5 Things Your Clothes Are Saying About You

Some findings about clothes from psychological research:

1. Different color clothing says different things about you. Most interesting is that studies show red has some pretty unique effects. For the most part, red seems to mean sex. Research shows it makes men more attractive to women. It makes women more attractive to men. It helps hitchikers get picked up. (More on the odd and interesting effects of red here.)

2. Dressing young can make you healthier. Glasses make you look smarter but less attractive. How a female celebrity dresses can tell you how short her marriage will be.

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3. You like brand name clothes because they make you seem high status and (hopefully) this will cause people to treat you better.

4. Dark clothes = neurotic. Formal dress = conscientious. Messy and unconventional clothing = open to new things. Cleavage and expensive clothes = narcissism in women.

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5. You trust doctors more when they wear the white coat. You like musicians’ music more when they dress the way you expect them to. By the same token, what you wear affects how you act: when research subjects wore lab coats they acted more attentive and careful. So choose your clothes wisely when you need to perform at your best.

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This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree.

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