Enclothed cognition, what I've been missing this entire time.

I'm glad that researchers and people who name things came up with the term "embodied cognition." Now finally, I know the term for the strange effects clothing and actions can have on your behavior and mindset. We've all felt different depending on the clothes we wear. When you have to dress well for an occasion or special meeting or an interview, you feel different. It's tough to explain, but you feel better about yourself and your self-image. Usually that converts into confidence which then affects your actions. Looking in the mirror at yourself and going "damn!" can change everything. More often than that, I'll have days where I'm behind on laundry, and considering my limited wardrobe I'm forced to wear a shirt that even I don't like that much. I feel like that can erode confidence. "Enclothed cognition" is something I can immediately recognize as having experienced.

It reminds me of once upon a time. A few years ago during early college days at UNT, a friend of mine would always wear a nice suit or button-down shirt every day to class. In an environment where many students just threw on whatever clothes they had quickly available, he always spent the extra time and money to make sure he always had nice clothes to wear. Many would ask him why, and he'd respond with something like "It just makes me feel better." Perhaps I didn't understand then because I thought Pink Floyd t-shirts were awesome dude and would attract many ladies, but his reasoning makes complete sense to me now. He went on to graduate from UNT and to a nice career, was that the secret?? He was a smart guy and personable, so his clothes weren't the only factor.....unless the only reason I saw him as that was because of his clothes! Maybe we would've never even become friends if he wore t-shirts and jeans! Maybe he never would've graduated and....etcetera. 

I'm just glad to have a few terms to address this all by now. Maybe I'll go drop some money on clothes and wear fancy stuff every day. Perhaps I could start a crowdfunding campaign, it would be research after all.