Have you ever felt that you were in a better mood when wearing a certain outfit? For many people, the answer to this question is “yes”. It is no wonder that to deal with challenges in the pandemic and make their routine a little lighter, some men and women have relied on clothing to give them a certain feeling of happiness – a practice called dopamine dressing (dopamine is a neuro-transmitter that creates a feeling of pleasure in people).

In 2012, to better understand the effect of clothing on people’s mood, Karen Pine, a researcher from the University of Hertfordshire, England, gathered 100 women and asked them what they wore when they were happy. Most participants (57%) said that if they felt depressed, they would wear a baggy top. Additionally, respondents had to answer which mood they were in when they wore their favourite dress: 62% said they would wear it if they were happy, while only 6% said they would choose it in times of sadness. “The finding showed that clothing reflects and influences the wearer’s mood too,” said Pine. “Many of the women felt they could alter their mood by changing what they wore.”

In practice, this means that the important thing is to wear something that makes the person feel good, as explained Carolyn Mair, a psychologist with a masters from the University of Fashion in London, in an interview with the English newspaper The Guardian. “If you believe that wearing a certain colour – it doesn’t need to be bright yellow, it could be black – lifts your mood,” she explains “it’s a simultaneous wearing and believing that has been found to bring significant results.”

Questions
1) What percentage of people said they would wear their favourite outfit when sad?
a) 6%
b) 57%
c) 62%
d) 16%

2) Did you already know about dopamine dressing? What do you think of this trend?

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