THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FASHION
The highs and lows of the fashion industry
* The psychology of fashion Interview * the psychology of colour * the distorted View of beauty * nine tiny illustrated pleasures of fashion *
MINI GUIDE HELPING YOU TO IMPROVE YOUR SELF ESTEEM
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Illustration by Lucy Anne Chappell
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Illustration by Lucy Anne Chappell
About the publication This publication aims to give you an insight into the psychology of the fashion industry. Helping all fashion fanatics to appreciate the deeper meanings of fashion, whilst taking care of themselves in a world of social media.
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Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels
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Cover Photo by Victoria Borodinova from Pexels
Contents INTERVIEWS
HOW-TO
6 the psychology of fashion
20 the distorted view of beauty
>>Pages 6 to 11
Pyschotherapist Jac Callaghan discusses
>>Pages 20 to 25
Find yourself comparing yourself to people
the psychological positives and negatives of
on social media a lot? This article will be
the fashion and beauty industry.
explaining the complexities retouched images have on our well-being and how you can improve your self esteem using three
COLOURS
small steps.
>>Pages 12 to 19 12 the psychology of colour
ILLUSTRATIONS >>Pages 26 to 27
This article will be outlining how different colours within your wardrobe can be used to enhance certain moods within and around you, according to studies on the impact of colour on behaviour.
26 9xtiny pleasures Nine illustrations by Lucy Anne Chappell showing nine ways fashion-related-activities can make us feel good about ourselves during everyday life.
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Psychotherapist and former fashion photographer Jac Callaghan, gives her personal perspective on the psychology of fashion.
(A PSYCHOTHERAPIST’S POINT OF VIEW)
Photo by Lisa Fotios from Pexels
The Psychology of Fashion
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Photos by Jac Callaghan
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Jac Callaghan’s warm smile invites me into her
This causes mental illnesses such as depression,
office, she is wearing a cotton cream T-Shirt,
in extreme cases.
with fitted distressed Levi jeans. Whereas, the
Jac equates this to how the fashion industry
boots she wears clearly represents her love for
impacts how we function mentally. Bringing
bohemian clothing due to them being brown,
up how the industry may be promoting
swede tribal patterned boots. The office we are
the need for augmentations to do with
sitting in is formal but comfortable, based in a
plastic surgery in order for people to
psychology research centre at Leeds Beckett
meet beauty standards.
University. I introduce myself as a Fashion
She notes that the obsession of today’s
Marketing student who wishes to interview her in
consumer’s wanting to recreate their own body
regards to the topic of the psychology of fashion.
eventually leads to people seeing a distorted view of one’s self, and believing that one’s own body is
Colour psychology
insufficient.
Has been a subject which has interested Jac for a while due to her believing that wearing different
Along with negatives can also come
colours can impact her own, and other people’s
positives.
mood. Whilst expressing this she points to a high-
Jac gives the example of wearing your favourite
quality yellow scarf laid upon her black classic
outfit and it bringing confidence. This is due to
coals black trench coat. She notes that she is
the fact that most consumers wear clothing that
currently trying to find more yellow coloured
represents them as a whole; leading them to
garments due to her noticing that this colour
sometimes meet like-minded people who wear
increases her happiness greatly. She links this to
similar trends to them personally.
operant conditioning which is where consumers associate a certain stimulus with another, causing
Bullying is affecting a high number of
a change of behaviour over time. In this case the
younger children during their school
stimuli would be yellow and the garment, and the
years.
behavioural change would be associated with a
Jac noted that she thought the choice of garments
positive mood increase if these things were to be
worn affected the likelihood of bullying within
paired together.
schools; she agreed that this is a factor which can impact bullying. Jac believes that although school uniforms can reduce this problem, if the items
Jac has observed that many of her 16-25 year
look ‘neglected’ this can also result in bullying.
old clients suffer from low self-esteem in today’s
She adds that other factors are more likely to
generation . She points out that this may be
attract bullying such as the appearance of low
influenced by the fact that younger social
self-esteem.
media users feel that they cannot live up to the synthetic ‘unreal’ images which cannot be created in real life.
