Dressing for your mood
I’ve long been fascinated by the way your clothes can impact how you feel. When you know you look good in an outfit, you feel energised, walk taller and go about your daily business with confidence.
When you don’t feel quite right in an outfit, the opposite feelings can creep in. Feelings of not being good enough, being distracted by discomfort or feeling ‘wrong’ can all have a negative impact on your mood and on your behaviour.
I talk a lot about the benefits of planning out your outfits in advance, whether in one big trying-on session per season or a shorter one every few weeks. When you have your outfit combinations ready to go, you are more likely to wear more of your wardrobe, enjoy the variety of looks and avoid last minute stress and panic about what to wear.
But, what happens when you’ve planned an outfit for the next day and on waking it doesn’t feel right for your mood?
On the one hand I’d say that’s ok. Dressing for your mood can be a comfort. If an old favourite outfit feels like the right one for you on any given day, I say go for it. But if these old favourite comfort blanket outfits are starting to feel not good enough and not a true reflection of who you really are and how you want to be seen, then there’s work to be done.
Ask yourself what is it about the outfit that feels good/comforting/safe? Is it the colour, the shape, the fabric, the length?
Once you’ve understood why this outfit feels so comforting, think about how you could recreate it using other items. How could you dress it up? Think about using your accessories or a different pair of shoes. Changing up the styling of your outfits can create an almost entirely different look and feel.
If the outfit you had planned to wear feels too smart or too ‘out there’ for your mood, how could you tweak it to suit your mood? Replacing a shirt or bouse with a t-shirt or swapping out heels for flats or even trainers are really simple ways to dress down an outfit.
Remembering the concept of ‘high/low’ dressing can be useful to make more interesting outfits from your clothing collection. Click here to read a blog from the archives if you’d like a reminder of how to do high/low.
A further challenge for you if you are frustrated by your tendency to return to your failsafe outfits rather than trying something new is to experiment with dressing to change your mood. If you wake up feeling a bit down and not in the mood for the planned outfit, see what happens if you make yourself wear it regardless. I’ll bet you find it improves your mood and brings you joy.
Try it and let me know in the comments how it worked (or not!) for you.
