Finally science and fashion have come together. Well, maybe that is a bit of a stretch. It is more like science has proof that, “You Are What You Wear”. In a recent study conducted by Dr. Adam Galinsky, a professor at Northwestern University, a link was found between what we wear and our cognitive abilities. Dr. Galinsky is calling this phenomenon enclothed cognition. In the article, “Mind games: Sometimes a White Coat isn’t just a White Coat,” author Sandra Blakeslee discusses Dr. Galinsky experiments. These experiments were conducted using a random group of undergrads, a white doctor’s coat and a white painter’s smock. He divided up the group, giving some the doctor’s coat and some the painter’s smock. What he found was that the students wearing the doctors’ coats preformed the test with heightened attention. The results were not the same for the groups if they just looked at the doctors’ coats; they had to actually wear them in order to obtain sustained attention. In her article Blakeslee quotes Joshua Davis, an assistant professor of psychology at Barnard College who was not a part of the study as saying, “I love the idea of trying to figure out why we put on certain clothes. We might more readily take on a role and that might affect our basic abilities.”
How do you feel when you are wearing the perfect ensemble? You know it is perfect because you see it in your full-length mirror. It makes you feel more confident, more attractive and even a little smarter. How do you feel when you are at the supermarket and you get a quick look at yourself in the reflection of a stainless steel counter and notice the rip in the crotch of your sweat pants? As you stare at the rip in disbelief you happen to look down and take in the site of your mud covered Skechers (the ones with the tear in the side of the one shoe where your dog snacked on it). And if that is not bad enough, just as you try to slink out of the store you run into an old flame. You stand tall and act as if there is nothing wrong with your appearance. When you get back into your car and lock the doors you lay your forehead on the steering wheel and wait for the nausea to pass. Dr. Galinsky would say to you regarding this experience that your thought processes are based on physical experiences that set off associated abstract concepts. Blakeslee would say, “Now it appears that those experiences include the clothes we wear.”
Whether we like it or not, how we dress is not only about how others perceive us but it is how we perceive ourselves. I am not suggesting that we walk around in party dresses and four-inch heels. What I am suggesting is that in order to feel better about ourselves we should dress for the life that we want, not the life we have.
Feeling Better About How You Look Is Not Rocket Science
Spring’s Mixed Messages
Oh, all those editorials in all of our beloved fashion magazines…they tell us how we should dress, how to wear our make-up and even how to flatten our abs. There are the “Must Have’s” of the season and the “Top Ten Beauty Products”. As I peruse these magazines and fashion websites for news of Spring 2012 I am struck by the broad spectrum of looks each editorial has to recommend. For example in Marie Claire some of the hottest trends reported for this season are neon, crop tops, pajamas (that’s right, from the bedroom to the boardroom) and athletic chic. Then there was Glamour Magazine which reported pink shorts and matching pink jacket as a spring trend. Vogue was on board with the pajama’s trend but called it head-to-toe prints. In addition, they reported the athletic chic look a top trend but called it chic sport. The other trends were, skirt suits, roaring 20s, color blocking, clean classics, iridescent shine, wide belts etc….dazed and confused is the way I felt after reading some of the “Must Have’s”.
On the subject of color trend one website wrote, “This spring and summer you will find yourself wrapped in heavenly fabrics, adorned with fabulous vivid color, as well as soft neutrals, and pastels…lots of red and tons of lace, not to mention flowing floral prints…as always black and white fashion defy time and keep their place as big colors for Spring and Summer 2012.” I am pretty sure that the cliff notes on this would read, “Wear whatever the hell color you want.” There were definitely some wonderful looks that made their debut at the spring shows but the inability for editors to commit means either the designers were all over the map (and there is nothing wrong with that) or that the editors’ commitment is to the designers or brands and not the consumers, or is part of the confusion due to the mass production of these trends? We want to fit in and by wearing the latest “style” do we become part of the “in” crowd? Personally, I like to see variety at the shows and on the people around me. We are all so different in shape, color and size. Therefore, we are not all going to look dazzling in the same trends. Being a redhead right now is extremely “in style” and some women are stunning in red hair but for myself and most everyone else with olive skin I would advise against it. Slim pants are quite popular and if worn with heels can take ten pounds off of you but if your silhouette is more pear-shaped invest in a pair of wide-legged trouser pants. There is something for everyone. My advice is to experiment when you shop for clothing. Try on some things you would not normally think to buy. Be open to change, but be comfortable with that change.
