WEBVTT - Does "Power Dressing" Actually Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Well, Hello,

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<v Speaker 1>their brain Stuff. I'm Christian Sager, and I've got a

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<v Speaker 1>question for you. Do I look powerful? Well? I know

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<v Speaker 1>you can't see me right now, but I feel powerful.

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<v Speaker 1>Some people even think that what you wear can produce

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<v Speaker 1>this kind of confidence. And who doesn't want to feel

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<v Speaker 1>good about themselves? So what is this power dressing and

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<v Speaker 1>does it actually work? Well? To answer that question, we

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<v Speaker 1>have to take a trip to the smooth nineteen seventies

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<v Speaker 1>when a guy named John Malloy came out with a

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<v Speaker 1>series of books about dressing for success. He prescribed a

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<v Speaker 1>uniform of sorts for both men and women that would

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<v Speaker 1>help them achieve greatness in business professions. For men, Malloy

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<v Speaker 1>recommended conservative business attire that was high quality and fit well.

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<v Speaker 1>Essentially a business suit in a dark hue with a

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<v Speaker 1>modest white shirt and a top think Don Draper. For women,

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<v Speaker 1>he adapted this uniform to include a skirted suit and

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<v Speaker 1>a soft blouse with floppy or bode neck pieces think

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<v Speaker 1>Margaret Thatcher. In order to achieve the kind of authority

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<v Speaker 1>of the Iron Lady, Malloy recommended women do two things.

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<v Speaker 1>Don't look like a secretary and don't look too sexy.

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<v Speaker 1>You couldn't wear waistcoats or contour jackets because they drew

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<v Speaker 1>attention to the bust. Scarves were popular because they drew

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<v Speaker 1>attention to the face and away from the breasts, and

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<v Speaker 1>floral prints and feminine colors like salmon pink were out.

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<v Speaker 1>But you didn't want to look too masculine either, hence

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<v Speaker 1>the skirts instead of trousers. This was the birth of

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<v Speaker 1>power dressing, and by the nineteen eighties it became the

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<v Speaker 1>way enterprising women learned to manage or limit the potential

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<v Speaker 1>sexuality of their bodies and leave all that gross girl

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<v Speaker 1>stuff like cooties at home. But as they entered the

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<v Speaker 1>corporate workforce in ever greater numbers, some women wanted to

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<v Speaker 1>modify this uniform while maintaining their professional appearance. One alternative

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<v Speaker 1>model for breaking out of these fashion limitations was Princess

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<v Speaker 1>Diana with her more glamorous outfits. Others were on TV

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<v Speaker 1>and shows like Dynasty, Designing Women and Moonlighting enter broad

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<v Speaker 1>shoulder pads, wide lapels, and a wider range of textures,

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<v Speaker 1>colors and accessories. Cut to the present day, now, most

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<v Speaker 1>of these fashion fads have come and gone, but you

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<v Speaker 1>can still see their influence on politicians. For example, take

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<v Speaker 1>Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. Many of the tenets of

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<v Speaker 1>power dressing are still in play today. We just don't

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<v Speaker 1>call it that anymore. But a fifteen study re examined

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<v Speaker 1>the principles behind power dressing. It found that putting on

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<v Speaker 1>formal clothing does indeed make us feel powerful and even

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<v Speaker 1>makes us think differently. The authors of this study tested

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<v Speaker 1>student participants in a series of experiments by rating their

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<v Speaker 1>outfits and taking cognitive tests. When the students switched out

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<v Speaker 1>of sweatpants and into the kind of clothing they thought

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<v Speaker 1>they should wear to a job interview, the tests showed

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<v Speaker 1>their cognitive processing became more abstract, broader, and holistic. The

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<v Speaker 1>authors also say that how often you actually wear formal

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<v Speaker 1>clothes doesn't matter, regardless of when you wear it, these

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<v Speaker 1>uniforms have become a symbol of power. There have been

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<v Speaker 1>other studies into how clothing affects our cognition too. For instance,

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<v Speaker 1>when people wear white doctor's coats, they become more attentive,

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<v Speaker 1>but this effect doesn't happen when they think it belongs

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<v Speaker 1>to a painter. Check out the brain stuff channel on

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<v Speaker 1>YouTube and for more on this and thousands of other topics,

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<v Speaker 1>visit how stuff works dot com.