Why Dressing Well Is Important For Our Self Confidence
Dressing well is more than about just nice clothes. Our personal style and how we dress has a huge effect on how we see ourselves, as well as affecting the opinions of people around us. Here at Acorn, in this week’s blog we’re going to go into a bit of detail about the importance of dressing well, and its effects on our self-confidence and image.
Dressing For The Occasion
When you stop to think about it, we’re constantly surrounded by examples of how clothes affect our way of thinking. If you’re reading this in the workplace right now, you’re very unlikely to be sitting down in tracksuit bottoms (unless you’re in one of a very select few industries!). So to a certain extent, you already know how our clothes affect our mindsets. A smart white shirt (perhaps using our Monarch white fabric) and aspects of formal wear are all encouraged in the workplace because this style not only encourages respect and diligence, but has even been proven to encourage abstract thinking.
White coats, on the other hand, long associated with scientific pursuits, are proven to increase focus. This isn’t because of the colour or cut, but because of the role we traditionally associate them with. By wearing them, we start living that role ourselves.
You need to look no further than the military for another excellent example – a huge proportion of military life is devoted to uniform. Not just wearing it, mind you, but ironing it, folding it, and learning about its history. It encourages cohesion, forming a sense of shared identity and pride amongst its staff, a sense of ‘all being in it together’ that helps drive them towards common goals. This shared identity is so strong, in fact, that it continues well into civilian life – and it all comes down to the uniform.
Dressing for the task at hand, whether it’s a job interview, a business meeting, a formal dinner or just socialising with friends, can help ease us into the mindset that the situation calls for. For important tasks, it paves the way to success, and for social situations, it enables you to properly relax.
How Personal Style Gives Us Confidence
There have been numerous studies over the years, but you probably don’t need any evidence to prove to you that well-known fact: there’s a big link between looking good and feeling good. After all, if you want others to respect you, the first step is demonstrating that you respect yourself.
Like it or not, your clothes are the very first message that you give to people about the kind of person you are. They project an image, helping you to make a statement about your identity. When you really think about it, your personal style presents you with a unique opportunity to control how others see you. So the question is: what do you want them to see? Calm and controlled? Fun and quirky? Serious or easygoing? At heart we want to feel individual and unique, and have others recognise that – and there’s no better way to achieve that then through our own personal style.
Plus, the rules we discussed above about the roles we play still apply here. The basic truth is that if we change the way we dress, then it affects the way we feel. When we’re happy in the way we look, we tend to express it in the way we act outwardly, including the way we treat our peers. In short, dressing well means being happy.
You might be asking: how can you work out your personal style? Well, that’s a question for another blog! In the meantime, though, we’ve got no shortage of quality cotton fabric shirting fabrics for you to choose from here at Acorn. If you’re looking for inspiration, you can browse our range by fabric type. Or, now the days are getting shorter and chillier, you’ll likely find our range of brushed wool and cotton fabrics are particularly snug!
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