Dopamine Dressing: Your Three-Step Guide to Wearing Colours for Mood and Happiness

What is dopamine dressing you might ask? Well, if you have studied the trends in fashion lately whether on the runway, in retail stories or on social media platforms, you may notice that bright colours, vibrant prints and bold patterns are gradually taking over and becoming the norm but this is no surprise. Fashion labels are delivering on the desire for dressing up to inject some joy and happiness into our lives. In a nutshell, people are dressing up to boost their mood. Indeed, mood and mental health is a hot topic but what does fashion and style have to do with it? Lots it seems. Your style choices can affect your emotions and state of mind for the better or for worse. Basically, this is because the two are inextricably linked together.

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Dr. Dawnn Karen is a pioneer in the field of Fashion Psychology and in her book, Dress Your Best Life, she discusses the idea of aligning your mental state with your way of dress. This is a concept that forms the foundations of her “Mood-Based Dressing Theory” which is further broken down into two categories. And these categories have paved the way for what is now popularly known as Dopamine Dressing – a term Karen coined, which is the idea that wearing certain types of clothing can improve mood.

Dopamine Dressing Can Perpetuate Our Current Emotional State

The first category of “Mood-Based Dressing Theory” illustrates that we all tend to dress based on how we feel in the particular moment that we are choosing what to wear. Sometimes, our feelings could push us to prioritize practicality and comfort over being fancy. For example, choosing to wear sweatshirts when you feel down or wearing bright colours because you are happy. Karen calls this dressing to “match your mood and perpetuate your current emotional state,” also known as Mood Illustration Dress.

Dopamine Dressing Can Elevate or Boost Our Mood and Emotions

However, there are also days when you may not necessary feel as good and you might want to alter that emotional state by using clothes to help elevate your mood. In other words, dressing to feel better. This is called Mood Enhancement Dress. Ultimately, it is the reason why an outfit such as a black suit can make you look very strong and capable right before that important board meeting, even when you do not necessarily feel that way. And this could go either way because maybe those sweatshirts we talked about earlier can make you feel cozy and relaxed on a day when you’ve been overstimulated.

At the heart of the matter, humans are emotional beings and your way of dress should be motivated by internal factors plus a sense of authenticity to keep you in sync with your core values. If you are looking to use clothes to enhance your mental health, then dressing up is a self-care prescription with many benefits.

Three-step Guide to Dopamine Dressing

1. Make dressing up a self-care ritual to jump-start your day

You can approach dressing up as a sort of wellness moment that helps you to begin each day. According to Karen in her book, “Believing you are taking good care of yourself by dressing nicely (however it is that you define ‘nicely’) can actually help you feel good about yourself.”

Choose your clothing carefully, paying particular attention to how you feel. As you look through your closet for things to wear, make a mental note of what catches your attention and makes your eyes sparkle. Maybe it’s the multicoloured scarf sitting at a corner of the shelf or a floral print skirt hanging in the corner that’s getting you excited. Perhaps it is the long men’s robe that is making you feel grounded. Even high heels are making a gradual comeback.

Whatever it might be, observe your feelings and do not fight back what seems to be calling out to you from the clothes you already have. Once you find pieces for the day that you love, mix and match them with other beloved items until you have a winning ensemble. Today, you might be the lady in red, tomorrow, the print princess, and the day after a nautical belle. Or maybe something as simple as wearing a statement necklace over a simple tee-shirt is your way of stepping things up a notch. There are no fashion rules to be kept or broken where your mental health is concerned – simply do what makes you feel happy.

Remember, you don’t have to wait for a special occasion to wear an amazing dress for the reason is that you are indeed the main event. You are worth it! Dispel the myth that you don’t have to dress up nicely simply because you are not going anywhere. That big thing you are waiting for to happen before you show up in those good looking clothes might never actually happen. So, invest in you.

2. Find Your Ideal Colour Palette by Wearing a Range of Hues

According to research studies, colour can have a direct effect on human psychology and performance. Based on colour, different clothes will convey various symbolic meanings that are tied to the wearer’s state of mind. This means that the colour of the clothes we wear can produce certain moods that will directly impact our mental health.

