Dopamine Dressing
Dopamine Dressing – Color is king, and you can get pleasure from it!
Maybe it’s the first time you’re hearing about this, but dopamine dressing is more than a Pinterest prediction of trends to be adopted in 2022.
To us, it’s something that has already begun making its way on the runways, on social media, and on the streets.
Hearing from American fashion psychologist Dr. Dawnn Karen, “The chemical dopamine is released within the brain, triggering the nervous system,” she explains. “Dopamine kicks in when we reward ourselves, perform self-care, and achieve a goal. It can also evoke feelings of happiness, joy, and supreme elation.”
When this is applied to how we dress, it simply means dressing in a way that can evoke feelings of joy, happiness, and comfort.
How did it all begin?
Like several fresh trends, dopamine dressing has something to do with three years of unexpected normal. And just so we’re clear, this of course means COVID-19.
Being locked in your home or quarantine centers and having to adjust to remote work, online living, less crowded meetings/social gatherings, and so on has a way of making you crave something that helps you get noticed/celebrate your body.
Forget the dull, neutral colors that used to bring comfort and feed a person’s desire to go unnoticed. Now people want to be seen, to feel confident, happy, even sensual.
“According to my research, brighter colors can elicit positive emotions,” Dr. Karen says. “Yellow is the number one color, which represents happiness, joy, and hope. I would add that this is based on individuality. One person may be drawn to color as a child. What was their happy color as a child? This could also have been a favorite print or texture.”
It’s not all about color
This brings us to appreciate the fact that the new trend is more than an obsession with bright colors.
It can also be the tendency to reach for a specific print, length, or style. Dopamine dressing is all about self-perception and it’s packed with benefits.
There’s a lot to gain.
Dopamine dressing has come just in time to help people boost their mental health. Since it’s all about choosing an outfit that you’ll enjoy looking at and feel good wearing, rather than focusing on how your co-workers or friends might perceive it, its impact on our positive mental growth is natural.
In addition, behavioral psychologist Carolyn Mair, author of The Psychology of Fashion, puts it just right when she said, “dopamine dressing motivates us toward a good result.” She adds, “…expecting something good to happen as a result of how we dress makes us more open to opportunities.”
Not to forget, it pushes a ‘dress as you want’ narrative that will help people find unique ways to express themselves.
And in case you’re wondering how to approach this splash of color or dopamine dressing, Dr. Karen has some words, “Can they recall a time they felt the happiest? What color, texture, or print did they wear? It could have been, perhaps, a costume tutu skirt? Or, if they can’t remember any childhood experiences, perhaps recalling a time in their adulthood when they were at their peak.”
“With dopamine dressing, you evoke the feelings you want to feel, so it is in a way akin to aspirational dressing,”
We completely agree.