Know first who you are, and then adorn yourself accordingly—Epictetus
If Dressing Up Is A Crime, Then Guilty As Charged
The sight of someone in an airport or grocery store in her pajama bottoms and flip-flops occurs fairly regularly. I see it often enough where you would think it would no longer faze me. It actually makes me crazy. Are they in pajama bottoms because their sweatpants are in the hamper? The way we dress says so much about the way we feel about ourselves. Are they saying, “I am too cool for a dress code?” Or are they saying, “I can do whatever the hell I want and I am going to prove it by wearing my wearing my pajama’s to Trader Joe’s.”
Isn’t there a code that we all live by out of respect for one another? When we sneeze we cover our mouth and we excuse ourselves when we accidently bump into someone. We extend these gestures out of respect for the people around us. When we dress up isn’t it out of respect for ourselves? California has turned dressing down into a competitive sport that carries the tag line, “If I look like I care, it was not my intention.”
I had a customer who was shopping for a dress to wear to her husband’s art gallery opening. She was perfectly proportioned with an athletic figure and had gorgeous long dark glossy hair. I thought she would look dynamite in a red knit dress that would hug her shape. I showed her a few knit dresses and my favorite one in red. “Absolutely not,” she remarked, “I don’t want to stand out!” “The last time I wore a dress to an opening I was approached by someone who asked why was I so dressed up.” Really?! Whatever happened to, “Wow you look great!” She left with a black skirt and top. The black outfit was fine but the red dress was stunning and who among us does not want to look and feel stunning.
There are so many moments in our lives where we forget to take care of ourselves and suddenly we are caught off-guard as we catch our reflection in the mirror. Stunned, we can’t help but ask ourselves, “When did that happen?” I have a friend who recently experienced a very serious surgery. She was going to be in the hospital post-op for two weeks. She knew it was going to be grueling and that this surgery was going to take a toll on her physically. Before she checked into the hospital she had her hair done, eyebrows threaded, got a facial and had her legs waxed. After her surgery she struggled to get out of bed and stand up straight. She first glanced at herself in the mirror and was struck by how much she appeared to have aged but then looked down at her legs and thought “gorgeous!” Three months after her surgery I met her for tea. She was poised standing tall in her fishtail skirt and wearing a beautiful smile.
Nice job, Susie!
The Shoulder Pad–Fashions Fickle Friend
There have been so many fashion trends that have come and gone. From pointed toed stilettos to hot pants, trends can keep returning as front page news in the form of these headlines, Your Must-Have This Season. Some trends, thankfully, only make a singular appearance in one’s life cycle…think oversized, chunky platform boots of the 70s. Others will come back over and over again. The shoulder pad is one of those trends. As far as women’s fashion the shoulder pad first appeared in the 30s in a collection by designer Elissa Schiaparelli, but it was in 1932 that Joan Crawford made them popular in the movie Letty Lynton.
They appeared again after WWII when the fashion for women become masculine and militarized. When shoulder pads reappeared on the scene in the 80s their popularity was so fierce everyone was wearing them. They became the arsenal in the wardrobes of career women on an upward trajectory. The large shoulder pad was so important that it became a part of the power-dressing movement. Who can forget the pictures of masses of women with big hair walking up Madison Avenue in their over-padded jackets, nylons, white socks and (gulp) tennis shoes?
