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By:

NITYA KANORIA

‘Dressing for success’ is no longer just a cliché, and

here’s why you should master the art.

T

he age-old advice to dress for

the job you want, and not the

one you have, may have roots

in more than simply how others

perceive you. Get this: studies now

prove that clothes can affect your

mental and physical performance. To

put it simply, fashion can up your IQ!

There’s no doubt that clothes can

change the way we feel—some give us

confidence, while others can dial up the

‘sexy’ quotient—but beyond that, they

hold the power to actually change the

way we think. Remember all those

chick-flicks where a makeover

completely changes your life (think

Andy Sachs in The Devil Wears Prada)?

In a study, Adam Galinsky, a professor

at Columbia Business School, gave 74

students three options: wear a doctor’s

coat, a painter’s coat, or just look at a

doctor’s coat. Then, they had to look at

two similar pictures side by side on a

screen and spot four minor differences.

Those who wore the doctor’s coat

(identical to the painter’s coat, BTW)

found more differences than the other

two groups. People wearing the doctor’s

coat became more attentive, an effect

that wasn’t there when they were told

that the coat belonged to a painter. “By

putting on the clothing, it essentially

becomes who you are. It’s a little bit

about a momentary shift in identity,”

says Adam. He even decided to dress

up as a pimp, complete with a fedora,

long coat and cane, to put his study to

test. “When I entered the room, I glided

in. I felt a very different presence,” he

said. It’s magical, really. Something as

ordinary as your everyday clothing

carries moods and abilities that otherwise

exist outside of you, and changes you in

quiet, but measurable ways.

In another similar study, Abraham

Rutchick, author of The Cognitive

Consequences Of Formal Clothing, and

professor of psychology at California

State University, Northridge, suited up

a group of students and gave them

cognitive tests. Strangely, they showed

more abstract processing (the ability to

think about ideas that are not physically

present) than those in their casualwear.

“Putting on formal clothes makes us feel

powerful...it changes the basic way we

see the world,” says Abraham.

That doesn’t mean you need to suit

up every day––stick to monotones in

an analytical environment; but if your

job requires creative thinking, then go

wild with accessories. Or, if you want to

exude power and fierceness, try head-

to-toe red, à la Victoria Beckham. n

Can Your

Clothes Mak e

You Smarter?

JASON WU

HERMÈS

BALENCIAGA

D pika

P d k e

Kangana

Ranaut

Vi t i

B kh

Jessica

Alba Emily

Ratajkowski

Deepika Deepika

PadukonePadukone

Victoria Victoria

BeckhamBeckham