In 2012, researchers Hajo Adam and Adam Galinsky coined the term "enclothed cognition." Their study found that wearing a white lab coat improved participants' attention and accuracy on cognitive tasks, but only when they were told it was a doctor's coat. The same garment, labelled as a painter's smock, had no effect. What you wear changes how you think, and the meaning you attach to the clothing matters as much as the clothing itself.
The Psychology of Getting Dressed
Professor Karen Pine at the University of Hertfordshire asked students to wear Superman t-shirts and then rate themselves on various attributes. They rated themselves as more likeable, superior, and physically stronger than a control group. Wearing a piece of fabric with a logo on it shifted their self-perception.
This sounds absurd until you consider how often you've experienced it yourself. The confidence of a well-fitted suit. The ease of a favourite jumper. The subtle deflation of wearing something that doesn't feel "right." These shifts are small but consistent, and they accumulate over a day, a week, a lifetime.
Colour plays a role too. Research by Juliet Zhu and Ravi Mehta found that red clothing increases perceived dominance and competitiveness, while blue promotes trust and creativity. Athletes in red are statistically more likely to win in combat sports, a finding from a 2005 study by Russell Hill and Robert Barton that analysed Olympic results.
Clothing as Emotional Regulation
Many people intuitively use clothing to manage their mood, a behaviour psychologists call "mood repair dressing." Feeling low? You might reach for something bright and structured. Feeling anxious? Something soft and familiar. The clinical psychologist Jennifer Baumgartner calls this "the psychology of the closet" and argues that our clothing choices often reflect emotional needs we haven't consciously identified.
The flip side is "dopamine dressing," a term popularised by fashion psychologist Dawnn Karen. The idea: wearing bold colours, interesting textures, or personally meaningful items can actively boost mood rather than merely reflecting it. The wardrobe as pharmacy.
The evidence is mixed but suggestive. A 2017 study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology found that people who dressed "up" (slightly more formal than the situation required) performed better on abstract thinking tasks. The clothing seemed to create psychological distance from the immediate situation, enabling broader, more creative thinking.
The Comfort Trap
The pandemic-era shift toward loungewear was revealing. Many people reported that wearing pyjamas all day, while comfortable, made them feel less motivated, less capable, less like themselves. Comfort matters, obviously. But comfort alone doesn't produce well-being.
The sweet spot seems to be clothing that's comfortable enough to forget about but distinctive enough to feel intentional. Clothing that fits your body and your self-image simultaneously.
Dressing with Intention
You don't need an expensive wardrobe. You need a coherent one. A few items that make you feel capable, comfortable, and like yourself. The specific items are deeply personal; no article can tell you what to wear.
What the research can tell you: pay attention to how your clothes make you feel. Treat getting dressed as a small daily design decision rather than an autopilot routine. Our work in well-being design often begins with the details people dismiss as trivial. Clothing, colour, texture, the physical environment of daily life. These aren't luxuries. They're levers.