Granted, self-love takes a slew of different forms. For some, “me time” includes those much-needed weekly pampering day sessions, bathtubs filled with heavenly-scented bombs, and, of course, mood-soothing candles that turn our bathrooms into a dim-lit, semi-luxurious spa within minutes. Others prefer daily pick-ups that adhere to their body positivity journey through another self-care ritual: fashion.
Now this ritual in Self Love through Fashion, shouldn’t be misconstrued with the term retail theory. A short-lived jot of endorphins when buying something you simply like the look of purely for the purpose of feeling good. No, what we’re discussing here is self-love, dopamine dressing, feeling good about yourself and body through the clothes you’re in.
In a world in which it’s dauntingly easy to compare ourselves to others, to pinpoint each one of our flaws, to rip our self-esteem to shreds, the seemingly plain concept of “self-love” can oftentimes feel surprisingly novel - especially when fashion is involved.
How clothes influence body positivity & self-love.
For years, fashion connoisseurs have been raving about the array of positive effects clothes have on the way we feel on our confidence, and even on the way we perceive ourselves. By now, you’ve probably noticed that the way we feel about ourselves swiftly changes when we get adorned with a beautiful outfit rather than just throwing on what's the most comfortable. Gladly, we now have the proof we need to back up our claims.
Women have been using their sartorial experiments as an antidote to those moody days for years now. The sole concept of testing out the power of positive thinking through beautifully crafted clothing begins with the idea that wearing elegant, flattering, and even fun fashion pieces can help lift your mood. As Carolyn Mair, a psychologist who has launched an MA course in fashion psychology at the London College of Fashion mentions, ” it’s as much about you – and what meaning you believe your clothes have – as it is about the clothes. When people believe in the symbolic meaning of their clothes, it can affect their cognitive processes, and part of those are your emotions.”
Dopamine dressing & enclothed cognition as a form of self-love
Just in case you aren’t yet convinced that dopamine dressing can actually help you raise your self-esteem and boost your confidence, 2012 paper by Hajo Adam and Adam Galinsky dived deep into this idea that has been named “enclothed cognition”, to describe clothes’ ability to affect our thoughts. "You have to wear the coat, see it on your body and feel it on your skin for it to influence your psychological processes," Dr. Galinsky said.
The best part? the “symbolic meaning” of clothing, aka our dopamine-boosting options which are transferred to ourselves, are also noticed by others around us. Admittedly, If a woman feels comfortable and confident in what she wears, she is perceived more positively overall because, well, it radiates self-assurance. When we practice self-love and body positivity through fashion, our posture, the way we sound, and even our facial expressions change.
The key factor is to always dress for the person you want to be. At the end of the day, hundreds of women are on a mission to fall back in love with themselves report feeling happier when wearing utterly elegant, figure loving clothing drenched in their favourite hues, which furthermore supports the colour-emotion and “dress to impress - yourself first” association idea. At the end of the day, Confidence dressing, dopamine dressing, and enclothed cognition are here to support you and your journey to self-confidence. The aim is to feel good about yourself rather than trying to meet someone else’s ideal image of you.
Companies like figure loving fashion is all about dopamine dressing and body positivity "As women, our bodies naturally change throughout our lifetime, but our changing bodies shouldn't mean compromising on how we feel in the clothes we're in. Figure Loving Fashion cater for women of all shapes and size, whether we want to feel elegant, sexy or smart, every woman should always look and feel their best"
"Fashion for me isn’t just an expression of oneself but a projection to the world
as to who you are or who you want to be. Seeing people feel great and confident
with the right clothing choices, changes their world because when we feel good
in what we are wearing, we tend to exude and radiates confidence."
Gloria O Assibey Owner & CEO of Figure Loving Fashion.