“Psychologists hold the belief that the color of apparel can have an impact on emotional states and stress levels. The presence of color has the potential to augment an individual's perception of their environment.” (Source: Edwards, Vanessa Van (2013-12-16). "Color Psychology: What Colors Should You Wear and Why". ScienceofPeople.com)

So are we really able to influence our mood and emotional state with the colors of our clothes? Yes!

As mentioned above, there's a ton of research into how color affects our emotions, and marketers, public relations specialists, and fashion brands all use this knowledge to influence our choices.

And those corporations aren't just playing around; they wouldn't invest thousands of dollars in using color psychology if it didn't work!

But here's the good news: it's not only the giant companies that can benefit from using colors to affect our emotions - you can too!

And there's even a hot fashion trend that does exactly that - Dopamine Dressing!

It's based on the idea that the styles, textures, and colors of the clothes we wear have the ability to boost our mood.

Dopamine Dressing is all about using fashion to make us feel good and confident regardless of mainstream trends.

It's also been called 'dressing for joy'!

I absolutely love the idea, and I'm really excited that Dopamine Dressing has been rising in popularity for the last couple of years.

If you want to find out more about Dopamine Dressing, and how to use styles, textures, and colors of the clothes we wear to boost your mood, click here.

So, let's break down how different colors you wear are connected with different emotions.

As a general rule, warm colors are typically stimulating, while cool colors are considered calming.

Warm colors:

⦁ Red: Typically energizing, however, depending on the person, red can negatively trigger those who are stressed or anxious.

⦁ Yellow: Elevates mood, often indicates happiness and an optimistic outlook.

⦁ Orange: Similarly to yellow, Orange can make people happy and cheerful.

Sidenote: Orange is also thought to stimulate appetite and mental activity.

Cool colors:

⦁ Blue: Calming. This color is often used in the treatment of depression, pain and insomnia.

⦁ Green: The “color of nature”. Known to relieve stress and offer relaxation.

⦁ Purple: The color of royalty. Purple signifies power, wisdom, spirituality, creativity and imagination.

Neutral colors:

⦁ White: Clean, pure, innocent, simple, hopeful and clarifying.

⦁ Gray: “a color of compromise”, transitive, it can communicate feelings of emotional stability, tranquility, balance and experience. Gray is often used to emphasize other colors.

⦁ Black: Black is also associated with power, authority, control, depth, complexity and mystery.

However, it is important to note that individual reactions to the color black are quite varied, this relates back to the sixth principle of color psychology: Color meaning and effect also has to do with context.

⦁ Beige/Tan/Camel: Perhaps the poster child of “neutral colors”, beige is a relaxing, comforting, elegant, warm and dependable color.

Of course, we are each unique, so would a particular color have the same effect on everyone?

Well, yes and no.

Although there seem to be certain universal perceptions of color, ultimately, it is often based on the individual.

According to many studies about people's favorite colors, blue is the number one choice, followed by green, purple, and red.

It is thought that the reason blue and green are the top choices is because, evolutionarily, these colors symbolized oxygen, water and nature.

We are attracted to these colors because we know those things contribute to and sustain life.

Even the hue, saturation and brightness of a particular color can influence the way we feel!

So, even if we are able to influence our mood and emotional state with the colors of our clothes, the emotions evoked will probably vary from person to person.

For example, my best friend Ania loves neutrals like black, gray, white and beige.

She tells me those colors make her feel polished, put-together, classic and confident–and they generally go well together so she doesn't have to put too much thought into an outfit.

I think SHE looks amazing in neutral, but on the other hand, when I try to wear such colors I feel I look bland and boring.

People choose to wear certain colors for many different reasons, and certainly not all of them are connected to the psychology of colors.

They may want to use color to express themselves, their identity and emotions.

A person may love to wear blue; because it makes them feel calm and relaxed, or because it matches their eyes; they get a lot of compliments when they wear it, and that makes them feel good.

My favorite “color” is purple, therefore shades like mulberry, raspberry, violet, lilac, mauve, periwinkle (ok, there’s some blue in that one too), rose (what can I say? As a die-hard girlie-girl I’m a sucker for various shades of pink)

These all speak to me as well as their darker purple counterparts like grape, plum, eggplant, wine and raisin.

Do I feel royal (no), powerful (not so much, black does that for me), wise, creative and imaginative when I wear purple?

Definitely wise, creative and imaginative–and coincidentally those are all qualities that I like to think I possess in spades! 😉

So, as you can see, how a particular color makes us feel as individuals, might not agree with what the research (which is a kind of generalization) say.