteem, and was associated with stronger investment in appearance, distorted thoughts about the body, disordered eating behavior, and depression (Rudiger & Winstead 2013 ). Positive body talk was related to fewer cognitive distortions of the body, high body satisfaction, high self-esteem, and friendship quality. Another form of body talk, co-rumination or the mutual sharing between friends of negative thoughts and feelings, is thought to intensify the impact of body talk. In this same study, co-rumination was related to frequent cognitive distortions of the body as well as disordered eating behaviors, but to high perceived friendship quality. Thus, negative body talk achieved no positive outcomes, yet co-rumination achieved negative outcomes for the self, but positive outcomes for quality of friendship. Thus, future research could tease apart the specific components of the social phenomenon of co-rumination in relation to self-perceptions and appearance management behaviors.

Dress and self as distinct from others

Shifting attention from relationships between the body and self, we move to a discussion of relationships between dress and that aspect of the self that is concerned with answering questions about who we are as distinct and unique individuals (e.g., what type of person am I?). Earlier we shared research about how wearing certain article of dress might impact one’s own physical behaviors. We shift now to sharing research addressing the role dress might play in thinking about oneself as a unique and distinct individual (i.e., self-perceptions). Researchers addressing this topic have utilized Bem’s ( 1972 ) self-perception theory. Bem proposed that similar to the processes we use in forming inferences about others, we can form inferences about ourselves. Bem argues that people’s understanding of their own traits was, in some circumstances, an assessment of their own behaviors. This process was proposed to be particularly relevant to individuals who were responsive to self-produced cues (i.e., cues that arise from an individual’s own behavior or characteristics).

In the 1980s, Kellerman and Laird ( 1982 ) utilized self-perception theory to see whether wearing a specific item of dress (e.g., eye glasses) would influence peoples’ ratings of their own skills and abilities. They conducted an experiment with undergraduate students having them rate themselves on an array of traits when wearing and when not wearing glasses and to complete a hidden figures test. Although there were no significant differences in their performance on the test, the participants’ ratings of their competence and intelligence was higher when wearing glasses than when not. In related research, Solomon and Schopler ( 1982 ) found that both men and women indicated that the appropriateness of their clothing affected their mood.

Studying dress specifically within a workplace context, in the 1990s Kwon ( 1994 ) did not have her participants actually wear different clothing styles but asked them to project how they might think about themselves if they were to wear appropriate versus inappropriate clothing to work. Participants indicated they would feel more competent and responsible if they wore appropriate rather than inappropriate clothing. Similarly, Rafaeli et al. ( 1997 ) a found that employees indicated a link between self-perception and clothing associating psychological discomfort with wearing inappropriate dress for work and increased social self-confidence with appropriate attire. Nearly ten years later, Adomaitis and Johnson ( 2005 ) in a study of flight attendants found that the attendants linked wearing casual uniforms for work (e.g., t-shirt, shorts) with negative self-perceptions (e.g., nonauthoritative, embarrassment, unconfident, unprofessional). Likewise, Peluchette and Karl ( 2007 ) investigating the impact of formal versus casual attire in the workplace found that their participants viewed themselves as most authoritative, trustworthy, productive and competent when wearing formal business attire but as friendliest when wearing casual or business casual attire. Continuing this line of research with individuals employed in the public sector, Karl et al. ( 2013 ) reported participants indicated they felt more competent and authoritative when in formal business or business casual attire and least creative and friendly when wearing casual dress.

As workplace dress has become casual, it would be useful for researchers to uncover any distinctions in casualness that make individuals feel more or less competent, respected, or authoritative. Another aspect of clothing that could be investigated is fit as it might impact self-perceptions or use of makeup.

Guy and Banim ( 2000 ) were interested in how clothing was used as means of self-presentation in everyday life. They implemented three strategies to meet their research objective of investigating women’s relationships to their clothing: a personal account, a clothing diary, and a wardrobe interview. The personal account was a written or tape recorded response to the question “what clothing means to me.” The clothing diary was a daily log kept for two weeks. The wardrobe interview was centered on participants’ current collection of clothing. Participants were undergraduates and professional women representing several age cohorts. The researchers identified three distinct perspectives of self relative to the women’s clothing. The first was labeled “the woman I want to be”. This category of responses revealed that the women used clothing to formulate positive self-projections. Favorite items of clothing in particular were identified as useful in bridging the gap between “self as you would like it to be” and the image actually achieved with the clothing. The second category of responses was labeled “the woman I fear I could be”. This category of responses reflected experiences where clothing had failed to achieve a desired look or resulted in a negative self-presentation. Concern here was choosing to wear clothing with unintentional effects such as highlighting parts of the body that were unflattering or concern about losing the ability to know how to dress to convey a positive image. The last category, “the woman I am most of the time” contained comments indicating the women had a “relationship with clothes was ongoing and dynamic and that a major source of enjoyment for them was to use clothes to realize different aspects of themselves” (p. 321).

Interested in how the self shaped clothing consumption and use, Ogle et al. ( 2013 ) utilized Guy and Banim’s ( 2000 ) views of self to explore how consumption of maternity dress might shape the self during a liminal life stage (i.e., pregnancy). Interviews with women expecting their first child revealed concerns that available maternity dress limited their ability to express their true selves. Some expressed concern that the maternity clothing that was available to them in the marketplace symbolized someone that they did not want to associate with (i.e., the woman I fear I could be). Several women noted they borrowed or purchased used clothing from a variety of sources for this time in their life. This decision resulted in dissatisfaction because the items were not reflective of their selves and if worn resulted in their projecting a self that they also did not want to be. In addition, the women shared that they used dress to confirm their selves as pregnant and as NOT overweight. While some of the participants did experience a disrupted sense of self during pregnancy, others shared that they were able to locate items of dress that symbolized a self-consistent with “the woman I am most of the time”.

Continuing in this line of research, researchers may want to explore these three aspects of self with others who struggle with self-presentation via dress as a result of a lack of fashionable and trendy clothing in the marketplace. Plus-sized women frequently report that they are ignored by the fashion industry and existing offerings fail to meet their need to be fashionable. A recent article in the Huffington Post (“Plus-sized clothing”, 2013 ) noted that retailers do not typically carry plus sizes perhaps due to the misconception that plus-sized women are not trendy shoppers or the idea that these sizes will not sell well. Thus, it may well be that the relationship between dress and self for plus-sized women is frustrating as they are prevented from being able to make clothing choices indicative of their selves “as they would like them to be”.

