Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum here with a classic episode from
Speaker 1: our archives and from former host Christian Sager. This one
Speaker 1: was inspired by a book Christian ran across about how
Speaker 1: to dress for success. It got him wondering can power
Speaker 1: dressing really make a difference socially or psychologically? Well, hello there,
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, I'm Christian Sager, and I've got a question
Speaker 1: for you. Do I look powerful? Well? I know you
Speaker 1: can't see me right now, but I feel powerful. Some
Speaker 1: people even think that what you wear can produce this
Speaker 1: kind of confidence. And who doesn't want to feel good
Speaker 1: about themselves? So what is this power dressing and does
Speaker 1: it actually work? Well? To answer that question, we have
Speaker 1: to take a trip to the smooth nineties seventies, when
Speaker 1: a guy named John Malloy came out with a series
Speaker 1: of books about dressing for success. He gribed a uniform
Speaker 1: of sorts for both men and women that would help
Speaker 1: them achieve greatness in business professions. For men, Malloy recommended
Speaker 1: conservative business attire that was high quality and fit well.
Speaker 1: Essentially a business suit in a dark hue with a
Speaker 1: modest white shirt and a tie. Think don draper for women,
Speaker 1: He adapted this uniform to include a skirted suit and
Speaker 1: a soft blouse with floppy or bode neck pieces think
Speaker 1: Margaret Thatcher. In order to achieve the kind of authority
Speaker 1: of the Iron Lady, Malloy recommended women do two things.
Speaker 1: Don't look like a secretary and don't look too sexy.
Speaker 1: You couldn't wear waistcoats or contour jackets because they drew
Speaker 1: attention to the bust. Scarves were popular because they drew
Speaker 1: attention to the face and away from the breasts, and
Speaker 1: floral prints and feminine colors like salmon pink were out.
Speaker 1: But you didn't want to look too masculine either, hence
Speaker 1: the skirts instead of trousers. This was the birth of
Speaker 1: power dressing, and by the nineteen eighties it became the
Speaker 1: way enterprising women learned to manage or limit the potential
Speaker 1: sexuality of their bodies and leave all that gross girl
Speaker 1: stuff like cooties at home. But as they entered the
Speaker 1: corporate workforce in ever greater numbers, some women wanted to
Speaker 1: modify this uniform while maintaining their professional appearance. One alternative
Speaker 1: model for breaking out of these fashion limitations was Princess
Speaker 1: Diana with her more glamorous outfits. Others were on TV
Speaker 1: and shows like Dynasty, Designing Women and Moonlighting enter broad
Speaker 1: shoulder pads, wide lapels, and a wider range of textures, colors,
Speaker 1: and accessories. Cut to the present day. Now, most of
Speaker 1: these fashion fads have come and gone, but you can
Speaker 1: still see their influence on politicians. For example, take Hillary
Speaker 1: Clinton or Donald Trump. Many of the tenants of power
Speaker 1: dressing are still in play today. We just don't call
Speaker 1: it that anymore. But a study re examined the principles
Speaker 1: behind power dressing. It found that putting on formal clothing
Speaker 1: does indeed make us feel powerful and even makes us
Speaker 1: think differently. The authors of this study tested student participants
Speaker 1: in a series of experiments by rating their outfits and
Speaker 1: taking cognitive tests. When the students switched out of sweatpants
Speaker 1: and into the kind of clothing they thought they should
Speaker 1: wear to a job interview, the tests showed their cognitive
Speaker 1: processing became more abstract, broader, and holistic. The authors also
Speaker 1: say that how often you actually wear formal clothes doesn't
Speaker 1: matter regardless of when you wear it. These uniforms have
Speaker 1: become a symbol of power. There have been other studies
Speaker 1: into how clothing affects our cognition too. For instance, when
Speaker 1: people wear white doctor's coats, they become more attentive, but
Speaker 1: this effect doesn't happen when they think it belongs to
Speaker 1: a painter. Today's episode was written by Christian and produced
Speaker 1: by Tyler Clang. For more on this and lots of
Speaker 1: other powerful topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Brain
Speaker 1: Stuff is production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts
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