Get Dressed
How Your Clothes Affect You and Others
Over the holidays, an announcement from the United States transportation secretary sparked some controversy online. His announcement took the form of imploring airline travelers to make an effort to show respect to other passengers. Specifically, he encouraged travellers not to wear pajamas and slippers to the airport, but to instead put some effort into what they wear.
While many viewed this request as a productive and needed reminder, others expressed annoyance with the request, arguing that travelers have every right to make comfort their top priority.
Regardless of what side of the debate you may land, this recent controversy raises questions about what we wear and what affect the clothing we choose has on us, those around us, and society at large.
How Your Clothing Affects You
They say that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover. While this is true in many cases, and we should always assess any biases we have and not act with prejudge toward people, we all do it. This isn't even always a bad thing. Our minds are constantly making unconscious pre-judgements and predictions about our environment and those around us throughout the day. This is a necessary means of survival; we simply do not have the focus capacity or brain bandwidth to make conscious, well-thought-out judgements about everyone we see on the street or conduct an accurate threat assessment on every car that drives by us on the road. This is a long way of saying that, like it or not, you judge other people based on their clothes.
Furthermore, you don't just judge others based on their appearance; you judge yourself too.
Now, making judgments of the danger associated with a particular car on the road based on things like their speed, use of a turn signal, and weather conditions makes rational sense. But why do we make judgements on the fashion choices of ourselves and others? The answer may be somewhat surprising.
We often hear that our fashion choices are a reflection of our personality and general style, or even “vibe.” While this is true in some regards, in other ways it may be a complete misunderstanding. A famous fashion theorist (I didn’t know that was a thing) named Malcolm Barnard is quoted saying, “Clothing does not reflect personal identity but actually constitutes it.”
To many, this quote may sound counterintuitive. However, many studies appear to support Barnard.
What Barnard is either consciously or unconsciously referring to can be described by the well-resourced phenomenon known as “enclothed cognition.” This term was coined by researchers Hajo Adam and Adam Galinsky in their paper Enclothed Cognition. Their research provided empirical data suggesting that the symbolic meaning of the clothes we wear, as well as the physical experience of wearing them, significantly influences our cognitions and behaviors (Adam & Galinsky, 2012). In this study, when participants wore what they were told to be a doctor's lab coat, they performed significantly better than the control groups on a series of assessments of attention. In a pre-test, the researchers found that a doctor's lab coat was symbolically associated with attentiveness and carefulness. Furthermore, they found that it was not enough for participants to be simply in view of the coat or associated with it; they had to be physically wearing the coat to increase their levels of attention.
So what can we conclude from this study and several others like it? It appears that we can affect our cognition and behaviors based on the symbolic nature of the clothes we choose to wear. So ask yourself, “How do I want to feel and behave?”
If you are trying to be productive, you should probably change out of your PJs. If you are trying to be more focused, maybe dress up a little extra. If you are feeling down on yourself, or depressed or anxious and not wanting to start the day, you can begin to change your outlook by simply getting dressed. Getting dressed and dressing well is not just about gaining the respect of others; it also increases your own sense of self-respect and autonomy.
Even if you don’t intend to leave the house for a few hours, or you work from home, get dressed anyway. Put on that shirt that makes you feel like a million bucks, look yourself in the mirror, and say something incredibly vain. This simple, physical act can drastically change your mood and behavior throughout the day.
So why do we make judgments about clothing choices? Because what we wear can predict our behavior and attitudes toward ourselves and others. Therefore, what we wear not only has personal ramifications, but societal ones as well.
How Your Clothing Affects Others and Society
I will be transparent here: I’m on the side of the transportation secretary. I think we should all make an effort to dress well both at home and when we go out into the world. This has nothing to do with politics; it has to do with psychology. If you don't find yourself on this side of the debate, that's fine, and I'm sure you have a great reason. However, let me try to convince you.
First, what do I mean by “dressing well”? What I don't mean is that we all must be up to date on the latest trends and fashions. I am not saying that you need to go out and buy a whole new wardrobe or even update your closet at all (sorry, babe). I would define “dressing well” as having two key elements. First, looking “put together,” meaning you have taken consideration toward how the items you are wearing work together and you appear clean and neat. The second element of “dressing well” would be that the formality of your clothes meet or exceed the occasion. Also, whenever in doubt, overdress (more on that later).
I'm not going to do a deep dive into the history of fashion here, but suffice it to say, clothing used to center largely around aesthetics, class structure, and conformity. However, starting around the 1910s–1920s, trends have moved more towards prioritizing individualism, rebellion, and comfort.
Although one can certainly argue that these shifts are in many ways positive, I can't help but wonder if, in our post-COVID world, we have let the pendulum swing too far the other way. I would contest that too much individualism, rebellion, and comfort is indeed not good for either the individual or society.
With too much individualism and self-expression, we can become overly focused on the self, viewing the world through an egocentric lens at the expense of others. We are, after all, members of a community and a society that requires our cooperation. Humans are social animals.
Rebellion is all fine and good in a proper and just context, but when we begin to rebel for rebellion's sake, things can quickly delve into anarchy. An applicable principle would be that of “Chesterton’s fence.” This principle comes from a parable written by G. K. Chesterton and highlights our tendency toward rebellion in western culture. Additionally, it notes the importance of pausing to consider what we are rebelling against. The principle of the parable is this: don’t tear down a fence until you know why it was built. Meaning: although we may not fully understand why a certain tradition or rule exists, it is wise to discern the original intent behind it before we consider its dismantling.
When comfort is our sole focus, we risk putting on an air of laziness and disrespect. One way that we show respect for both ourselves and others is by dressing well. This means with the proper level of formality. My father often wears a coat and tie to Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner and wouldn't be caught dead at a graduation ceremony or similar event without one. If the dress code calls for a sport coat, he wears a suit. That's just the kind of guy he is, and I like it. I think others do too. It conveys respect and honor to those around him. He is the one who taught me, “When in doubt, overdress.” You can never go wrong showing more respect. When we underdress in the name of comfort or laziness, we are conveying to others that we don't care about anything or anyone more than we do for our own convenience.
Back to the Airport
The story mentioned in the introduction is just a small example of how these principles may apply. People at the airport today are often rude, selfish, and hostile. People putting their feet up on the headrest in front of them, not helping others with their luggage, and knocking old ladies to the ground on the way to their gate (okay, hopefully that one doesn't happen, but you get the point). Now I'm not saying that all of the travel etiquette offenders are dressed poorly or that people in suits and ties are the most respectful and caring people in the room.
What I am saying is that perhaps, as a society, we all would do well to try a little harder to be respectful and neighborly. One way that we can start to do this is by getting dressed.
Now this isn't to say we must go back to wearing floor-length dresses and suits on a plane, but comfortable jeans and a shirt, or a clean, fashionable sweatsuit, doesn't seem to be too much of a burden. Again, it's about symbolism. So whatever in your mind conveys “I tried at least a little” should be great.
When we dress well we feel better, we perform better, and we are even perhaps more tolerant and caring towards others. When more people do this, perhaps it can have a positive, even if marginal, effect on society at large.
At least that's how the math works in my mind.