Priming and self-perception

While several researchers have confirmed that clothing worn impacts thoughts about the self, Hannover and Kühnen ( 2002 ) were interested in uncovering processes that would explain why clothing could have this effect. They began with examining what role priming might have in explaining how clothing impacts self-perceptions. Using findings from social cognition, they argued that clothing styles might prime specific mental categories about one’s self such that those categories that are most easily accessed in a given situation would be more likely to be applied to oneself than categories of information that are difficult to access. Thus, if clothing can be used to prime specific self-knowledge it should impact self-descriptions such that, a person wearing “casual” clothing (e.g., jeans, sweatshirt) should be more apt to describe him or herself using casual terms (e.g., laid-back, uses slang). The researchers had each participant stand in front of a mirror and indicate whether or not specific traits were descriptive of him or herself when wearing either casual or formal clothing (e.g., business attire). The researchers found that when a participant wore casual clothing he or she rated the casual traits as more valid self-descriptions than the formal traits. The reverse was also true. They concluded that the clothing worn primed specific categories of self-knowledge. However, the researchers did not ask participants to what extent they intentionally considered their own clothing when determining whether or not a trait should be applied to them. Yet, as previously noted, Adam and Galinsky ( 2012 ) demonstrated that clothing impacted a specific behavior (attention) only in circumstances where the clothing was worn and the clothing’s meaning was clear. Thus, researchers could test if clothing serves as an unrecognized priming source and if its impact on impression formation is less intentional than typically assumed.

Dress and self in interaction with others

Another area of research within dress and the self involves experience with others and the establishment of meaning. Questions that these researchers are interested in answering include what is the meaning of an item of dress or a way of appearing? Early researchers working in this area have utilized symbolic interactionism as a framework for their research (Blumer 1969 ; Mead 1934 ; Stone 1962 ). The foundational question of symbolic interaction is: “What common set of symbols and understandings has emerged to give meaning to people’s interactions?” (Patton 2002 , p. 112).

There are three basic premises central to symbolic interactionism (Blumer 1969 ). The first premise is that our behavior toward things (e.g., physical objects, other people) is shaped by the meaning that those things have for us. Applied to dress and appearance, this premise means that our behavior relative to another person is influenced by that person’s dress (Kaiser 1997 ) and the meaning that we assign to that dress. The second premise of symbolic interaction is that the meaning of things is derived from social interaction with others (Blumer). This premise indicates that meanings are not inherent in objects, must be shared between individuals, and that meanings are learned. The third premise is that meanings are modified by a continuous interpretative process in which the actor interacts with himself (Blumer). As applied to clothing, this premise suggests that the wearer of an outfit or item of clothing is active in determining the meaning of an item along with the viewer of that item.

Symbolic interactionism posits that the self is a social construction established, maintained, and altered through interpersonal communication with others. While initial work focused on investigating verbal communication as key to the construction of the self, Stone extended communication to include appearance and maintained that “appearance is at least as important in establishment and maintenance of the self” as verbal communication (1962, p. 87).

Stone ( 1962 ) discussed a process of establishing the self in interaction with others. This process included selecting items of dress to communicate a desired aspect of self (i.e., identity) as well as to convey that desired aspect to others. One stage in this process is an individual’s review of his/her own appearance. This evaluation and response to one’s own appearance is called program. One might experience a program by looking in the mirror to assess whether the intended identity expressed through dress is the one that is actually achieved. After this evaluation of one’s appearance, the next stage involves others reacting to an individual’s appearance. This is called a review. Stone contends that when “programs and reviews coincide, the self of the one who appears is validated or established” (p. 92). However, when programs and reviews do not coincide, the announced identity is challenged and “conduct may be expected to move in the direction of some redefinition of the challenged self” (p. 92).

Researchers using this approach in their investigations of dress have used Stone’s ( 1962 ) ideas and applied the concept of review to the experiences of sorority women. Hunt and Miller ( 1997 ) interviewed sorority members about their experiences with using dress to communicate their membership and how members, via their reviews, shaped their sorority appearances. Members reported using several techniques in the review of the appearance of other members as well as in response to their own appearance (i.e., programs). Thus, the researcher’s results supported Stone’s ideas concerning establishment of an identity (as an aspect of self) as a process of program and review.

In an investigation of the meaning of dress, in this instance the meaning of a specific body modification—a tattoo, Mun et al. ( 2012 ) interviewed women of various ages who had tattoos to assess meanings, changes in self-perceptions as a result of the tattoo, and any changes in the women’s behavior as an outcome of being tattooed. To guide their inquiry, the researchers used Goffman’s ( 1959 ) discussion of the concept of self-presentation from his seminal work The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life . According to Goffman, on a regular basis people make inferences about the motivations that underlie other people’s behaviors. To make these inferences they use everyday details. Because most people make these inferences, Goffman believed that individuals could purposely control the content of those inferences by controlling their behavior. Included in this behavior was an individual’s dress. These researchers found support for Goffman’s reasoning. Participants shared that their tattoo(s) had meaning and were expressive of their selves, their personal values and interests, important life events (e.g., marriage), and religious/sacred beliefs. The meaning of a tattoo was also dynamic for several participants rather than static. Participants’ self-perceptions were impacted as a result of being tattooed with several participants sharing increases to their confidence and to their perceived empowerment. Individuals who shared a change in behavior primarily noted that they controlled the visibility of their tattoos to others as a method to control how others might respond to them having a tattoo especially within the workplace.

Since an array of body modifications (e.g., piercings, gauging, scarification) are being adopted cross-culturally, investigations of people’s experiences with any of these modifications is fertile area for future researchers interested in the meaning(s) of dress and how dress impacts the self through interaction with others. Researchers may want to investigate men’s experiences with piercing/gauging as well as women’s experiences with body building and other developing forms of body modification. Extreme forms of body piercings (e.g., piercings that simulate corset lacings) and underlying motivations for these body modifications would add to our understanding of relationships between dress and self. The meanings of facial hair to men or body hair removal (partial, total) for both men and women are additional aspects of dress that could be investigated.

Dress and self as influence on consumption

In the aforementioned research by Ogle et al. ( 2013 ), the researchers found that a primary reason their participants were disappointed by the maternity clothing offered through the marketplace was due to a lack of fit between their selves and the clothing styles made available. Thus, it is clear that ideas about the self impact clothing selection and purchase. Sirgy ( 1982 ) proposed self-image product-image congruity theory to describe the process of how people applied ideas concerning the self to their purchasing. The basic assumption of the theory is that through marketing and branding, products gain associated images. The premise of the theory is that products people are motivated to purchase are products with images that are congruent with or symbolic of how they see themselves (i.e., actual self-image) or with how they would like to be (i.e., ideal self-image). They also will avoid those products that symbolize images that are inconsistent with either of these self-images.

Rhee and Johnson ( 2012 ) found support for the self-image product-image congruity relationship with male and female adolescents. These researchers investigated the adolescents’ purchase and use of clothing brands. Participants indicated their favorite apparel brand was most similar to their actual self (i.e., this brand reflects who I am), followed by their social self (i.e., this brand reflects who I want others to think I am), and their desired self (i.e., this brand reflects who I want to be).

Earlier, Banister and Hogg ( 2004 ) conducted research investigating the idea that consumers will actively reject or avoid products with negative symbolic meanings. The researchers conducted group interviews with adult consumers. Their participants acknowledged that clothing items could symbolize more than one meaning depending on who was interpreting the meaning. They also acknowledged that the consumers they interviewed appeared to be more concerned with avoiding consumption of products with negative symbolic images than with consuming products with the goal of achieving a positive image. One participant noted that while attempts to achieve a positive image via clothing consumption may be sub-conscious, the desire to avoid a negative image when shopping was conscious.

