How the clothes we wear shape our thoughts — and why that has a lot to say for sustainable fashion

Enclothed cognition refers to the way clothing influences psychological processes such as thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, both through physical sensation and symbolic meaning. Research shows that this effect depends both on the associations we make when we wear clothes and on the physical experience. In recent years, this phenomenon has opened a fascinating window into the relationship between what we wear and what we think, feel, and do.

The coat that sharpened the mind

It all starts with a now-classic study, published in 2012 by Hajo Adam and Adam D. Galinsky in Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. The researchers had a group of participants wear a white doctor’s coat and complete some attention tests. The result? They performed significantly better than those who performed the same tasks in normal clothes—or even than those who had the coat before their eyes, but not on them.

The key detail is precisely this: it wasn’t enough to see the coat. You had to wear it. And you had to know what it represented.

According to Adam and Galinsky, enclothed cognition works through two simultaneous channels: the physical sensation of the fabric on the body and the symbolic meaning that sensation activates. The doctor’s coat isn’t just a garment—it’s a cultural code that evokes care, rigor, and responsibility. When we put it on, that code enters us. Their study formally defines the phenomenon as “the systematic influence of clothing on psychological processes,” emphasizing that this effect depends both on the physical act of wearing the garment and on the understanding of its symbolic meaning.

Not just lab coats: clothes always speak

Once the logic is understood, examples multiply everywhere.

Those who work from home know that staying in their pajamas until the afternoon has a real cognitive cost: it’s difficult to feel productive without the ritual of “getting dressed.” Conversely, many professionals report keeping their jackets on even during video conferences during lockdown—not to look good, but to feel in character.

Athletes are not immune: studies on so-called power dressing show that wearing uniforms perceived as “champion-like” affects confidence and even physical performance. Colors matter, shapes matter, and the weight of the fabric matters.

There’s one example that’s striking for its precision: a study (Dubois & Anik, Emerald 2022) showed that wearing heels makes women feel more powerful than when they wear flats—but only under one condition: that the heels are visible to the observer. When they’re hidden, the effect vanishes. This confirms that cognition is activated not only by the physical sensation, but by the social recognition of the symbol.

Enclothed mood

And then there’s the emotional side: what we call enclothed mood—the effect that a favorite, comforting, or simply “right” outfit has on our mood on difficult days.

Professor Karen Pine of the University of Hertfordshire (2014) documented a distinct connection between mood and clothing choices: when they feel sad or depressed, women tend to wear jeans, and when they’re stressed, their world narrows to the point where they wear only 10% of their wardrobe, ignoring everything else. This effect occurs due to the combination of the symbolic meaning attributed to the garment and the physical experience of wearing it.

The mechanism also works in reverse: Pine has developed a list of “happy clothes“—garments that tend to induce positive emotional states—identifying characteristics such as:

• natural fibers (linen, cotton, silk, wool)
• flowing fabrics
• bright colors
• and vintage pieces

all of which evoke positive symbolic associations for the wearer.

What if the dress also spoke about the planet?

So far, so science. But there’s an even more interesting, yet less explored, territory: what happens when the clothing we wear is sustainable?

Applying the logic of enclothed cognition to ethical consumption opens up a territory still little explored by research. If a white coat activates values ​​of care and precision, a garment made with more eco-friendly materials, ethically produced, consciously chosen, or a second-hand dress could activate something similar: a sense of responsibility toward the environment, of coherence with one’s values, of belonging to a different vision of the world.

It’s a fascinating hypothesis that we’re advancing, and one that we at Dress ECOde intend to explore with empirical tools. Some researchers have already begun exploring this area. In 2025, Cegarra-Navarro and colleagues at the Polytechnic University of Cartagena (2025) published the first study formally using the concept of “sustainable enclothed cognition” (SEC) in Journal of Intellectual Capital: the idea that low-impact clothing can evoke values ​​of respect for the ecosystem, reinforcing more sustainability-oriented behaviors and mindsets in its wearers. The study—conducted on 211 young workers—shows that when consumers choose sustainable clothing by integrating logic, emotion, and values, the connection with the brand deepens and translates into measurable relational capital for companies.

Wearing a sustainable garment knowing it is, according to this logic, would function as a physical and continuous reminder of one’s ecological values. The idea is that clothing made with low-impact materials can evoke values ​​of respect for the ecosystem, reinforcing more sustainability-oriented behaviors and mindsets in its wearers.

Does dressing sustainably really change behavior?

Thinking through the lens of enclothed cognition, the answer isn’t straightforward. Let’s consider some interesting findings from the research, even if the picture is more nuanced than one might hope.