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‘The obsession of today’s consumers wanting
to recreating their own body, eventually leads
to people seeing a distorted view of one’s self,
Photo by Ike louie Natividad from Pexels
and believing that one’s own body is insufficient.’
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Moving on to the topic of designer v
Wrangler jeans due to them fitting her body
fast fashion, the choice of clothes we
shape well, and making her feel confident.
wear can in some cases impact upon our behaviour towards people.
Due to the negative impact underweight
Jac says she has experienced people using
models have on the younger generation’s
designer clothes as a status symbol; as an
mental health Jac would personally
excuse to ‘look-down’ on people who may be
prefer to see everyday people used
less wealthy than them. She points out that
as models in campaigns, with it being
one of her favourite fashion designers includes
healthier for younger audiences who
Alexander McQueen; someone who was known
get influenced by what they see easier.
for his creative collections. Expressing how she
In regards to professionally, she believes
finds it sad when people use fashion to separate
models would be more interesting to
themselves from others, instead of wearing
photograph due to the ‘fantasy world’ they
fashion to express themselves. Personally, in
can create, such as the creative direction of
the past she said that she has felt judged, and
models used within Tim Walker’s fairy-tale
intimidated whilst walking into a designer shop,
like photographs (a fashion photographer she
if she has not been wearing ‘on trend’ garments.
has admired since seeing an exhibition in
Jac notes how she personally likes experimenting
London by him).
with different trends due to her interest in fashion. But believes that some people feel the need to
On a scale of 1-10. 1 being not at all, and
keep up with trends in order to fit in and belong;
10 being a lot, how do people use fashion
Seeing it as a form of safety.
to express who they are as a person and why?
According to an article written by
Jac belives each individual uses fashion
Vogue in 2019 “Finding a celebrity
choice as a form of uniform, something which
that is in line with your brand’s style
can be used to determine who they are as a
and aesthetic, or aligned with the
person, and as previously mentioned, make
cause of your brand, is important to
friends with like-minded people. She provides
targeting who you might approach
an example of her casual fashion sense
with a product.” Jac disagreed with this
personally being a lot different to a business
statement and explained this may be due to
person’s fashion sense.
her being in an older age bracket. And that this may vary depending on the age of the particular consumer; with different consumer groups having different needs and wants for a garment. She personally buys garments based on the fit; specifically buying Lee and
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Photo by Alexander Krivitskiy, Elizaveta Dushechkina, Nichole Sebastion and NEOSIAM 2020 from Pexels
Lucy Anne Chappell
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF COLOUR The colours you should have in your wardrobe according to psychologists studying the impact of colour on behaviour.
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Photo by Jessica Gaudioso from Pexels
Want to capture the attention of every room you’re in? Or make the date you’re with feel the passion you’re feeling? The colour red is associated with excitement, passion, danger, energy, and action.
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Photo by Sigrid Abalos from Pexels
If you’re hoping to complete a creative project, you’re determined to do well in… orange is your colour for the day. In colour psychology, orange represents creativity, adventure, enthusiasm, success, and balance.
Wanting the sun to shine in the middle of a rainstorm is possible whilst wearing yellow. This is due to the colour meaning of yellow revolving around sunshine. It evokes feelings of happiness, positivity, optimism, and summer.
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Photo by Retha Ferguson from Pexels
Wednesday is for pink right? In colour psychology, pink’s colour meaning revolves around femininity, playfulness, and unconditional love.
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If you’re having a stressful day at work or university the colour blue might just be the mental detox you need. Blue’s colour meaning links closely to the sea and the sky. Stability, harmony, peace, and calmness are just a few emotions this colour triggers.
Photo by mikoto.raw from Pexels
Blending in with natures beauty is any outdoor lover’s dream. In colour psychology, green is highly connected to nature and money. Growth, fertility, health, and generosity are some of the positive meanings for the colour.