Closing remarks

It is clear from our review that interest in the topic of the social psychology of dress is on-going and provides a fruitful area of research that addresses both basic and applied research questions. Although we provided an overview of several key research areas within the topic of the social psychology of dress we were unable to include all of the interesting topics being investigated. There are other important areas of research including relationships between dress and specific social and cultural identities, answering questions about how dress functions within social groups, how we learn to attach meanings to dress, and changing attitudes concerning dress among others. Regardless, we hope that this review inspires both colleagues and students to continue to investigate and document the important influence dress exerts in everyday life.

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Johnson, K., Lennon, S.J. & Rudd, N. Dress, body and self: research in the social psychology of dress. Fashion and Textiles 1 , 20 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40691-014-0020-7

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Social psychology

When Clothing Style Influences Cognitive Style

Cognitive Processes
Cognitive Psychology
Decision Making
Industrial/Organizational Psychology
Psychological Distance

PAFF_050815_ClothesCognitiveStyle_newsfeature

But clothes don’t just shape the way other people see us. New research from a team of psychological scientists from California State University, Northridge and Columbia University finds that the clothes we wear can also influence the way we think.

Across five experiments, study authors Michael Slepian, Simon Ferber, Joshua Gold, and Abraham Rutchick found that dressing to impress enhanced people’s ability to engage in abstract thinking.

“The formality of clothing might not only influence the way others perceive a person, and how people perceive themselves, but could influence decision making in important ways through its influence on processing style,” the researchers write.

Slepian and colleagues were interested in studying how formal clothing, much like formal language, can enhance social or psychological distance between people. For example, people often address an unfamiliar person by title, rather than by first name, even when they have the same social status.

Recent research has shown that social distance in the form of politeness can increase abstract thinking; for example, one study found that people used more abstract language when asked to address someone politely. Essentially, events that are psychologically “distant” are conceived of in a more abstract way, while events that are psychologically “near” are thought of more concretely.

Formal clothing is typically introduced in settings that are explicitly not intimate—essentially making formal clothing “socially distant” clothing.

“Specifically, as formal clothing is associated with enhanced social distance, we propose that wearing formal clothing will enhance abstract cognitive processing,” the researchers write in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science .

In one series of experiments, students wearing their normal clothes were asked to rate the formality of their attire relative to that of their peers. They then performed a series of standardized tests to measure their cognitive processing style.

The students were given a list of actions and asked to choose between abstract and concrete explanations for the action. For example, the description for ‘‘voting’’ could be either a broad term for ‘‘influencing the election’’ or a more concrete interpretation as ‘‘marking a ballot.’’

Even after controlling for socioeconomic status, students wearing more formal clothing showed stronger inclinations towards abstract processing.

In another experiment, 54 college students were asked to bring two sets of clothing to the laboratory for a study ostensibly about how people form impressions based on clothing.

The formal attire was described as being something they would wear to a job interview, while the more casual set of clothing was described as something the students would wear to class. Participants were randomly assigned to change into either their formal or their casual clothes.

The students then completed a test of their cognitive processing to determine whether they were more focused on the big picture or on more fine-grained details. After being shown a series of large letters made up of smaller letters (a large letter L or H composed of eight smaller Ls and Hs) participants had to identify each stimulus as either the big letter or the series of small letters using a computer keyboard.

As predicted, participants wearing formal clothing favored global processing (the big letters) over local processing (the smaller letters) more often than the students wearing their street clothes.

Processing style can influence many important factors in the workplace, from the way people approach decisions to the way people focus on a task. But don’t cancel casual Fridays just yet – the researchers note that further research with larger, more diverse samples is needed to better understand the extent to which formal attire can influence cognition.

Slepian, M. L., Ferber, S. N., Gold, J. M., & Rutchick, A. M. (2015). The Cognitive Consequences of Formal Clothing. Social Psychological and Personality Science. doi: 10.1177/1948550615579462

Deeply True

Wearing a sharp tailored suit makes you feel confident and authoritative. Any clothes that make you look good are going to make you feel better, but a great suit will also lend you an air of authority.

But thats litrally the study

I think a lot more research in this area is needed, but the initial findings are very interesting. I can only share insight based on how clothing affects my mood and performance. I work best when I am suitably dressed and feel I look good, and wearing the appropriate attire for the job. Dressing smart, or smart-casual makes me feel more self-confident. This helps me focus on what I am doing rather than being subconsciously worried about people’s perception of me. I wear clothes that make me feel confident – I appreciate the power of self-image.

This article is egregious. You take a bunch of young college students and dress them up in nice clothes, of course you will get them feeling “confident”. How about you go to the professional setting and do a study, you will find that people do not want to dress up and that I can be more creative in my “sweatpants” than in my stupid suit and tie. Finally, how does one analytically “correct” for socioeconomic status error?

look through some of the citations and the sources

I think you misunderstood. The article is saying abstract thinking, not creative thinking. Abstract thinking is thinking about things in a broader, more vague way. It did not talk about people feeling more confident either; the article was talking strictly in terms of global and local processing. It stated that (according to this study, which they agreed more research needed to be done on) people dressed in what they considered formal clothing thought more globally, or abstractly, while people dressed in what they considered informal, or casual, clothes thought more locally.

I am curious as to how one would deceive the participants about the study as to not bias their performance, if at all? I feel as though they could figure out what the study is about if not previously deceived and then perform based on how they think they are expected to perform. Please let me know, because I am trying to do a similar study and am having trouble with this certain concept.

Hi McKenna- Drop me a line, and I’ll give you some suggestions. Sorry for the delay. -Abe Rutchick

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What Your Clothes Might Be Saying About You

First impressions are often more significant than you might think….

Posted April 20, 2013 | Reviewed by Matt Huston

She is not my type. He couldn’t hack it. She looks friendly. He looks efficient. I can tell she is an extrovert .

We make snap judgments about people from the clothes they wear. On what basis?

There is much more to our clothing choices than we might imagine. For many people, what they wear is merely a matter of habit, but when we dress in the morning it might pay us to be a little more careful in the choices we make. Doing something different with your clothes might be a way of changing the impression others have of you.

Two published 1 studies by our team in the U.K. and Turkey show some of the very subtle ways in which clothing influences all kinds of impressions about us. Our clothes make a huge difference to what people think about us—and without us knowing or in ways we couldn’t even imagine. People make their assessments in the first few seconds of seeing another; assessments go way beyond how well you are dressed and how neat and tidy you might look.

We carried out the research with more than 300 adults (men and women). They looked at images of a man and a woman for just three seconds before making 'snap judgments' about them. In some of the pictures, the man wore a made-to-measure suit. In others, he wore a very similar off-the-peg. The differences in the suits were very minor—we controlled for all the big differences such as color and fabric, as well as making sure the face of the model was pixillated so that there could be no hidden messages in the facial expressions.

After just a three-second exposure, people judged the man more favourably in the bespoke suit. And the judgments were not about how well dressed he was.

They rated him as more confident, successful, flexible and a higher earner in a tailor-made suit than when he wore the alternative. Since the model’s face in the pictures was blanked out, these impressions must have been formed after quickly eyeing what he was wearing.

So, our clothes say a great deal about who we are and can signal a great deal of socially important things to others, even if the impression is actually unfounded. Research suggests that these impressions about us can start in childhood —one study found that teachers made assumptions about children's academic ability based on their clothing.

