Dopamine Dressing Made Easy

With Blue Monday the most depressing day of the year around the corner, we’re currently in the middle of a bleak mid-winter. Endless grey skies, lots of rain, a chill in the air and little sunshine can lead to experiencing SAD, or seasonal affective disorder, a form of winter depression. One way to fight against it is through dopamine dressing. There are other ways too – in fact I recorded an episode of my podcast about How to tackle SAD which you can listen where I break down eight practical ways to alleviate the winter blues.

Being a colour lover, my number one way to get through winter is by dopamine dressing. And to help you do that, I’ve launched a curated range of colourful mood-boosting jewellery, all guaranteed to give you a hit of dopamine. But more on that shortly.

First, let me explain what you need to know about the world of dressing colourfully and how it can affect your mood.

What is dopamine dressing?

You may have come across this phrase – it’s where what we wear lifts our mood and makes us feel good, giving us a dose of the happy hormone dopamine. Here’s how it works. When we wear a colour, it gives off vibrations. We can feel this ourselves for example, wearing our favourite colour can make us feel great but it also creates an aura around us which other people around us can sense.

If we’re feeling stressed we may give out off tense vibes which prevents the people around us getting too close to us, but if we’re relaxed and happy we’ll give off an energy that draws people in and the colours we wear can have an impact on this.

If we wear more muted tones we can blend in and come across as quiet and sometimes that’s how we want to feel as there are certain situations where we’d like to be in the background and that’s completely fine. But, if we’re feeling like we really want to be noticed, perhaps socialising at an event and we’re keen to be the person everyone gravitates to, a vibrant colour like an orange will make us feel more outgoing and others will sense that and gravitate to us.

Using colours in these ways impacts on our personal wellbeing because we can surround ourselves in colours to promote particular feelings or outcomes.

Tips to help you with dopamine dressing

Colour is the number one way to give you a dose of dopamine but there are different ways to do this. You also don’t need to be dressed like a walking rainbow, any form of colour that uplifts you personally, don’t worry about what anyone else says: that’s your dopamine outfit. For me, it’s my positivity suit, which you can read about in a previous post. And my second tip is small outfit details like jewellery and accessories.

Dopamine Jewellery

People are always asking me what the easiest way to add more colour into their life is. My top tip is jewellery and accessories. They’re small, affordable, accessible items that will boost your mood in an instant. You can either also them into uniforms and formal wear, discreetly if needed. Whether it’s a pair of earrings or quirky brooch, they’re easy-to-wear, travel well and also make great gifts.

With this in mind I’ve launched a new online shop selling curated colourful jewellery, accessories and gifts – dopamine jewellery if you will. Each piece has been carefully chosen by me to bring more happiness into your life.

The shop will be updated regularly with new products so have a browse – I look forward to receiving your orders : )

Is this The World’s Happiest Scarf?

I think so! This colourful knitted scarf, a collaboration between Miss PomPom and Tatty Devine which is perfect if you’re after a bigger accessory or garment, certainly gives me a dopamine hit every time I wear it.

Here’s how I styled it for a recent London Colour Walk meet-up.

Are you a fan of dopamine dressing? What item of clothing or accessory helps you beat the winter blues? I’d love to know in the comments.

Until next time…

(Main image for this post was shot by Colin Allen)