The world of fashion is fast-paced. It-handbags are discovered overnight, and exclusive sneaker collaboration drops are sold out before you’ve typed in your credit card details. And yet, in a world that is prone to changing and updating itself at supersonic speed, a handful of core edicts have managed to resist the tide. Always dress the part. If you feel good, you’ll look good. After all, the clothes market is the (wo)man.

Where did these come from? No one knows. You likely heard a few from your mother who heard from a fashion coach who heard it from her mother when she was growing up. While it might be difficult to assign an origin to these truths, recent research has found that psychology has some say in it. Rewind to that of this day: when you woke up in the morning, did you reach for a cozy scuzzier or did you button yourself into a smart top that made you sit taller during a Zoom meeting? Your choices were already decided for you, courtesy of the unique interplay between fashion and psychology.

Further proof can be found in a study conducted by Professor Adam Galinsky and his colleague Hajo Adam from Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University. The study involved two groups of people who were asked to wear a white coat—the first was told that it was a doctor’s coat, and the second group was informed that was a painter’s coat. It was found that the first group conducted their tasks with more precision and made fewer mistakes than their counterparts because they had subconsciously embodied the typical qualities of a doctor, such as a focused attitude and greater attention to detail. Professor Galinsky termed the phenomenon as enclothed or embodied cognition, or the “systematic influence that clothes have on the wearer’s psychological processes.”

The primary takeaway? The outfit you choose to wear in the morning could alter the course of your day by dictating your attention span, confidence, and powers of abstract thinking for the day. Indeed, in the years since the study, several other researchers have unearthed further evidence to support the theory. Renowned psychologist Karen Pine penned her findings in her book, Mind What You Wear in which she discovered that women performed worse at a math test when wearing a swimsuit as opposed to a sweater. Do you find yourself gravitating towards a particular go-to outfit on days when you need an extra boost of confidence? Her research found that women neglect 90 percent of their wardrobe when under stress. Professor Pine concluded, “It has become apparent not only that we are what we wear, but that we become what we wear.”

Once you’ve identified that clothes can affect perception and performance in infinitesimal ways, the process can be employed to elicit the feelings and responses you’d prefer. And further proof of the same can be found with Meghan Markle, the former duchess of Sussex. Throughout her tenure at Kensington Palace, the actor-turned-activist favored neutral hues, dating back to her first appearance as a royal in a sheer salmon pink number with a coordinated Philip Treacy hat. Insiders believe that the pared-back palette was an intentional choice to ensure that her style didn’t become the story and draw attention away from her charity work.

The concept is underscored with further gravitas by color psychology, which suggests that certain colors can solicit a specific response in the opposite person. Color specialist Leatrice Eiseman suggests that particular colors, such as blue, can impart a calming effect on the viewer. Often associated with clear skies, blue has been evolutionarily considered a sign that there are no storms to come, making it a harbinger of stability and calm. Markle’s choice of color for one of her final engagements as a royal seems less like a coincidence: an azure blue number from Victoria Beckham, regarded by many as a palette cleanser. As she began her transition out of the royal fold, the former Duchess invited bolder hues into her lineup, including a showstopper cape dress doused in the head-turning hues of scarlet red—known universally as a power color.

It is a choice that she shares in common with Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez whose statement red pout has been her sartorial signature since her days on the primary debate trail. Political insiders have noted that as she rose through the ranks in an arena predominantly occupied by men, the color—considered a universal signifier of aggression and passion—serves as a silent rejoinder that she wouldn’t be blending into the wallpaper.

Look closer, and you’ll find evidence of color psychology strewn in our everyday lives in myriad, untold ways. As the world was launched into the unknown with an unprecedented health crisis, Pantone declared Ultimate Grey and Illuminating Yellow as its colors for the year—an uplifting combination that parcels out comfort while shining a ray of light on a hopeful future. “If we think of it in terms of nature, it’s the color of pebbles at the beach, of rock and stone that have been around for millions of years and aren’t going to disappear anytime soon,” Leatrice Eiseman, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute elaborated in an interview with Vogue. “Grey denotes fortitude; something that you can hang on to that is always going to be there for you,” she adds about the color that was found in high supply on the spring/summer 2021 runways, from Balmain to Salvatore Ferragamo.

The cheery hues of Illuminating Yellow, on the other hand, monopolized Prada’s spring/summer 2021 presentation. “For most people, from the time they were little children, yellow means hope, positivity, and something to look forward to. It always offers that uplifting feeling of hopefulness, which is so essential to the human spirit—the skies opening up to a beautifully sunlit day,” Eiseman explained.