In a second study in the journal Sex Roles (see below, 2) we investigated an issue that women often report encountering in the workplace—differential gender -biased standards and being judged as less competent than men, even by other women. What role does dress play in this?

We made minor manipulations to female office clothing to see how this affected first impressions of them. We also researched whether the occupational role of the woman made any difference to these impressions. We tested this with 129 female participants who rated images of faceless (by pixilation) female models on six competence-based dimensions ( intelligence , confidence , trustworthiness, responsibility, authority, and organisation). In all cases the clothing was conservative but varied slightly by skirt length and an extra button being unfastened on a blouse. The models were described as having different occupational roles, varying by status (high: senior manager, or low: receptionist). The images were only presented for a maximum of five seconds.

The assessment of the competencies we measured should surely not be affected by these minor clothing manipulations? Surely people use proper evidence to make such judgments?

I am afraid we found that the clothing did matter. People rated the senior manager less favourably when her dress style was more ‘provocative’, and more favourably when dressed more conservatively (longer skirt, buttoned-up blouse). I reiterate that the clothing in the ‘provocative’ condition was still very conservative in style and look—it was not a short skirt and a revealing blouse, but a skirt slightly above the knee and one button on the blouse undone.

The rating of the receptionist role was not affected by these clothing manipulations, suggesting that there may be more leeway for some jobs than others.

So even subtle changes to clothing style can contribute toward negative impressions of the competence of women who hold higher status positions. Wearer beware!

It is important to choose our dress style carefully because people will make all sorts of assumptions and decisions about us without proper evidence. We are unlikely to know what these assessments are, so it is quite possible that our clothes reveal more than we thought.

Sartorial laziness is an easy habit to slip into. We may think that fashion is just profligate indulgence and our sunny personality will eclipse our dull attire or detract from the soup stains on our anorak. Untrue. What we wear speaks volumes in just a few seconds. Dressing to impress really is worthwhile and could even be key to success.

1.HOWLETT, N., PINE, K. L. , ORAKÇıOĞLU, I., & FLETCHER B. (C) The influence of clothing on first impressions: Rapid and positive responses to minor changes in male attire. Journal of Fashion Marketing & Management, 2013, 17 (1), 38-48. DOI 10.1108/13612021311305128

2. HOWLETT, N., PINE, K. L., CAHILL, J., ORAKÇıOĞLU, I., & FLETCHER B. (C) Small changes in clothing equal big changes in perception: The interaction between provocativeness and occupational status. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research. February 2015, Volume 72, Issue 3-4, pp 105-116, DOI 10.1007/s11199-015-0450-8

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Essays About Appearance: 5 Great Essay Examples And Prompts

When talking about physical appearance, there are many things to consider; if you need to write essays about appearance, here are sample essays to help you.

Today, more than ever, we live in a world where our appearances have become very important. But, unfortunately, outer beauty, or appearance, is something that can be faked. There are various ways for a person to appear attractive, but inner beauty cannot be faked.

Sometimes, outer beauty is important – for instance, in fashion shows. In beauty pageants, contestants need beauty and an upbeat personality. It will be difficult for them to win the title if they have negative personalities.

However, inner beauty, our personality, attitude, and behavior toward other people, is the only thing that will remain with us till our last breath. Even after we are gone, people will remember us for our behavior, kindness, and professionalism.

If you are writing an essay about appearance, here are five essay examples to help you get started.

1. What Does “Don’t Judge a Book By Its Cover” Mean? By Clay Ramsey

2. essay: finding peace with my body image by rachel armany, 3. nonverbal communication and components of professional appearance by lee caldwell, 4. physical appearance should not be the most attractive thing about you by brianna wiest, 5. why do children from the same parents have different appearances and personalities by kim vande wydeven, essay prompts about appearance, 1. what is physical appearance, 2. what is the first thing you notice about a person, 3. why is physical appearance so important, 4. how does what we wear affect how we feel, 5. how to be happy with your physical appearance.

“Everyone can recall the first days or even months of high school. We all walked through those big castle doors, wondering what this new school was going to be like and who we would meet. I thought I knew who would be my friends. However, as the days turned into months and the months into a semester, I realized that some of my first impressions were completely off.”

Clay Ramsey shares his life experiences that tell us why we should never judge someone based on their appearance; instead, we should take our time to get to know them better.

“I started to notice that my body didn’t look like my friends’ when I was in fourth grade. I remember sitting with my best friend and asking, “Do you think I’m fat?” Given our age and lack of any education or discussion on body image, she was startled by my question and immediately responded, “No, of course not.” But her response didn’t comfort me. I felt like she said those words out of pity. My friend didn’t mean any harm. In fact, she probably meant to make me feel better. But since then, I have been hyper aware of my body because I realized that the way I see myself isn’t the same as how others see me.”

Rachel Armany talks about her life experiences, telling us how difficult discussing body image with other people can be (especially as a young girl and even now as an adult) and how she managed to handle all her struggles.

“Business dress, personal grooming, body language, and attitude are components of a person’s professional appearance. These things can serve as forms of nonverbal communication and send messages to others about an individual. Before a person ever speaks a word, typically others around them can make judgments and form opinions based on the subtle messages provided by that person’s appearance. These components largely influence how well an individual is received and how well their message is heard.”

Lee Caldwell discusses the different components of professional appearance and how they can affect a person in the business world.

“In my opinion, the most attractive people are the ones who know that their physical appearance isn’t the most attractive thing about them. They have a certain kind of confidence, they’re usually more fun to hang out with, and they’re the kind of people who are ready to love you for who you are. Not what you are.”

Brianna Wiest believes that your physical appearance shows how you care about yourself, but it should not be the only thing great about you.

“The answer to why this happens has to do with our genes and how they are passed on. Each gene has the instructions for one small part of you. You are who you are because of the particular set of 25,000 genes you got from your parents and the environment you developed and grew up in.

So part of the explanation is easy…you and your siblings grew up in different environments so you are bound to be different. But you also each inherited a completely different set of genes from each parent. This means you are a completely new, never before seen genetic combination.”

Kim Vande Wydeven shares some facts about the human body that enlighten readers who are still wondering about the topic “Why do children from the same parents have different appearances and personalities?”.

Essays About Appearance: What is physical appearance?

This essay discusses physical appearance and how it can be interpreted differently. For some, physical appearance means clothes, make-up, and hairstyles. For others, it is achieving a style or aesthetic.

In your essay, discuss what physical appearance is to you. Include research on how others interpret physical appearance and discuss the differences.

In this essay, discuss the first thing you notice about a person. Is appearance so important that we make our first impressions based on this? Or do we judge a person by their personality?

Discuss the different features that you notice first. For example, perhaps you notice bright and colorful clothes first, hair color, tattoos, and if someone is wearing clean or unclean clothes. This is a topic that opens up a lot of opinions for discussion.

Your physical appearance is important as it can significantly change your personal and professional life. However, it can make you feel insecure in many situations, regardless of how comfortable you feel in your skin.

In any interview process where you are an exact match with someone else in other aspects, it can also make you a second choice. In your essay about appearance, give more examples of how it can affect one’s personal life and professional life.

