Did you know that high school students’ clothing styles influence perceptions of their academic ability from teachers and peers?
Did you know clients will return to therapists that dress formally rather than casually at much higher rates?
The clothes we wear have power over others and on our own performance.
We’ve known for quite some time (1962) that the clothes we wear elicit an effect on others; however, in the last decade we have found that it has the same power over ourselves. Heck, sports teams that wear black uniforms are more aggressive than sports teams wearing non-black (Frank & Gilovich, 1988).
I’ve jumped back and forth in my life from the usual old adages:
It’s just clothes (negative)
Dress for the job you want (positive)
Wear what’s comfortable, who cares what people think (negative)
First impressions are important (positive)
This has always been an internal debate. On one hand, if I dress for others, I’m a follower. On the other hand, if I dress for comfort, people’s first impressions will be skewed. Most of the time this boils down to whether I’m willing to bet on myself or not.
Some days I wake up lazy, incompetent, generally useless and unfulfilled: On dredge days I dress down. I dress in clothes that will attract the least attention. I want to embody the massenmensch (mass man). I want to reek of average and apathy. I want bystanders at a glance to intrinsically know that I have no time to care for my outward appearance, while spending ample time complaining about political and economic tidings. I embody a champion of frugality. I brag about only having one pair of shoes, as if in a proclamation to my enlightenment against the capitalist machine. It is in these edgeful times that tasks are accomplished only through sheer willpower. I am less productive, meaning I make less: opportunities, networking, progress, money. I fall into the trap of modern self-help garbage telling all of us, “Just do your best! It’s ok to suck sometimes! It’s all about consistency!” I know intrinsically this is balderdash. A professional is someone who can consistently produce the best results regardless of circumstances and suboptimal conditions.
Then there are the days, upon waking, I am greeted by the ghost of Alexander the Great. He looms over my bed, yelling something out of a David Goggins inspirational video, “Get Up Andrew. Time to take over the F** world.” Oddly, on days such as these, I find myself taking more time to floss my teeth. I do an extra nice job combing and grooming my hair. I press my shirt collar with extra gusto. I steam my suit and ensure I wear the most elegant navy blue: On these days, in no universe, do I leave my place without a bold patterned tie.
Clothing does not boil down to some utilitarian dystopia as much as fast fashion and some people would have you believe. There is depth and meaning that encompasses the rituals and traditions in what we wear. When some enlightened urbanite lectures me on how they only wear what is most comfortable and cheap (yet for all their wokeness, they never seem to mind the SLAVE labour behind their 5-dollar t-shirt), and allows them to text more effectively while commuting. I cannot help but feel sad. They are missing one of the easiest, personable and hackable self expressions of art. Those same enlightened utilitarian robots are quick to mention that due to their superior critical thinking, they are able to offset what others think about them, and dress for themselves, and do not conform to some classical conservative work drone environment. Truly inspirational stuff.
So, for those of you who do not want to have their tombstone read, “He was a man, who lived an ordinary life, and was ordinary in every way,” Here’s the secret… The old adage “It’s just clothes” is bullshit. Here’s what SCIENCE says about why it matters what you wear.
“Enclothed cognition illustrates how clothing impacts human cognition based on the co-occurrence of its symbolic meaning and the physical wearing of the attire.” Two smart guys named Hajo Adam and Adam D. Galinsky did an experiment in 2012. They gave three groups the same task, a stroop test. This is where coloured words are written in different colours and we measure people’s selective attention (ex, the word Green is written in the colour Orange). Group A did it in their normal clothes. Group B did it in a lab coat—They were told it was a painter’s coat. Group C did it in the same lab coat but were told it’s a doctor’s coat.
Group C averaged 50% faster answers and 50% fewer mistakes. Group C embodied the qualities, skills, and attributes of doctors: Diligence, attention to detail, speed and critical thinking. The coat gave them the power of the person they associated with that coat.
Why is this differentiation between Group B and Group C so important? It’s important because the study showed that both “… WEARING the clothes and the SYMBOLIC meaning of the clothes are collectively necessary conditions for enclothed cognition to occur.” So in layman’s terms, the first step is to put on your suit. The second step is to understand that the suit is symbolic of an established professional in their field.
This power is almost omnipotent.
What he imagines, becomes.
I am not saying that clothing is the only factor or core principle in success, but it can hurt you if you ignore it.
Stop giving a crap about what the latest men’s fashion campaigns have plastered all over your feed. You look like a clown with your graphic printed hoodie and skinny jeans. “But but but Andrew, everyone dresses down in my office!” Ok massenmensch, go be like everyone else, and get everyone else’s results. This article probably isn’t for you. In your quest to not conform, you simply conform to another group’s ideals. Don’t delude yourself, either way you’re choosing a group to conform with. I just elect to choose the one in which the vast majority of successful men are in. If anyone throws flak your way about it, take it as an indication you’re on the right track but in the wrong place. If you work in an environment with co-workers that would shame you for aspiring and exhibiting effort in your appearance and stature, you need a new workplace, because chances are you’re surrounded by losers.
Remember—Clothing lives in context to our skills.
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