Unraveling the Mind Behind the Closet
April 17, 2023
Author: Molly Fischman
Editor: Zoe Harris
Throughout my life, I’ve used fashion as my creative outlet. I have never been very good at drawing or painting, yet I still have a love for colors, textures, and patterns. For as long as I can remember, I have shopped and sorted through every corner of my mom’s closet, probing for pieces with pink, sparkles, and anything that seemed a little out of the ordinary. I never succumbed to the style of my classmates or friends, and I always wore what I liked despite the regular attire of my mundane Boston suburb. Numerous times, friends said to me “Only you would pick that out,” or “I could never wear something like that.” For many, comments like these could sting the self-esteem, but I never really cared what people thought and, instead, clothes became a large part of my self-confidence.
Fashion is more than just the clothes we put on every day. It is a reflection of our identity - a form of self-expression that allows us to showcase our personalities, moods, views, and preferences. But why do we pick the clothes that we do? What makes us gravitate toward certain colors, patterns, and styles? Thanks to recent research by Massachusetts General Hospital and the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts, we now have a better understanding of the relationship between fashion and psychology. This fascinating academic realm explores how our clothing choices are linked to our innermost thoughts, emotions, and behaviors.
When I came across “Why you wear what you wear” in The Harvard Gazette, I was fascinated to learn how my fashion choices are connected with my psyche. I have always been a feminine dresser (e.g., dresses and skirts), and gravitate towards colors like lilac, violet, pink, and turquoise. The study showed that people who prefer the same style choices I do display high levels of fashion leadership, an appreciation for the importance of dressing well, and, on a behavioral scale, tend to show more compassion. On the other end of fashion aesthetics, those who favor “essential clothing” (e.g., shirts and jackets) and colors like dark blue, brown, and blue, exhibited emotional stability and higher energy.
Considering each person gets dressed at least 29,000 times in their lives, it is crazy to think that empirical science has paid such little attention to why we select the everyday clothes that help mold our image. The study’s findings on the relationship between clothing styles, color preferences, and personality traits are not only valuable to designers and marketers but also to consumers themselves in helping to better understand personal aesthetics and tastes.
As someone who strongly believes that fashion is a form of self-expression, this research highlights the importance of paying attention to individual manifestations of fashion and how they impact not just our appearance but also our well-being and self-confidence. Even from the times I was rummaging through my mom’s closet, I've always had a feeling that fashion is more than just the clothes we wear. There's some kind of deeper connection between what we put on our bodies and who we are as people. Fashion is more than just a superficial expression of our tastes, it's a reflection of who we are on the inside.
Image: Chloe Sinel