The clothes we wear are a representation of our style and personality. However, due to financial reasons or lack of resources, many people don’t choose clothes based on their looks. Therefore, this poses an interesting essay topic “how does what we wear affect how we feel?”

Discuss how different clothing items can boost or lower your mood and how self-expression can help a person feel more confident. Next, discuss how wearing clothes you don’t particularly like can lower your mood. Finally, delve into the reasons why we can’t always wear clothes we like—for example, strict uniform policy, financial struggles, and lack of eco-friendly and sustainable clothing options.

It’s all too easy to get caught up in what society considers attractive. Maybe you’re not happy with your physical appearance, but it’s probably because of the ideals you see in people on their best days.

Your essay about appearance should be able to encourage your readers to feel better about how they look. “It doesn’t matter what you look like on the outside; it’s what on the inside that counts.” as the saying goes.

Tip: For help with this topic, read our guide explaining what is persuasive writing ?

If you’d like to learn more, our writer explains how to write an argumentative essay in this guide.

If you’re stuck picking an essay topic, check out our guide on how to write essays about depression .

Bryan Collins is the owner of Become a Writer Today. He's an author from Ireland who helps writers build authority and earn a living from their creative work. He's also a former Forbes columnist and his work has appeared in publications like Lifehacker and Fast Company.

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Clothing as an expression of personality.

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It has been said that clothing defines who you are. The way we dress has an impact on how we are viewed and categorized in society. Clothes give us the power to express our personalities and individuality. However, it does not always necessarily reflect who we are as human beings. "Our clothes are too much a part of us for most of us never to be entirely indifferent to their condition: it is as though the fabric were indeed a natural expression of the body, or even of the soul" (Quentin Bell, 1950). This quote explains the personal attachment we seem to have to our clothing. It is a sort of right of passage that we as humans attain. When one puts together an outfit, it gives them the power to project whatever image they want. To reflect your personality in your style, you must first know yourself well enough so that others can appreciate it as well. Personally, I would say that my clothes can reflect who I am as a person, but not all of the time. Like Pamela Anderson once said, "There's no way I set out to be a certain kind of symbol - the way I dress is the way I am, the way I live my life." There are days where I decide to dress casual and days where I decide to be edgy or maybe even extremely girly. The beauty of fashion is in the ability to be whoever you want to be; the ability to be bold, to make a statement, to shine: to simply be yourself. . Now, there are some cases where one's desire to dress a certain way cannot be fulfilled due to things like the inability to purchase certain clothing. The less fortunate have limited amount of money and sadly cannot always afford to buy the clothes they truly want. Shakespeare once said, "Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy, but not express'd in fancy; rich not gaudy; for the apparel oft proclaims the man." We rely on clothing as a social and economic indicator because of the lack of official ranks such as a caste system or aristocracy. You are judged if you shop at Gucci and you are judged if you shop at Ross.

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Essays Related to Clothing as an Expression of Personality

1. students voice and power to change dress code.

This current code entitles: no short shorts, baggy pants, no strapless shirts, no clothing representing violence, no clothing with improper statements, and not hats unless it's our school hat. ... Self-expression can be represented through clothing. ... Personality is an important feature to have as a person. Through clothing students can be able to tell what type of person they are. ... Showing creativity, personality, and emotions all at the same time. ...

Word Count: 426
Grade Level: High School

2. Business Overview - The Fashion Industry

The choice of clothing and accessories (clothing that is worn or carried, but not part of a person's main clothing) is as important as identification through the color of hair, height, skin and gender. ... There are arguments that support each of the sides; therefore it goes without saying that fashion is a "polyhedral being " that intersects numerous internal and external aspects of any personality. ... As for now, traditional clothing has been completely subdued by "fashionable clothing ". ... While being very liberate towards the type of clothing of other men, they demonstrate especial...

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3. School Uniforms

By forcing a child to wear uniforms, you are taking away their self expression through clothing. If they don't express their selves through clothing, they can find many other ways to express themselves. This can make a student resort to violent forms of expression in and out of a classroom. ... In conclusion, in today's society, students are fighting each other in schools because of the students that wear rival gang colors and clothing. ... A school uniform would mean students would not be judged by what they wear, instead they will be judged on their personality. ...

Word Count: 512

4. School Uniforms

Wouldn't uniforms infringe the child's creativity and self expression? ... Critics say that school uniform inhibit self expression. If you take away a child's self expression through clothing, you force that child to express his or herself in other ways. ... Uniforms eliminate gang clothing like baggy pants, belts with initials on the buckles, halter tops, or certain gang colored clothing items. ... Students did not judge me by my apparel, instead I was judged by my personality. ...

Word Count: 842
Approx Pages: 3

5. The Psychology of Fashion

Fixations can cause psychological problems in the future with one's personality traits. ... These last few stages should be able to develop a strong personality for an individual to be able to express. ... They truly begin to find themselves as an individual and find happiness through expressions and personality (Source 4). Behavior theorists have classified personality traits as the reinforcement contingencies to which one is exposed creates ones personality; therefore changing people's environments, behaviorists believe we can alter their personalities. Trait theorists believe tha...

Word Count: 2822
Approx Pages: 11

6. Notes on Consumerism

Keeping up with the latest clothing fashions was hard and massive markets for second-hand clothing and goods were developed for people who had consumerist urges but not quite enough money to be able to buy everything they wanted. ... Modern Consumerism With the rise of second-hand stores some people were put off because you could not tell how much money a person made because of his or her clothing. ... Women however found great self expression in consumerism, being able to put into their homes what they liked as in colors, patterns, and such. A home and fashion let a women express her individu...

Word Count: 477
Has Bibliography

7. Rembrandt essay- comparison

Write within either the subjective frame, showing how the artists revealed their personality, or the cultural frame, reflecting the cultural and artistic influences of their time. ... His art not only communicates to others, but is also a means of self-expression. There are often many ambiguous meanings to these symbols as we could take different perspectives to this in one side believing that Rembrandt was fond of the 16th Century and liked every part of it, in the styles which he adapted and also the clothing, or we could take it to say that Rembrandt was portraying himself in a different...

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Grade Level: Undergraduate

8. Dressing for Success

When the term "dress for success " was used in the 70's for the first time by the author John Malloy in his book by the same name the author coined this term to show how one's clothing, personal care and general appearance can have a huge impact on making a good first impression. ... My mother owns a chain of clothings store and I was in charge of hiring new staff members and I saw this many times. ... Those aspects may not give an accurate portrayal of a person's character and personality, but it will for sure give an indication of who someone is. ... These nonverbal expression...

Word Count: 727

9. School Uniforms - Smarter and Safer

Furthermore, working in a group, such as playing outside, attending meetings or eating lunch in the cafeteria enhances a sense of integrity due to same clothing. ... The constitutional debate involves the First Amendment protection of speech and expression. The opponents of school uniforms argue that the choice of dress is a type of expression. ... Opponents claim that students cannot develop their unique personality. ... The proponents also believe that uniform has a positive impact on students which secures their personality. ...

