How do your clothes make you feel?

 I don’t mean how do your clothes ‘feel’ although that’s important – no one wants to wear a top with a scratchy label in the back or a pair of shoes that pinch their toes.  Comfort is everything.  What I mean here is how do your clothes make YOU feel?  Do you feel strong and in-control, brave and confident or self-conscious and uncomfortable?  What we wear has more impact than just the way it makes us look, it can also affect the way we feel, and the way we see ourselves.

Research has proved this.  Patients who get dressed in hospital make quicker progress than those who conform to the role of ‘patient’ in their pyjamas for long periods of time.  We might recognise that over the past year it has been tempting to stop making the effort because we won’t be seeing anyone, and the negative effect that can have on our mental state about ourselves.  There is also research to suggest that people who are feeling low wear less of their wardrobe and less colour which does nothing to improve their mood, and in fact can have the opposite effect.

When my daughter was about 2 years old she put on a sparkly dress and tights to go to a party.  She stood with her had on her hip and her head held high with the biggest grin on her face.  A friend commented, “she knows she looks great doesn’t she”, and this stuck with me.  She was two, and had no idea about fashion, the cost of clothes, or what looked good.  She just felt it inside and it showed in the way she held herself, with her head held high and a sassy spring in her step.

The way that clothes make us ‘feel’ is one of the main reasons that I became a stylist with House of Colour.  I had experienced how much more positively I felt about myself when I was confident in the way I looked, and that translated into more self-assured, happier version of myself.  You will no doubt all have experienced that feeling when you put something on and just feel great in it.  Chances are you have hit some of the style points that make that item harmonise with you, your body shape and your personality.  The challenge is to repeat that again if you don’t know what it is about the outfit that synchronises so well with you.  Knowing your own personal style is about identifying these things and learning how to recognise them in the clothes you buy and wear.

That’s the power of knowing what suits you.  Knowing what to wear to make you feel good.  Showing the world who you really are on the inside, by presenting that version of yourself on the outside and feeling as good as you look.