Demographics:

I looked at men of all races between the ages of 20 and 40, including queers.

What I want to express is the feeling of the model, not the feeling that the model makes others feel after wearing the clothes.

It is easy to think of clothing as mere covering, or the means by which we project our image to other people. But studies have shown that clothes really can change how we think and feel.

I had become interested in something called ‘enclothed cognition’, the idea that what we wear can change our minds. An idea that was borne out in the tests the friend completed.

The first outfit depicts a youngish urban man, who may have anti-social tendencies. This is because most people tend to associate hoodies with teenagers. 

The 2nd outfit represents a male that can be viewed as queer or gender-fluid. The French beret, alongside the feathery decorated sweater aids in creating this imagery. 

In the 3rd picture, the combination of long coat and satin scarf encapsulates the aura of a confident, white-collar worker. This can be attributed to yuppie culture, which has propagated such an outfit as the standard for your every-day office employee.

Then we come to the 4th outfit, which varies significantly from the previous ones in its casualness and vivid colour palette. The young man can be seen wearing a Hawaiian shirt, alongside shorts and a beach hat. In contrast to the previous outfit, this beach attire makes the young man seem care-free and unbothered by the worries of the world. 

Finally, the cartoon-ish attire in the last image makes the man seem immature and aloof. One can easily picture him walking down the street and listening to music through his headphones, unaware of his surroundings and how he may be perceived by others. 

Our clothes reflect our mood – and can change it.

A sample size of 25 people were asked on social media to describe their impression of the man under each picture. This experiment was conducted under blind conditions, with the subjects having no prior knowledge to the man’s personality traits. Results have shown a clear link between each outfit and what their initial impression of the man was, varying between juvenile in some, to confident and mature in others. To conclude, what one chooses to wear can have not only an impact on their cognitive and emotional psychology, but also on the initial impressions they will leave on others.