Word Count: 1102
Approx Pages: 4

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Clothes and Personality

Introduction

Fashion and clothes were a critical part during and after the medieval times, while some people regarded clothes to be real definitions of individuals, some believed that clothes did not provide or define an individual’s traits. However, despite the side that people chose fashion and clothes remained a key aspect to explain the different situations and conditions that occurred before, during and after the medieval times. Clothing should not be at any point be allowed to reveal the identity of people as people’s identity is so far much different than the clothes that they wear. The paper, therefore, aims to prove that we cannot use an individual’s clothes to explain their identity or personality.

Jones and Stallbrass argument about clothes fashioning person’s identity in the late medieval times, this has changed with time so that fashion do not really form the person’s identity. This was as a result of change of way clothing styles have changed over time. In the medieval times the story about Griselda does not support person identity formed as w result of clothing one wears, Griselda was from a humble background and despite being in a lowly family, she turns out to be one among the wisest. In addition, she was married to marquisate of Saluzzo known as Gualtieri and it was at this point her obedience and patience were put to test when she was told to give up her both children for a sacrifice and she did not protest. The clothes that Griselda usually wore were ragged clothes due to the poor state of her family. Griselda, however, shows that her wisdom is beyond the clothes that she wears as she is ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of her husband’s happiness.

Griselda identity is therefore not independent on the clothes that she wears as even when she was betrothed to Gualtieri and moved on from wearing shift dresses to wearing expensive robes she never had a change in character. Griselda remains humble and always listens to her husband all times giving in to his wishes and doing as it pleases him.

The medieval period marked the end of the link between a person’s identity and the type of clothes he/she wore. There were clothes specifically designed to show affluence; this included expensive robes and garments. This included the robes that Gualtieri used to wear to show his position in the society. At the same time, there were garments associated with the low in the society as they signified poverty. The shift dress that Griselda wears as she exists Gualtieri’s house back to his home as a result of the alleged divorce conspired by Gualtieri shows the state of lowliness. Griselda even pleads with Gualtieri not to let her go away naked as her dignity would be further lowered if she did so.

After all the tests are done, Gualtieri rewards Griselda by reinstating her back to her position and giving her back everything that she had taken from her. The luxurious robes are given back to her to symbolize that now her position in the society had again completely changed. But despite all this, Griselda remains the same, and she does not change her character regardless of the different garments that she wears in her lifetime, from wearing shift dresses to robes her attitude remains unshaken.

Griselda wore beggarly attire during the period of ‘welcoming the new bride,’ Griselda even accepts to attend the wedding of Gualtieri and his ‘newly found bride.’ She agrees to stay until the wedding ceremony of the bride after which would see her go back to her father to take care of the sheep and forget about Gualtieri. This was more than torture that Gualtieri was making Griselda go through and had it not been that Griselda was one among the wisest women at the time, not many would have persevered.

Tale picture one appears to be the engagement between the Gualtieri’s followers and Gualtieri as they pursue and try to convince him to marry and have a wife for himself. The followers of Gualtieri insist that rather than having only hunting and hawking all the time of his life, he should look for a woman to marry and have a family of his own. This approach is not met well by Gualtieri as she believes she cannot find a person that matches her position in the society. Gualtieri’s followers even offer to get him a wife that matches and fits her expectations and whose parentage was good. Gualtieri, however, is still stubborn and insists that he would be able to find a woman that would please him and adapt to his way of living. Gualtieri even uses his wisdom to condemn his flowers claiming that parentage could not determine the character. He insists that most daughters do not take after their parents and instead he insists on taking the blame for his actions to himself by being the one to choose the bride. Gualtieri even goes further by threatening his followers that if they failed to honor the lady that she would choose for betrothal and marriage they would regret and know the cost of how serious the matter of urging him to marry against his will be.

Tale picture three appears to be the moment when Griselda is betrothed to Gualtieri as a result of her will and her father’s agreement. Griselda is made to strip naked in front of everybody present in the gathering that had brought Gualtieri to the bride’s house this was to test how obedient she was and to what extent she would persevere. This is a demeaning act but in spite of all, Griselda had vowed always to do anything that pleases his husband Gualtieri and had done this in the presence of his father. Griselda would therefore not refuse to strip naked as all she would always do please his husband although her feelings that would be contrary to her wants. Griselda is then covered in an expensive robe to signify the affluence of Gualtieri, a crown to show that she was the bride chosen by Gualtieri and a ring to act as a symbol of the marriage between Griselda and Gualtieri.

Tale picture four appears to be the period when Griselda’s family were handing her over to Gualtieri’s followers for marriage. The clothes that Griselda wears indicates the level of poverty that her family was in and as shown by the painted image by Appollonio di Giovnni, she is not even able to afford a full dress. This is unlike his husband to be expectations since Gualtieri had tailored a quantity of fine rich robes that he wanted to use during his wedding and the clothes were meant to fit a girl whose he intended to marry. The image in tale picture 4 is after she had been betrothed to Gualtieri and now was being crowned as the wife who had been chosen by Gualtieri. The expensive robe, shoes, and crown were a sign of affluence and this was what was clothed to Griselda an indication that she would not be living a life of lowliness anymore. The author explains in the context that Griselda looked entirely different and that the clothes signified the new life that had just begun for her away from the poverty that was in her household. Gualtieri eventually recognized Griseldas faithfulness, patience as well as sincerity when he revealed to her all the trials he had devised inorder to assess her layolty. Griselda proved that clothing does not form someone personality or identity. Despite her husband painful test presented to her without prior knowledge, she remained loyal to her husband. Even after being informed to take part in pseudo wedding that would lead to her being united to her children she willing accepted the offer. Eventually she was crowned as Gualteris obedient and patient wife.

Fashion, referred to as way clothing styles was regarded as an essential aspect in the medieval period. Conversely, the aspect changed during renaissance so that fashion was no longer used to form a person identity. The different types of clothing and fashion indicated that different person was considered in the society as being affluent or poor according to the clothes they wore. Certain clothes also form a person’s identity while some just signified an event that was there present in a moment in time. However, Griselda does not allow herself to be changed by the clothes that she wears and consistently remains loyal despite all that she undergoes in the hands of her betrothed husband, Gualtieri. After testing her patience and loyalty, gualteria recognized her faithfulness and crowned her since her personality did not change. This, therefore, proves that despite all that comes through life, personal identify is not altered by the clothes worn.

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Ielts essay # 1264 - it is possible to tell a lot about a person’s culture and character from clothes, ielts writing task 2/ ielts essay:, some people say that it is possible to tell a lot about a person’s culture and character from their choice of clothes., do you agree or disagree.

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I Got Divorced, and Now I Hate All My Clothes

After ending an 11-year relationship, my closest quickly turned into a gravesite, memorializing our life together.

woman holds a dress and looks forlorn in an unidentified film still

I didn’t get married anticipating divorce. Nor did I, a fashion and beauty editor, expect to find all my garments suddenly unwearable. Yet there I was, alone in my bedroom, with a wardrobe full of nothing I wanted to wear.

I wish I could tell you there was a big, explosive blowout, a tantalizing scandal, or a major red flag that festered or metastasized beyond the point of reconciliation, but the sad truth is that we grew apart. And as the chasm between us became too wide to bridge, it felt easier to separate gracefully than to force a lifetime together.

