How Do Your Clothes Make You Feel?

Have you ever thought about how your clothes make you feel? Not just are they comfortable, itchy or have a scratchy tag, or you like the feel of velvet, or buttery soft leather, but inside your head?

Do they give you energy or sap you?

When you put on that garment does it make you feel more alive and vibrant or do you feel dull and lifeless?

Ideally you want your clothing to give you energy rather than take it away (there are so many other drains on our energy each day we need our clothes to support us too!). If you find that your clothes aren't making you feel more energised each time you wear them, and often this happens when:

1. they don't support your personality
2. they are old and worn out
3. they are the wrong colour for you and drain your complexion of life

Then think about letting these pieces go!

Do the make you feel powerful or strong?

This is particularly important in the workplace, but also in the gym (or doing any form of exercise).

In the workplace clothes can act as armour, both protecting you from negativity of others or workplace politics, and also help to make you feel stronger and more powerful.

If you want your clothes to make you feel more powerful at work, consider adding more yang elements to your outfits such as:

1. structured garments like jackets
2. straighter vertical lines
3. fabric that has some weight and substance
4. darker colours paired with lighter colours to create more contrast which will make you appear more authoritative

Your exercise clothes should also make you feel strong. Saggy baggy old outside tee shirts won't give you this power. You want your exercise clothes to make you feel confident and powerful which will assist you in your exercise regime.

Do they make you feel softer or more feminine?

Sometimes we want to feel more friendly, softer, more feminine in our lives. If this is something you're after consider adding more yin elements to your outfits such as:

1. softer fabrics that drape more fluidly
2. lighter colours in lower contrasts
3. curved lines, patterns or details

Do they make you feel younger or older?

Now which way you prefer to go may be based on your age and stage of life, but also sometimes situational elements will influence what you want to communicate.

Want to feel younger?

1. Don't dress like a 20 year old if you're 50, that won't make you younger, but instead try hard (or mutton dressed as lamb which has the opposite affect of what you're after).
2. Look for clothes that represent the current fashion that are age appropriate for you (avoid those 'old lady' clothes shops)
3. Keep your skirt and dress hemlines to around knee length
4. If it says 'frumpy' it's ageing (check out this post on "how did I end up frumpy" for more assistance)

Want to feel older or more mature? Sometimes when we are young we need (often in the workplace) to be taken more seriously, so consider adding more yang elements but also:

1. avoid wearing trends head to toe whether or not they suit you
2. not taking into consideration your body shape and proportions, understanding what flatters your figure gives an impression of understanding yourself which often comes with maturity
3. wearing more conservative clothes, skirts to the knee, not mid thigh, not showing too much skin

So my question for you today to ponder is - What do you want your clothes to make you feel?