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Photo by Idy Tanndy from Pexels
Purple will make you feel like the true luxury you are. This is due to the colour meaning for purple being connected to power, nobility, luxury, wisdom, and spirituality.
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Release your inner goddess in a clean frosty white sun-dress; summer ready. In colour psychology, white showcases innocence, goodness, cleanliness, and purity.
Ralph Rabago and Llana Snevtsova from Pexels
Showing the manager of a company how sophisticated you are in a workplace setting is a necessity for anyone trying to bag the promotion they well and truly deserve. Blacks colour meaning is symbolic of mystery, power, elegance, and sophistication.
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Photo by CREATIVE HUSSAIN from Pexels
Wearing brown calls for a chill day at home. The colour relates to comfort, security and a down to earth nature.
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The Distorted View of Beauty
Photo by Dids from Pexels
Lucy Anne Chappell
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Photo by Thiago Matos from Pexels
Hey
you!
Stop
scrolling
through
Instagram whilst reading this, wondering about the time and effort which goes into perfecting and editing just a single photo out of hundreds. Or maybe you’re not...
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In 2018 Dr. McAneny from the American Medical
Know that your friends who walk around looking
Association stated that, “ads must stop portraying
like they’re about to go to London Fashion Week
models with body types only attainable with the
also feel these insecurities; and they may even
help of a photo editing software.” And yet, in the
be retouching an image of themselves right now.
last year, Photoshopping has reached an all-time high. This causes lost self-esteem, lost money,
Recently there has been a light from brands
time spent fixing “flaws” and a well-documented
releasing refreshing images of everyday people;
preoccupation with losing weight.
photographed without any forms of retouching. This will reinforce the message that natural
Due to these rates increasing, Instagram studies
bodies are in fact beautifully normal.
have shown that almost all images posted online by teenagers have been edited via the use of
This is shown in a recent ad by the well-
Photoshop or other image retouching apps such
known cosmetics brand ‘Dove’. According to
as Face-tune. This is due to hours of scrolling
their mantra ‘Beauty is for everyone’. Further
leading them to think their bodies are not good
reinforced by them vowing to: 1. always feature
enough in their natural states.
real woman (with diverse ages, sizes, and ethnicities in mind). 2. Portray woman as they
You must see through to the reality of these
are in real life (zero digital distortion). 3. For the
things, and come to the realisation that these
brand to fund the Dove ‘self-esteem project’,
people are not real. Know that you are beautiful
this is a community of mentors, teachers, and
without getting rid of that spot you might hate;
educators that help young girls to improve their
that true beauty isn’t represented by an overly
confidence.
photoshopped model on a glossy magazine cover.
Other brands such as Olay and Fenty are also determined to reduce the negative effects retouching images can have on consumers’ mental health.
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“You are enough”
Photo by Julia Kuzenkov from Pexels
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things you can do in order to reinforce that you are you. Because retouching images won’t make you any less of a person
Photo by Aldo Parulian from Pexels
On the next page there is a short list of
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1.)
Write down a list of things you like about
3.)
Cut down on your social media use.
yourself in terms of your physical and mental
Yes, I get it, scrolling memes of dogs can be
attributes, they can be as simple or as complex
entertaining, but there will also be images which
as you like (we all know sometimes even getting
could cause you to compare yourself in seconds.
out of bed in the morning can be tough).
Although social media is okay in moderation also take time to yourself to realise the true beauty
2.)
Accept compliments. After constantly
comparing yourself to unrealistic ideals you
of reality, something which can be missed with a glance of a smart-phone screen.
can sometimes only see the negatives within yourself. The next time your best friend
So, next time you’re scrolling on social media
compliments your makeup, own that compliment,
and see a retouched image, stop and think of the
because that eyeshadow really do be popping.
reality.
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9xTiny Pleasures getting ready for a night out
Illustrations by Lucy Anne Chappell
decorating garments
donating old clothes
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warm winter clothing
colourful clothing
jumpers so ugly that they are nice
unique aesthetics
re-purposing old clothing
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Photo by Raphael Brasileiro from Pexels
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF FASHION
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