After a breakup, most people wax melancholic about the landmarks they frequented, once-cherished memories that become almost too painful, too unbearable to hold onto— anecdotal souvenirs that they wish they could scrub clean, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind -style. Remember how happy we were there and there and there? For me, those tales are told in threads: There’s the Only NY long-sleeve I bought, because it was one of his favorite brands; a J.Crew sweater he gifted me during one of our first holidays together; the vintage Thierry Mugler suit I snagged on one of our trips to San Francisco; the navy ruched dress I wore to his friend’s wedding; and then, of course, there was our own wedding—the Calvin Klein Collection dress I got custom-made for the big day. My closet felt like a gravesite, memorializing all these moments we had together, large and small.

.css-1aear8u:before{margin:0 auto 0.9375rem;width:34px;height:25px;content:'';display:block;background-repeat:no-repeat;}.loaded .css-1aear8u:before{background-image:url(/_assets/design-tokens/elle/static/images/quote.fddce92.svg);} .css-1bvxk2j{font-family:SaolDisplay,SaolDisplay-fallback,SaolDisplay-roboto,SaolDisplay-local,Georgia,Times,serif;font-size:1.625rem;font-weight:normal;line-height:1.2;margin:0rem;margin-bottom:0.3125rem;}@media(max-width: 48rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.125rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 40.625rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.125rem;line-height:1.2;}}@media(min-width: 64rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.25rem;line-height:1.1;}}@media(min-width: 73.75rem){.css-1bvxk2j{font-size:2.375rem;line-height:1.2;}}.css-1bvxk2j b,.css-1bvxk2j strong{font-family:inherit;font-weight:bold;}.css-1bvxk2j em,.css-1bvxk2j i{font-style:italic;font-family:inherit;}.css-1bvxk2j i,.css-1bvxk2j em{font-style:italic;} We decided to separate in 2022 and officially filed for divorce a year later. Sartorially, I coped by not wanting to wear anything I owned—or anything at all.”

We were together 11 years—pretty much all of my 20s and the entirety of my time in New York. When so much of yourself is tethered to one person, when both of your lives become entirely enmeshed, it goes without saying that it’s exceedingly difficult to extricate yourself when it’s over. We decided to separate in 2022 and officially filed for divorce a year later. Sartorially, I coped by not wanting to wear anything I owned—or anything at all. “I just want to be naked!” I declared to anyone who asked how I was doing. One point, last summer, I said this while wearing a translucent, mini slip dress with nothing underneath except a teeny-tiny bralette and an equally teeny-tiny pair of hot pants.

“Well, it looks like you’re nearly there,” quipped a friend, her eyebrows raised.

The psychology behind post-breakup fashion is intuitive to grasp: A change in appearance, whether it be a haircut or your entire sartorial outlook, is a way to demarcate the end of one chapter and the start of another. You get a clean slate without having to wait to ring in a new year.

I want to make it absolutely clear: I wasn’t in an unhappy marriage, or a bad one for that matter. But in many ways I felt stuck and unseen. It’s hard to discern why I chose to dress the way I did—how does anyone? Pinpointing the reason can be as elusive as attempting to define a nebulous concept like love. The intricate makings of personal style are akin to hand-stitching fine lacework. Fleeting and abstract, so much of piecing together an outfit is based on a feeling . So for me to say I dressed all in black because I was in a sad marriage is reductive, and also wrong.

But I can say that I largely gravitated toward a restrained color palette. In my 20s, during a time when I was trying to prove myself as a writer and editor in a notoriously unkind, unforgiving industry, I wanted people to take me seriously, so I wore somber colors and modest styles—so modest, they bordered on puritanical. There was a period where hemlines hardly ever hiked higher than my shin. And those ankle-grazing skirts were often paired with baggy sweaters, oversized button-downs, or turtlenecks. My approach to fashion was austere, all clean lines and rigid, stark, minimalist silhouettes; I thought those were the trappings of Good Style. And anything outside of it (color, embellishments, skin-exposing cutouts) I considered frivolous and, quite frankly, gauche, and thus Bad. In retrospect, I imagine that a part of me wanted to hide behind my clothing.

I combed through my closet recently and tried on a dress I wore B.D. (Before Divorce). I was aghast at how shapeless it was, how much fabric there was, how blah and invisible I felt in it.”

And that inadvertently bled into how I dressed outside of work—or perhaps, it worked in tandem. My ex and I were both so focused on our careers that in our downtime together, we did nothing. I’m not entirely sure when things between us got to be so serious, but it reached a point where every moment, every activity, every conversation felt laden with an inexplicable weight. Spending time together was like wading through molasses, impossibly tough and tiresome. How I so badly wished there was lightness or laughter or joy, but what was missing was too blatant to ignore, despite how much I cared about him. And so, there was no desire to dress up. I hardly wore makeup. My nails were rarely painted. Apathy masqueraded as comfort. I combed through my closet recently and tried on a dress I wore B.D. (Before Divorce). I was aghast at how shapeless it was, how much fabric there was, how blah and invisible I felt in it.

Ripping our lives apart was a gut-wrenching process. Heartbreaking. A big part of why I held onto my marriage was because I had an all-consuming fear of starting over, which isn’t a good reason to stay in any relationship. But now, as a no-longer-married person—for the first time in over a decade—I’ve embarked on the long, unrelenting road of figuring out who I am, like Julia Roberts determining how she likes her eggs in Runaway Bride.

“Although the word divorce is often viewed as sad in one’s life, it can also be freeing. In a dysfunctional marriage, we can lose our sense of self and our own identity. And we may become very stifled in our creativity and growth,” Weiss says. “So post-divorce can offer an opportunity to explore different sides of ourselves. And fashion is the perfect outlet to show those changes.”

While I might want to parade around naked, the law—and common decency—forbids it. Instead, I’ve made some purchases: a vintage, cowl-neck metallic mini reminiscent of 2002 Paris Hilton, a collection of truncated tanks, a strappy bandeau, a curve-hugging mesh dress with up-to-there slits, and a two-piece sequin set. A friend called my new look “very Gen Z.” So many others have expressed their surprise. “That doesn’t seem like your style at all” has been the common refrain. Another said it looked like I was going through a midlife crisis, that maybe I should dress my age.

the author posing in a black crop top and midi skirt

A part of me feels like I’m flailing, like I’m unsure of my footing and stumbling around like a toddler learning how to walk; another part exudes a level of confidence I haven’t felt in so long, maybe ever. For the first time, I’m experimenting with my style, no-holds-barred, and dressing in a way that makes me feel desirable, even pretty. There’s also the possibility that all of this coincides with just growing older and finally feeling comfortable in my skin.

For now, I’ll hold onto what delights me: itty-bitty midriff-exposing tops, micro hemlines, and see-through everything. Finally, these clothes have started to make my closet feel like mine again.

