Enclothed Cognition - Dress like the person you want to be

Why do we wear what we wear? It is a compilation of many factors; the position in society, the place one lives and other things that surrounds us like the magazines we read, the music we listen to and in general our hobbies. For me it is the music I listen to and the amount of time I spend online watching TV shows, movies and anime. And I am not the only one who is influenced by the TV shows. The amount of style guides for dressing like a fictional character and the tutorials on YouTube on hair and make-up of people from TV shows prove that there are many people that want to look like their favourite character.

I found this very interesting study online: 

According to the study it maters what you wear or rather what you think you are wearing. It shows us that we are influenced by what we wear, it even makes us act more intelligent. This comes to show how big of an influence clothing is in our mind and how easy we are tricked into behaving according to the way we look.

You could even extend it as far as saying dressing like someone else makes you feel and behave more like this person, or this is the theory. 

Toni Darling the cosplayer said in my interview with her, that one of her favourite things about cosplaying is to becoming the character and channelling their energy, she told me she selects the characteristic she admires the most and focuses on them.

After learning what that study sais about how we behave, we might not even have to concentrate on the personality trade of the character. It is enough to know that you are dressed like him and it will make you more like him. This is a very logical thing, if you consider that in theatre it is easier to act when you are in costume.

This may help you in your everyday life, I have learned to dress for the occasion. If you have a presentation dress smart, if you’re going out and you want to have fun dress like a person who would have fun or is fun to be around. And because the best people are fictional it is likely that you dress like someone fictional. And in general if you want to be more like a character the first thing is to dress like him and your mind will trick you into being more like him. It can be just one little piece of clothing that makes the difference, for me it is a mini skirt who reminds me of Amy Pond from Doctor Who and her independence.

Bye!