The term “Style” although a widely used term, it is a highly misunderstood word.

The term brings up a wide variety of emotions, especially when one believes it to be reserved for fashion magazines, influencers, and the upper echelon, invoking an impression of a full fashion makeover like that the scene of Julia Roberts floating down Beverly hills with all her shopping bags looking suave in her Chanel in Pretty Woman. However, style is for the everyday person irrespective of how they identify themselves.

Sadly, in today’s fast paced digital world, “style” has been confused with so many other terms, attaching a completely different meaning and value to it. With the “trends” frenzy across social media and other digital channels, we’ve lost an understanding of how valuable “style” it is to each one of us.

The garment we don each day, has a story to tell, it has an impact on us in a psychological, social, and emotional way. One’s clothing is a snapshot who they are in the form of a garment. It tells others how they perceive themselves, their outlook on life and their confidence in approaching any situation.

On a fundamental level, most individuals intuitively understand the importance & power of clothing. Nobody would show up to a job interview or a first date in a T-shirt & track-pants. Most people instinctively know about the importance of first impression and ensure they dress right for an occasion they deem ‘important’ as it reflects who we are as people.

Scientists have been researching into the psychological impact of how clothing affects how we think. They have named this term “Enclothed Cognition”. The theory says the clothing we or that others are wearing, changes our thought patterns.

Now, we are all aware of this and it isn’t anything new in the human history. Clothing has evolved alongside mankind. What started as something out of necessity & practicality, quickly transformed into an art form and means of communication. For centuries, clothing has been a way valuing an individual’s status symbol and where someone ranked in the society, what they could afford and potentially their profession.

Whether or not we like it, “judgment” is a part of our society. It’s a known fact that it takes someone approximately 8 seconds of meeting you to size you up. This is usually a result of a combination of the impact of your handshake, greeting, and clothing. For example, you’d think someone carrying a Louis Vuitton bag has money while someone in dirty clothes might be struggling.

Even more important than how others view you, what you wear can impact your own self-image as well.

The image you create with your clothes can then actually direct your behaviours and actions. A study in Social Psychological and Personality Science found that those who wear formal business attire feel more powerful and in control of a situation, especially when going through a cognitive processing experiment. They also showed higher levels of intellect and creativity, even if they were on the same level as their casual-wearer counterparts.

It's therefore safe to say that although style may appear to be superficial and something merely external in the form of clothing, it is, in fact is deeply internal. What an individual wears, not only has the power to visually express what they verbally cannot, but also has a positive influence on their self-perception.

Personal style is an expression of how entirely unique an individual is and enables an individual to be their ‘Best Versions’. Knowing your ‘Personal Style’ is extremely critical in the fast-paced environment we live in. At any given moment, we are consciously or subconsciously selling our best version to be successful in that situation, may it be a date or an interview, a wedding, or a business meeting.

Your “personal style” is your business card that is always on display. Like a business card, your personal style is an approach, a method, a technique that has been chosen by you to best represent who you are as a person to be successful in any given situation.

To put it simply, personal style matters.

Author: Roopa Gulati

Roopa is a Confidence & Resilience Coach and uses fashion as a tool to empower her clients in not only rediscovering their personal style but also feel confident & embracing their Best Version