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AskAshley
Are You Fashionably Healthy?
How what you wear affects your mental health
F
all is in the air and I AM A FAN. Autumn is a season notorious for fresh starts, whether you’re looking to up your fitness regime, improve that long lost friendship, or change careers. From the buzz of back to school to the welcome transition to hoodie weather, a theme resonant with September is (and always will be) fashion. Surely you’ve heard the phrase, “Dress for success,” typically touted from fashion industry insiders like stylists, wardrobe consultants, and designers, motivating us to “dress the part” for interviews, big presentations, and the like.
Dressing Your Way Confident I like to think of “good” clothing as wearable mantras. If I’m wearing a bright yellow sundress, for example, odds are I’m going to feel happy, energized, and confident, ready to tackle the day’s responsibilities. Contrastly, if I stay in last night’s sweatpants to work from home, run errands, and do everything else I need to do, it is guaranteed I will feel sleepy, sluggish, and self-conscious, resulting in a far less effective version of myself.
But dressing for success isn’t only reserved for business. I’d like to argue we should be dressing for success daily — whether the goal is to make a project deadline, finally pick up the dry cleaning, or have a fun date night.
My question is, why put yourself in a position of feeling bad all day when the fix is as easy as getting dressed in the morning? Just like we eat healthy and exercise regularly to fuel our brain health, we need to dress our bodies right in order to get our minds right.
Experts of the wellness world agree. Mental health therapists, psychologists and self-improvement gurus are beginning to advise their clients and audiences that confidence and improved mental health go hand in hand. And an important area where we gain confidence is in our appearance...which isn’t just physical, but mental and emotional, all of which lead to greater self-esteem and improved mental health.
Refining it further: Dressing sloppy (aka your college sweatshirt and boxer shorts) is the equivalent to eating junk food (donuts, greasy chips, whatever makes you feel sick and blah). On the flip side, dressing well in an outfit you feel comfortable, confident, and powerful in (a chic suit, perhaps?) is the equivalent to eating a superfood salad after a vigorous spin class. Your endorphins are released, your self-esteem has sky-rocketed, and you’re ready to take the world by storm.
