Psychology

Cropped pants, cuffs, and the psychology of fashion

/ edebock / 3 Comments

Logo by SamI’ve always been very particular about the length of my pants. From the time I was a child, I’ve loved wearing capri pants, or pedal pushers as we called them way back then. On the other hand, I’ve never liked wearing cropped pants. They look great on other women, but they feel all wrong on me.

The difference between capris and crops is simply a matter of a few inches. Capris end at the calf and crops fall 2 to 4 inches above the ankle bone. They’re a great way to show off your ankles, cute shoes or booties, or even a fun pair of socks, but I just can’t convince myself to wear them.

Why is that? Why such an aversion to something that is admittedly stylish and cute? I think it has to do with the fact that I have long legs and back in the day when I was young and terribly self-conscious, I often had trouble finding pants that were long enough. The thought of being mocked for wearing pants that were too short horrified me. Pedal pushers were intentionally short. Everyone knew that. I could wear them and fit in, but cropped pants were not a thing back then.

This summer, I’ve discovered something odd. I have 3 pairs of summer pants that are designed to be worn either full length or with the cuffs rolled up which essentially makes them the same length as cropped pants. Those, I love wearing! Again, I have to ask myself why and again, I go back to my early memories of growing up on the waterfront. When we played on the beach and waded in the tidal pools, it was natural to roll up our cuffs to keep them dry. Now, when I wear my cuffs rolled up, that carefree feeling of childhood play is what comes to mind!

Amazingly, how we dressed as a child or the fears that we might have had back then about not fitting in can affect the way we dress and shop for clothing decades later. Can you think of any examples from your own life?

The psychology of fashion

/ edebock / 8 Comments

LogoConsidering all that’s been going on in the world lately, I must admit that I felt a little guilty complaining about my wardrobe in last Friday’s post. After all, that’s such a first world problem. In fact, sometimes writing about fashion at all seems terribly trivial.

On the other hand, I’ve been reading about something called enclothed cognition, a term that relates to the effect that clothing has on the way a person thinks, feels, and functions. There’s nothing new about the idea that how we dress influences the way others perceive and respond to us. That’s why we dress differently for a job interview than we do for a day at the beach. Recent studies show, however, that what we wear also directly affects our behaviour, attitudes, personality, mood, confidence, and even the way we interact with others. If that’s the case, then perhaps taking an interest in what we wear isn’t as shallow and self-centred as it might seem!

An interesting question to ask yourself is not only what messages do you want your clothing to tell others about you, but also how do you want to feel when you wear them? I’m reminded of how I instinctively packed what might best be referred to as comfort clothes when I got the call that my father was dying. In this case, I was using clothes to help reduce anxiety and foster calm. If clothing actually has a therapeutic impact, maybe it really does matter that I’m not entirely satisfied with what I see hanging in my closet! After all, self care is an important aspect of mental health.