They became so prevalent in fact that we could buy pads with Velcro and put them in everything—and we did. T-shirts, bras, cardigans were not neutral territory for the shoulder pad. There was no shame in wearing them either as designers drew attention to pads by exposing them. Their massiveness was treated as an adornment on the shoulder. They were trimmed in gold braid and stitched with rhinestones. There was no garment made in the 80s that was manufactured without shoulder pads. From expensive boutiques to discounters, pads were everywhere. They were given up reluctantly as we approached the millennium. We had a long relationship with shoulder pads as we over-indulged in the high we got from them. We had too much and can still remember the hang-over. As our taste for shoulder pads began to sour we delighted in other trends like low-rise, boot-cut jeans and over-embellished handbags. We have moved on, or have we? In 2009 shoulder pads showed up on the catwalks again and editors wrote about them glowingly with the headlines, Your Must-Have This Season. But in 2010 editors were writing these headlines, Shoulder Pads—One of 10 Worst Fashion Trends. In 2011 there they were again on the runway in the collections of Vitoria Beckham and Giambattista Valli. Celebrities like Rihanna, Lady Gaga and Katy Perry were seen wearing them.
It is 2012 and for me a little goes a long way. They work beautifully in a tailored jacked but two inches thick on my sleeveless dress? I’ll pass.
Viv & Me
I have had so many embarrassing moments in my life it is really difficult to keep track. There are so many, in fact, that I cannot remember the particulars of any except for one… the evening I met Vivienne Westwood. I have always been a huge fan of Vivienne’s. She is rebellious, irreverent and hugely talented. Born in 1941 of modest means, Vivienne Westwood has become one of Britain’s most revered clothing designers. It was her partnership with Malcolm McLaren, the manager of the punk rock group the Sex Pistols, that changed the course of her life. Prior to meeting Malcolm, she was a school teacher, married to Derek Westwood with one young son living in North London. She studied fashion design for one term but left saying, “I don’t know how a working class girl like me could possibly make a living working in the art world.” After meeting Malcolm her life changed drastically as she began designing clothing for Sid Vicious and the underground punk world. Together Malcolm and Vivienne opened a boutique in London called, “Let it Rock”, which later became, “Sex”, which later became, “To Fast to Live to young to Die” and then eventually the name was changed to “Seditionaries”.
Her designs were edgy and controversial. She drew inspiration from bikers, fetishes and prostitutes. It wasn’t until 1981, with her Pirates and Romantics collection that she became relevant in the more conventional world of fashion. Vivienne’s style is unique as she is able to combine tradition in the way of tartan plaids and harris tweeds with more unconventional themes like bondage. One memorable story I read was where Vivienne met the Queen of England to receive the OBE (Order of the British Empire) Award and was later caught twirling by photographers taking pictures from the ground up. The pictures taken were of the knickerless designer. In response to the pictures Vivienne said, “I wished to show off my outfit by twirling my skirt. It did not occur to me that, as the photographers were practically on their knees, the result would be more glamorous than I expected.”
Fast forward to my embarrassing meeting with Vivienne…the year was 2007 and the De young Museum was having an opening reception with Vivienne Westwood. Tickets for this event were sold out!! I panicked. I wanted, needed…had to attend. I called everyone I knew who might know someone who might know someone. Finally, a kind man by the name of Jeff, who was a friend of a friend took pity on my pathetic soul and invited me to go as his guest. As we walked into the front door of the De Young, I could see her standing next to Dede Wilsey with her flaming red hair, tight waistline and incredibly high heels…she was striking! The photographer for the event was a friend of Jeff’s and asked if I would like to meet Ms. Westwood. He escorted me up to Vivienne and introduced us. This was the moment I fell apart. I began to stammer, “It is an honor to meet you Ms.Westwood!” over and over again. Unable to stop, I could see the look of horror on Vivienne’s face. She was far too kind to call security and sensing I was not going to make a connection that evening, I turned and walked away.
I will never forget the evening where for a moment it was just Viv and me.
Facebook
Twitter