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Essay about Clothes and Personality: Fashion & Expression
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Essay about Clothes and Personality: Fashion & Expression
In this essay about clothes and personality, I will discuss how fashion makes an individual's character. Discussion. While most individuals find it easy to conform to other people's fashion, it is extremely important for people to identify what suits them best and incorporate that in their own style to distinguish their personality. In ...
The Power of Clothes and Their Impact on Personality
Conclusion. Throughout this essay, we have explored the various ways that clothing impacts our lives. From self-expression to social status to cultural significance, clothes play a powerful role in shaping our identities and the way we are perceived by others.It is important to understand this relationship so that we can make informed choices about how we present ourselves to the world.
Psychology Of Clothing: How Dress Codes Affect Behavior
The clothes we choose can reflect our personality, mood, and identity. Whether we opt for bold, colorful outfits or prefer more understated styles, our dress choices convey messages about who we are and how we want to be perceived. Additionally, clothing can impact our confidence levels. When we wear clothes that make us feel comfortable and ...
What Your Clothes Say About You
It's no news that your wardrobe says a lot about you. What you wear can inform passersby of your type of employment, as well as your ambitions, emotions and spending habits. And now it's even ...
IELTS Essay: Clothes, Culture, & Character
1. In conclusion, though globalization theoretically makes it more difficult to distinguish a person's culture and character from their clothes, in fact, these choices continue to be revealing. 2. This self-expression is one of the benefits of modern fashion. Summarise your main ideas.
Dress for Success: How Clothes Influence Our Performance
A paper in August 2015 in Social Psychological and Personality Science asked subjects to change into formal or casual clothing before cognitive tests. Wearing formal business attire increased ...
Fashion Psychology: What clothes say about you
Whether you are male or female, your fashion choices can affect both your self image, the impression that you convey to others and in turn, the way in which people behave towards you. They can influence everything from the outcome of a sports match ( Hill and Barton, 2005) to an interviewer's impression of your ability to perform effectively in ...
What Our Clothing Say About Us?
The clothes we wear and how we wear them say a lot about us. What we put on portrays our outward appearance, which is the mirror of our character and personality. In the contemporary world, where beauty is a highly cherished value and a place where our clothing changes our psychological feeling and view of ourselves and our outer behavior ...
Dress, body and self: research in the social psychology of dress
The purpose of this research was to provide a critical review of key research areas within the social psychology of dress. The review addresses published research in two broad areas: (1) dress as a stimulus and its influence on (a) attributions by others, attributions about self, and on one's behavior and (2) relationships between dress, the body, and the self.
When Clothing Style Influences Cognitive Style
It's common knowledge that clothes have a strong influence over the way other people perceive us; you may be talented and qualified, but sweatpants at a job interview probably won't communicate your ambition to a ... Social Psychological and Personality Science. doi: 10.1177/1948550615579462. News > Minds at Work > When Clothing Style ...
Impact of Clothes on Our Personality
Clothing and personality go along together. I believe that what a person looks on the outside resembles how people look on the inside. Clothes can uncover a wide range of things. For example, we can judge people by their clothes. It can tell you about personality, mood, and interests. A person wearing a suit tells you something different than a ...
What Your Clothes Might Be Saying About You
Doing something different with your clothes might be a way of changing the impression others have of you. Two published1 studies by our team in the U.K. and Turkey show some of the very subtle ...
Essays About Appearance: 5 Great Essay Examples And Prompts
In your essay about appearance, give more examples of how it can affect one's personal life and professional life. 4. How Does What We Wear Affect How We Feel? The clothes we wear are a representation of our style and personality. However, due to financial reasons or lack of resources, many people don't choose clothes based on their looks.
Our Choice of Clothing Reflect Our Personality
The 7 Codes that Reflect Personality. Conclusion. "You are what you wear and your dress code determines how others perceive you", said Julie Pace. Clothing can deliver a lot of information about a person, and wearing a suggestive clothing or specific color can make misperception and sexual intent. The salience of facial features is well ...
Fashion Psychology: What Your Choice in Clothes Say About You
What to Wear: Our Color Guide. Download this one-sheet and put it on your closet door for easy reference! Fit: How you tailor your clothes and the shape of your clothing affects how people perceive you. Styling: Accessories-for both men and women can completely change an outfit.From shoes, to watches, to scarves, to hats, these are easy ways to change the impression of your style.
(PDF) Expression of personality through dressing
Abstract: Clothing and fashion allow the multiplication of multiple personalities into one human being. The. tendency to be "someone else", even if it is only with some detail in the clothes ...
Clothes and Personality Essay
By itself, the piece of clothing someone wears, cannot tell a lot about the person who is wearing it. Moreover, we find ourselves guided by the so called fashion rules more and more often. Fashion is defined by the MacMillan dictionary as "a style of dress that is popular at a particular time" (MacMillan Dictionary and Thesaurus, n.d ...
Essay about the Clothes We Wear
1. This essay sample was donated by a student to help the academic community. Papers provided by EduBirdie writers usually outdo students' samples. Cite this essay. Download. It is absolutely correct to say that clothes make the man full. Normally, naked persons have no influence or respect within society. In today's modern world, society is ...
FREE Clothing as an Expression of Personality Essay
Essays Related to Clothing as an Expression of Personality. 1. Students Voice and Power to Change Dress Code. This current code entitles: no short shorts, baggy pants, no strapless shirts, no clothing representing violence, no clothing with improper statements, and not hats unless it's our school hat. ...
Clothes and Personality
The paper, therefore, aims to prove that we cannot use an individual's clothes to explain their identity or personality. Jones and Stallbrass argument about clothes fashioning person's identity in the late medieval times, this has changed with time so that fashion do not really form the person's identity.
IELTS Essay # 1264
IELTS Writing Task 2/ IELTS Essay: You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. ... On the other hand, someone who wears bright, colourful clothes indicates a creative and flamboyant personality. Therefore, clothes serve as a nonverbal way of communicating someone's personality traits, and we can make judgments based on this observation.
Personal Essay: Clothing And Personality
Personal Essay: Clothing And Personality. 1112 Words3 Pages. Recommended: The social significance of fashion. Personality has a big and great responsibility; Representing an individual's character and establish the individual's mood. Clothes help in expressing one's innermost thoughts, kindness, and feelings. Selection of the clothes ...
I Got Divorced, and Now I Hate All My Clothes
In retrospect, I imagine that a part of me wanted to hide behind my clothing. I combed through my closet recently and tried on a dress I wore B.D. (Before Divorce). I was aghast at how shapeless ...
The Meta-morphosis of Mark Zuckerberg
All of a sudden, it seems, people care a lot about how Mark Zuckerberg, 39, looks. At a time when the halcyon promise of technology has been cast in a darker, more suspicious light, the guy whose ...

The Power of Clothes and Their Impact on Personality

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Psychology of Clothing: How Dress Codes Affect Behavior

Table of Contents

The Influence of Clothing on Psychology

Enclothed Cognition

The Power of Wearing a Suit

Casual Friday

Dressing for the Gym

How Dress Codes Affect Behavior

Luxury Goods and Politics

How Clothing Affects Mood

Revealing Hidden Secrets Through Clothing

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What Our Clothing Say About Us? Essay

Dress, body and self: research in the social psychology of dress

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Effects of dress on the behavior of the wearer

Dress and the self

The physical body and the self

Body modifications that carry some risk

Eating disorders

Drive for muscularity

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Dress and self as distinct from others

Priming and self-perception

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