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‘Clothes maketh the man’ goes the age-old saying. The truth of it is borne out by modern psychology, and is especially relevant in the pandemic situation
Working from home is no easy task. A number of WFH professionals believe changing into formal clothes is a crucial step in their morning routine. It helps get them into a productive mindset. According to research, our clothes affect not just how people see us, but also how we see ourselves.
“The body has always used cues for survival and smooth functioning. When the sun sets, the body uses melatonin to facilitate a transition to sleep and promote rest. Similarly, we use dress cues to prepare for the day,” explains Dr Sonal Anand, Psychiatrist, Wockhardt Hospital, Mumbai.
She says some years ago, researchers at the North-Western University, USA, came up with the concept of ‘Enclothed Cognition’. This is now used in many self-help initiatives and by the fashion industry, as what we choose to wear can be a strong nonverbal symbol of our personalities.
According to Dr Sonal, when we change into formal clothes, the brain associates it with performance and gears up. “We usually learn such behaviours by watching parents, situations around us, and even from the television. When parents declare that it’s time to wash up and change for dinner, the child’s brain knows that it’s time to unwind and prepare for sleep. The body associates certain clothing with certain times and functions,” says the psychiatrist.
“This has become all the more important during the pandemic, as most of us have lost routines. The current situation has had a deep impact on our emotional and psychological state, causing conflicts in small routine things. A good way to adapt to the situation is by helping the body and brain prepare in advance for better outcomes,” she says, and suggests that we prepare the brain for activity by dressing up as we would normally for work even
while working from home, and then get into relaxed wear after work to prepare the body for rest and sleep.
Mahika Yadav, founder of SITCH a multi-designer fashion house, totally agrees that dressing up well not only makes you look good but boosts confidence too.
Wearing formals gives the businessman a psychological boost. In the same way, the colours of our clothes affect cognition, as different colours send out different messages — yellow flashes happiness and optimism whereas green signals healing and hope.
It is vital to understand how our outfits meld with our actions and thoughts and how others will perceive our ideas and actions based on our clothes.
— Anuja Kapur,
The days we are down and out are the days we should choose to dress up, use makeup and accessorise; on the days when we are morose, a bright solid shift dress would be ideal,” she says, adding, freelancers and most working professionals in the current WFH situation know that wearing pyjamas or sweats all day doesn’t foster a focused mindset
— Deeptha Raghunath,