Can our Mental Health be effected by the way we Dress during Covid19?
After reading this article (passed onto me from my dad-thanks dad) it gave me quite a lot to think about, not just in terms of the effects on the fashion industry, but the effects on our own mental health and state of mind.
As more of us are working from home, or furloughed it is true we are all dressing more comfy and enjoying our lounge wear. Lounge wear has become more popular and fashionable over the passed few years and is certainly a more go to option for those days when we just cant be bothered, but still want to look all right!
However i feel slightly worried how comfortable dressing comfy has become, and the effects this plays on our mental health. Even though i am guilty of living in my lounge wear on most days during the coronavirus lockdown, I have noticed lately it does effect my state of mind. I find i'm not quite as motivated as I usually am , i'm a little later at getting started in the mornings and when i do i'm often distracted by the kettle! Once I've found my rhythm i manage to work till lunch , then often i realise, dare I say it , I've not had a shower yet! I take a look in the mirror and don't like what i see, not because I don't like who I am , just because of how i'm presenting myself, as this is not a look I normally go for. Not groomed ,not washed and certainly not someone I want to aspire to be like!And I most definitely do not look like the co founder of a successful clothing brand. So I quickly jump in the shower in an attempt to tidy my self up! I then find my self redressing in more (clean) lounge wear, only to take a relaxed approach to work , by moving onto the sofa! I found this to be on re peat, like ground hog day, until on week 3 of lockdown I suddenly released i'd lost part of my identity, and the enthusiasm I once had for my work .I found how I was dressing was in deed effecting me psychologically and effecting the way i carried out my day. I had become , how can i put it , quite bland and without flavor, words I've never used to describe myself. My day would normally start at 6 am and finished when it needed to, i would often work about 90 hours a week ,lockdown had started to take a hold on me and effecting me more than I realised . Over the passed 3 weeks these negative feelings had slowly stated to creep up on me.
Picture taken from Bloomberg.
Action needed to be taken....
So I decided to take a new approach to lockdown. Starting my day as I usually would before the coronavirus lockdown .
A simple start, a shower! setting my alarm as normal , getting up, washed and popping on a little bit of make up, next what to wear?? No more lounge wear for me! I opted for a casual T -shirt and teamed it with one of our wrap skirts. Mentally I felt 100% better , I can't tell you how good that made me feel, it gave me the lift I needed. Since this day I have not looked back , i'm more positive, more productive, more active. Just by changing the way I dressed slightly, how I presented myself, changed the way I behaved, it definitely released happy endorphins. It took me back to who I am and what I stand for, I felt my state of mind return, my mental well being slowly repairing, it felt amazing to be me again.
Picture taken from Entrepreneur.
I have been doing this the passed 2 weeks and I have to say I feel great mentally and physically. Although I am not dressing up for work or lockdown life, just a few changes to my wardrobe has made all the difference. The best thing I have found is to find a happy medium , dressing comfortably but appropriate for yourself. For me t-shirts and wrap skirts work best , or leggings with a nice floaty top. It has made all the difference to my mental well being. I even look forward to Saturday nights , quizzes, drinks, dancing with friends and family on line. For this we all make the effort to get dressed up full make up and all! I can't tell you how much I miss this as it was so often taken for granted before, I can't wait ( like us all ) for lockdown to be lifted and life to get back to normal.In the mean time I am grateful I am one of the lucky ones, healthy , able to stay at home and surrounded by loved ones , and extremely lucky i can change the way I feel just by making a few adjustments to my everyday life. I have started to feel excited again and it is for these reasons I believe the way we dress can effect how we feel.
This has always been the case and the reasons why we all enjoy shopping so much , this has not changed just because we are in lockdown, if anything we need to do this now more than ever to help improve our well being. I really can not express enough how much this has helped my state of mind, I would recommend this to anyone who is not particularity felling them selves. Dress up a bit, it feels good, do it for you!
Me and Rudie! Making the effort during lockdown.
I've also attached a link to more tips on how to help with mental health during the COVIS19. Taken off the patient.info website Authored by Lydia Smith and reviewed by expert Dr.Sarah Jarvis MBE.
Prodigal Fox is here to help support anyone struggling , don't be alone please get in touch , stay safe all and if you can stay home. Thank you again to our amazing NHS and Key workers.
Many thanks ,
Emma.
Photographers include Finn, Dan Meyers and Claudia Wolff.