In her book, Karen says, “Mood Enhancement Dressing isn’t simply dressing fancy when you’re obligated to. It’s using clothes to shift your perspective as needed. A great example would be wearing happy colours to help offset seasonal depression – to literally brighten your outlook.” Therefore, if you find yourself feeling a little low, you can wear colours based on aspirations of how you want to feel.

Here are some colours are their attributes below.

• Blue – a cool, calm, clean and clinical colour.
• Green – symbolizes life, nature, growth and maturity.
• Yellow – happiness, friendship, creativity and youthfulness.
• Orange – boldness, expansiveness, optimism and joyfulness.
• Black – could mean power, prestige, exclusivity and authority.
• Red – danger, anger, fierceness or love, passion and seduction.
• White – peace, fragility, purity, innocence, minimalism and light.
• Purple – royalty, mystery, adventure, wealth and creativity.

Once you have found the colour(s) you love and which resonate with you, feel free to add as little or as much of it as you desire, paying particular attention to how it all resonates with you on the inside. You can also play with prints, patterns and textures in those colours to achieve the perfect dopamine dressing look.

While most people would like to follow a set of rules and work with a colour wheel to decide on what colours to pair with others, there are really no rights or wrongs. If you are on the shy side, then start small with a few accessories in subtle colours and work your way up to bigger items in brighter, bolder colours.

Nevertheless, it is important to note that you can and should wear whatever truly makes you feel good without straying too far out of character from your authentic self. And so, when it comes to adding colours to your style for beginners, below are some general guidelines (not rules) that you can follow without getting too rigid about things.

Select one accent colour

Choose one accent colour to begin with. This could be your favourite colour for instance or a shade that just really suits your skin tone. If you are new to adding colours to your wardrobe, you don’t want to go crazy and add a bunch of accent colours all at once. Adding just “one” accent colour to start with will help warm you up to the idea of wearing a different range of other colours.

Start with small accessories

Select one or two small accessories in the accent colour you have chosen. This could be a silk neck scarf, belt, necklace or purse. This tip is especially important if you are scared of wearing colour and not really sure how it would look on your frame. If you’re comfortable, then pair a range of the selected items together in the same accent colour e.g. a red belt and neckscarf to match.

Do a partial or full colour block

Now you are getting more adventurous and are ready for the next step, which is to start pairing bold and bright colours together. Select two colours to go together and choose pieces from your wardrobe to reflect the given colour choices (partial colour block). The previous steps have laid solid foundations. You can now pair not just two but three or more colours you love (full colour block).

3. When Shopping, Step Out of the Comfort Zone and Express Your Inner Self

Fashion is communication, self-expression and a sort of empowerment. People who consume fashion do so to express themselves through their personal style as showcased through clothing and apparel. When we dress good, people treat us well and we feel better about ourselves which can lead to us having more positive experiences throughout the day. However, getting treated with an air of admiration, respect and dignity is not always automatic.

The type of style you choose to embody on any given day has the ultimate ability to shape other people’s negative or positive perceptions about you – whether those ideas are accurate or not. With dopamine dressing, you are reflecting a vibrant, happy personality and that means you will also need to step out of the comfort zone in selecting clothes to wear. Choose carefully when you go shopping and pay particular attention to what makes you alive!

Yes, first impressions matter and it is important to always put your best foot forward but you don’t have to be dressed all the way to the nines, the key is to always stay clean, crisp and presentable. Doing so is more likely to help you attract more people into your life who will hopefully become part of the necessary systems of support that you need.

In conclusion, dopamine dressing in fashion and style can be a form of therapy that could boost your feelings and eventually, your performance in many ways, leaving you with full rewards of the life you most want to live. However, at the end of the day, it is still a choice which you have to embrace. You can look at your personal style differently, using fashion as a toolkit to further your own overall mental health and wellness.

What is your favourite colour to wear in an outfit?