The phrase “feeling blue” is more than just a turn of phrase; colors can actually impact our moods, according to color psychology. What’s more, the color of our clothing can affect our mood all day long!
The colors of our clothing allow us to express our individuality and our moods, but creates its own impact as well.
Getting dressed in the morning therefore impacts not only how others perceive you, but also how you interpret the world around you. To avoid wearing clothes that push your mood in the opposite direction of what you want, read below to learn more about color psychology and discover how each color impacts your mood.
Color Psychology: What is it?
Out of the countless environmental factors that impact human psychology, color is perhaps the most subtle and underrated. Research indicates that color plays a role in mood, sleep schedule, and even sensory experiences such as eating. The branch of psychology that investigates the impact of color on the human experience (i.e. emotions, behavior, cognition) is color psychology.
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Integrating these insights into your life can allow you to make conscious choices to improve professional outcomes, health, and mood. The significance of color psychology can be seen in business as brands strategically deploy color to create desired emotions, both unconsciously and consciously. On the other end of the spectrum, healthcare providers use color psychology to support patients in art therapy and chromotherapy.
Despite the growing body of research around color psychology, most researchers believe that each individual will have a unique relationship to color. Despite our individuality, research shows that we all share the same basic responses to color. In the following sections, we’ll discuss the moods and emotions most associated with each color to show how our clothing choices can truly impact our moods.
How Red Clothing Affects Your Mood
The color red is associated with boldness, passion/love, anger, and even increased appetite. Red is often associated with danger, which could explain why it has been observed to increase respiration rate and raise blood pressure. Finally, since red is a primary color, it evokes unique responses not commonly observed with other colors.
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Red also attracts more attention than other colors, which is why it dominates the pattern of this beautiful Red Vain Flow Skater Skirt. Wearing this red skirt will help you feel bold and powerful!
For these reasons, red is most likely to keep us feeling alert and stimulated (either from excitement, frustration, or passion). Red is a great choice when you’re ready to take risks, stand up for yourself, and take up space.
How Pink Clothing Affects Your Mood
Pink is a controversial color with a complicated history. Although today it’s associated with femininity, pink was considered a masculine color until the 1940s. As essentially a “softer” shade of red, pink evokes feelings of tenderness, youth, optimism, and hope. Thanks to its current association with femininity, wearing pink can create feelings of kindness and nurturing.
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Pink clothing becomes even more interesting when paired with other colors. For example, this Pink Disaster T-Shirt Dress blends lighthearted pink with black, which is a more serious color. As a combination, these two colors create an interesting contrast, balancing softness with strength for a fun and edgy vibe.
How Orange Clothing Affects Your Mood
Orange is made from a blend of yellow and red, and therefore takes some elements of these two colors. Resting somewhere between the intensity of red and the cheeriness of yellow, orange is a major mood booster.
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Orange encourages feelings of positivity and extraversion, encouraging more joyful and enthusiastic communications. So if you’re looking to have a positive day and channel your inner “people person” try wearing something like these fun Jumbie Art Owl Leggings.
How Yellow Clothing Affects Your Mood
There’s a reason why happy, cheerful people are described as having a “sunny personality.” The color yellow is associated with creativity, inspiration, and alertness. Yellow is also connected to morning time and fresh starts. Scientific studies have even found that yellow is connected with increased left-brain activity.
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Adding yellow to your outfit can spark joy, inspiration, and energy. Since yellow is pretty attention-grabbing, even a small amount of yellow can positively impact your mood. For example, this Anubis Hat can leave you feeling inspired and joyful thanks to the use of yellow and the cheerful designs.
How Green Clothing Affects Your Mood
The color green is calming and grounding, likely due to its association with nature. Wearing green can encourage feelings of groundedness, freshness, and vitality. Green also stands for connection, creating a gentle feeling of relaxation and harmony.
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Green clothing that evokes patterns of nature like these Solid Long Design Socks can amplify the calming and grounding effects of the color green.
How Blue Clothing Affects Your Mood
Similar to green, the color blue also leads to feelings of calmness and stability. Evoking the ocean and water, blue helps us to feel relaxed and productive.
Blue can also create feelings of compassion and empathy. You may have noticed that blue is a popular color for bedroom decor and pajamas, like these beautiful women’s Pajama Pants.
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Blue also stimulates a feeling of inner reflection, and studies have connected blue with lower heart rates and even slower metabolism. Since blue sits on the opposite end of the color spectrum as stimulating red, it makes sense that blue has the opposite (calming) effects
How Purple Clothing Affects Your Mood
Long associated with royalty, the color purple can evoke power, ambition and confidence. As a mix of red and blue, purple perfectly balances red’s intensity with blue’s serenity.
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Purple can also encourage feelings of creativity, independence, and power. Some people encourage wearing purple to promote intuition, so consider wearing purple clothing like these Jumbie Art Abstract Basketball Shorts when a big decision is looming.
How Black Clothing Affects Your Mood
Few colors are as complicated as black when it comes to emotional responses. In the Western world, black is traditionally associated with death and grieving. But this tradition is not true for all cultures worldwide.
Black is an incredibly versatile color, and its impact on mood largely depends on the context. For example, this playful Jumbie Art Bastet Womens Hooded Shirt doesn’t evoke feelings of grief or sadness. In this context, the color black is more associated with power and elegance as it creates a contrast for the colorful patterns lining the hood and hem.
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The color black is also connected to feelings of power, fear, and irreverence (i.e. “black humor”). In other contexts, black denotes authority and formality. Black is a popular color in most wardrobes, so wear black with pride and feel free to lean into whatever emotional element of black you need on that specific day.
How White Clothing Affects Your Mood
The (literal) opposite of black, white is an equally diverse color but is far less complicated when it comes to emotions. White universally evokes feelings of innocence, new beginnings, and serenity.
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You can amp up those feelings of creativity by wearing white items with playful patterns and images–such as this Racy Rabbit Seamless Sports Bra.
White also invites feelings of creativity and openness– think of a blank canvas or a blank page! Wearing white can also encourage peace, as it creates a feeling of space, safety, and cleanliness.
A Wrap-Up on Color Psychology in Your Wardrobe
The color (and emotional) possibilities don’t stop there! Just as there are infinite emotions we are capable of feeling, there are limitless color possibilities. As colors mix and blend to create new shades, new nuance is added to the emotional influence of the color.
Our color guide above only covers the most common emotional associations with each color, but everyone has their own personal, emotional connections to colors. Our emotional associations with colors can be influenced by our personal histories, memories, and the context of the moment.
Now that you know the basics of how to implement color psychology into your outfit choices,you can use this knowledge to optimize your daily outfits! Pull blue items when you need to soothe nerves before a big interview, and try out a red outfit when you’re working up the nerve to take a big risk. The choice and power is yours!