Everyone deserves to wear a red dress.

How many times have you looked at a beautiful red sparkly dress, or an amazing pantsuit or that delicate strappy top and thought that’s amazing, but...

"I can’t carry something off like that. I’m too big, short, old, muscley or crinkly kneed (as one client shared with me), the list goes on for women.

Sarah Seung-McFarland, a licensed psychologist, design and wardrobe consultant and founder of Trulery.com says for many women,

“Clothing is an extension of our imagination and communicates a message to ourselves and others about our identity, and how we want to show up in the world,” 

“Clothing can reflect our ideal self, but it can also reveal our emotional distress.”

So, which comes first the mindset or the clothing?

What would happen if we wore the beautiful red dress anyway and dared to say “hello” to the world acknowledging that you are worth taking notice of!

Can a single item of clothing really have the power to boost confidence and positively impact our mental health? 

Well yes! There is even a name for it “dopamine dressing” where we actively choose to wear clothing that makes us happy and brings us joy, rather than only wearing clothes that fit certain “rules”.

Dopamine dressing is not new. A study released a decade ago in 2012 found that when participants were asked to wear clothing that held some symbolic meaning, their perceived confidence increased. 

Behavioural psychologist and author of The Psychology of Fashion, Carolyn Mair shared. “When we feel good in what we are wearing, we tend to be more confident,” 

“When we are confident, we are able to exert influence through our confidence alone. When we feel good, we are likely to be perceived as looking good too, as our posture, voice and other nonverbal aspects will be more positive.

Even having a “period capsule wardrobe” can be helpful. 

When our hormones change during our menstrual cycle, particularly the week before and during our period it can affect even how we see our own appearance. 

I’m sure you know that feeling of feeling fab in your choice of outfit one day and feeling horrendous the next day, it’s the same outfit and the same you but estrogen and progesterone playing mind games. 

But having outfits that you love and feel good in set aside for this time of the month can give you that little boost that is needed. 

Dressing for your true self means knowing what clothes make you feel good, caring less about what others may think, and feeling the joy of wearing that special item. 

Power dressing for work has been a long-practised confidence-boosting technique. Used for important meetings, job interviews, or presentations often to give you an extra edge and boost to achieve your potential. 

SmartWorks is an amazing charity that embraces the power of clothing to boost confidence and self-esteem.  - they provide a dressing and coaching service for unemployed women with confirmed job interviews.

The principle is simple, they style women in an outfit which will boost their confidence, ultimately helping them to secure the job.

With 94% of clients reporting that SmartWorks boosted their confidence.

So next time you need a little boost or that negative voice is telling you “you can’t wear that”, ask yourself

• What do I love about this dress, jacket, or outfit? Is it the fabric, colour, cut or a memory of the last time you wore it?

• How does it make me feel when I wear this?

• What other aspects of you are valuable? 

We all deserve to be taken notice of, we are all worthy of wearing that red dress and feeling confident. Do yourself a favour this festive season, wear the red dress and notice for yourself the impact this has on your self-esteem.

Who knows you might even be brave enough to wear a red sequined sparkly dress, even with a bow!

P.s You know who you are and you're doing amazing!