As we grapple with how to ‘restore’ normalcy back into our lives we naturally think about how many of life’s fundamental pillars have been taken from us. Socializing – gone, Shopping – why bother?, and work is now – WFH. Each of these daily activities used to come with their own wardrobe imperative, and now absent in our lives we have devolved back into that primordial sludge called sweatpants! If our pre-historic forefathers had a dress code it would likely have been Athleisure.
Now don’t get me wrong since I also love being comfortable – but what have we forsaken? Identity is what we have lost. We have lost that semblance of who we once were pre-Covid. The self-expression that comes with clothing is an essential outlet and it needs to be constantly nurtured. We also know that certain chemicals in the brain such as dopamine and serotonin, both highly linked to mood, get generated when acknowledged by others because of our fashion choices.
Once a week, dress up like you were headed to a fancy dinner
(
Photo: Insta/namratajoshipura
)
Now that we are living in our heads more than ever before because that exterior validation is gone, we must be make a deliberate effort to ‘restore’ normalcy. We will one day emerge from this altered reality we are all living but until that day arrives we have to trick our minds into thinking that ‘it is all ok.’ Set a daily positive mindset by getting up and following your daily AM routine – bathe, put on some fresh clothes, look at yourself in the mirror and imagine a day in the not to distant future when you will walk out that door.
Take this opportunity to look through your wardrobe and pull out a piece of clothing that you once bought in a moment of reckless abandon (we have all had retail flings where we have deviated from our safe, predictable dress code). Put on that outfit and think about how in that moment of defiance you are opening the door to a ‘you’ that is full of possibilities for the future.
So, I would implore you to choose an evening once a week and dress up like you were headed to a fancy dinner and put on your fineries. Reclaim who you once where. Zoom a friend, raise a glass and party like its 1999!
Follow more stories on Facebook and Twitter
