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I’ll be honest… home girl over here is no fashionista.  While I’m on a need to know basis with certain designers, and I LOVE classic pieces, I’m much more at home with a fitness-focused crew clad in Athleta than with an overly fashion-conscious crowd.

But what is “dressing like you mean it”?

With that being said, I am still a big believer in “dressing like you mean it.”  Heck, I have an entire lesson within Positively Confident on the subject.  But here’s where I want to be very clear.

When I say to “dress like you mean it,” I don’t mean to be saying that you need to follow the trends, spend all of your money on filling your closet, nor that you need to wear one thing in particular.

What I mean is that I want you to find what you love on yourself… and stock up on it.  I want you to get dressed in the morning and feel powerful, sexy, confident, and ready to take on the world.  And, to me, it doesn’t matter what you wear that makes you makes you walk like the city is your catwalk.  But it does matter that you feel that way each and every day.

The Science

I’ve been saying this sentiment for years, but now science is in my corner!  Recently, I found a study in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology that studied how our wardrobe impacts our performance.

In the study, when subjects wore white coats that they thought belonged to doctors, they performed better on tests than those wearing street clothes or those that thought the coat belonged to an artist.  They also only performed better when they were actually wearing the coat, compared to just being in the same room.

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What does this mean to me?

Now that we know that what we wear actually does have an impact on our performance, let’s talk about how we can apply this lesson to our daily lives.  And it’s my thought that we have two options that would realistically work for us on those days when we just really need to crush it at life.  So here’s what we can consider:

1) What were we wearing on that amazingly-awesome-can’t-get-enough-of-it day?

Typically, we are a lot more self-conscious about what we’re wearing compared to what others are thinking of us.  Which, on one hand, is difficult because we should be living in grace and self-acceptance.  But the nice part about that is that we remember what we’re wearing on those days that really stand out to us.

What were you wearing on those days where you just rocked at life?  Maybe you kicked butt on that interview, or you simply had an amazing night with your girlfriends.  Use or emulate those outfits over at over, always walking out of the door knowing you look amazing and are dressing like you mean it.

2) What are our powerhouse female idols wearing?

I never think that we should try to be somebody else – you are beautiful, powerful, and more than enough.  But that doesn’t mean that we can’t take inspiration from others when we need it.

Look to women you idolize – for me, I adore the poise of Jackie Kennedy, the spunk of Audrey Hepburn, the calm energy of Joanna Gaines, among many others.  What inspiration can you take from their usual wardrobes that will help you easily, intentionally pull together a look that inspires you.  (For example, I created this breakdown of how to emulate Joanna Gaines’ style that’s been a hit ever since!)  While I don’t suggest going out to get exactly what the stars are wearing, we can easily use items in our current wardrobes that will make us feel like we’re walking on stars.

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