The Color of Depression

Bonjour Sweet Peas! I have always been intrigued with colors and hues and how colors can influence the mood we’re in or the food we’ll eat. I’m excited about my findings! Let’s talk about depression, colors, and the way that they can relate to one another. Colors can speak for us when we don’t want to or simply cannot speak for ourselves. Below is a color wheel that I found online. There was a discussion of a study that was done that shows how colors can represent how we are feeling and a reflection of how we feel. Whether it’s anxious or depressed, happy or sad. 

This is called Color Theory (CT). My main focus here is how CT can relate to fashion and feelings. For instance, someone wearing a bright yellow dress grabs the eye and makes us think of summer and warmth. When we see the color red, especially around this time of the year (Valentine’s Day), we tend to think of love and romance. However, those are just a couple of examples. Red and Yellow can evoke many other thoughts and experiences from our pasts. 

So, I discovered that depression may actually alter our visual perception! Interesting right? I knoooow! We are apt to see the world with a blue or gray hue. This study has shown that the world seems more bland or colorless while one is in a negative mood.  How does this affect the way that we are able to dress ourselves when we are suffering from depression? Well, it appears that the clothing selections, while one is depressed, digresses from the usual attire. For women, we tend to wear looser, baggier clothes. For men, they tend to focus more on color. This is a concern because wearing clothes that signify depression could reinforce the negative mood. I’ll assume that the baggy/looser clothes are more than likely dimly colored. This leads me to the question “would wearing baggy/looser clothes that are brightly colored assist in pulling someone out of depression?”. I just find it interesting how the mind interprets and translates the world.

We can tell a considerable amount regarding someone’s mood, confidence and life story based off of their clothing selections. Clothes represent who we are as a human being. Clothing can cheer us up or make us feel like the ugliest, fattest, “I need to go the gym everyday for the rest of my life” person ever. However, if we know which colors suit us best and which article of clothing flatters our figures the most, we won’t have to worry about our clothes. I will eventually post about methods of discovering your skin undertone in order to find the colors that look best against your skin complexion.

Fashion is huge for me and my bread and butter of life. If only I could afford to dress the way that I would like (Bergdorf Goodman, I hope that you’re waiting for me because I am on THEE way!). Alas, I know what it means to have to survive on a budget and still look marvelous! As I continue to research the field of Fashion Psychology, I will post my findings!