A first finding concerns the perception of value. Industry studies show that consumers perceive sustainable garments as having superior quality and greater value, which translates into higher brand loyalty and a lower propensity for compulsive purchasing typical of fast fashion. Those who wear consciously chosen garments tend to associate them with a sense of environmental responsibility, spontaneously embracing more streamlined and less wasteful wardrobes.

A second phenomenon, which the literature calls spillover behavior, is even more interesting: the adoption of virtuous behavior tends to spread to other areas of life. A study published in Fashion and Textiles (2016) documented how consumers’ recycling behavior spills over into eco-friendly fashion purchases through a specific mediating mechanism: environmental concern. Translated: those who already recycle tend to purchase more ethical fashion, and the process also works in reverse. Pro-environmental behaviors are not independent of one another—they feed off one another. A communication strategy focused on a single virtuous behavior can, over time, trigger a cascade of broader choices.

A study published in Scientific Reports (2025) adds another piece: direct experience with sustainable products can lower the psychological threshold for similar future choices, reducing the perceived risk of purchasing less familiar circular products.

A fourth interesting effect concerns long-term changes. Available evidence indicates that consumers who have had positive experiences with ethical fashion show a lower overall purchase frequency—prioritizing quality over quantity—and a longer lifespan for each item, all of which benefits textile waste reduction.

Taken together, these four elements—the perception of superior value, spillover behavior between pro-environmental behaviors, reduced psychological risk for future choices, and the tendency to prioritize quality and durability—paint a coherent picture, albeit one still riddled with question marks. It’s something that closely resembles what we might call sustainable enclothed cognition. It’s not enough to buy a sustainable garment, just as it wasn’t enough to see a doctor’s coat. You have to wear it knowing what it represents. It’s the conscious meaning—not the recycled fabric itself—that can trigger change. If this mechanism applies to cognitive precision and a sense of empowerment, it could also apply to ecological responsibility. Sustainable clothing, worn with intention, would then become something more than a simple ethical purchase: a physical and continuous reminder of who one has chosen to be—and how one has chosen to be in the world. A symbolic value that, once activated, isn’t confined to the moment of purchase but guides behavior in a broader and more lasting way, choosing fewer, more meaningful pieces. Every time one wears that piece with awareness, one’s identity would be strengthened, and that identity would make choices consistent with it more natural.

What if it doesn’t work?

The research doesn’t hide the contradictions. A 2025 study of 1,009 American consumers published in PMC found that those who buy secondhand often consume more overall, not less. Purchasing behavior in secondhand stores is positively correlated with that in fast fashion stores, especially among younger consumers.

This is the so-called rebound effect, amplified by what psychologists call moral licensing: one feels virtuous for choosing secondhand, and that feeling of “moral credit” authorizes one to buy more elsewhere. Their conscience is clear, their wardrobe grows.

And it doesn’t end there. The same study on spillover behavior warns that the effect weakens—or disappears entirely—when the aesthetic quality of the sustainable product disappoints. Consumers are increasingly willing to support eco-friendly practices, but only if the garment is also beautiful. An unconventional design or one perceived as aesthetically risky can block any spillover. Sustainability alone isn’t enough: we need products that are both environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing.

Research confirms this: consumers of sustainable fashion associate these garments with greater quality and longevity, but there’s still a gulf between this perception and real, measurable behavioral change. And some research warns of a paradoxical effect: those who buy secondhand or ethical fashion don’t necessarily buy less overall—sometimes they simply buy more, through different channels.

The practical implications if it worked instead

Despite the contradictions, the potential of sustainable enclothed cognition is too compelling to ignore. If the mechanism works, the consequences extend far beyond the individual consumer.

Companies could rethink their uniforms as tools of organizational culture. Equipping employees with eco-friendly workwear isn’t just an external communication choice—it could concretely reinforce sustainability values ​​in the wearer’s daily attitude, influencing decisions and brand perceptions from within. Cegarra-Navarro and colleagues formulate it bluntly: clothing choices act as a form of nonverbal communication and are an integral part of creating sustainable corporate practices.

On the marketing front, the phenomenon offers a powerful yet underutilized argument: instead of communicating sustainability solely through certifications and numbers—how much CO₂ has been saved, how many bottles have been recycled—brands could convey what it feels like to wear an ethical garment. The sense of responsibility, consistency, and authenticity could be a much more effective lever for engagement than aesthetics or price.

And then there’s the minimalist wardrobe. Having fewer, more meaningful pieces, carefully chosen and worn over long periods of time, is exactly the kind of relationship with clothing that enclothed cognition values. A small wardrobe that’s consistent with your values ​​isn’t a sacrifice—it’s an identity enhancer.

Let’s try to imagine

If enclothed cognition works through the combination of physical sensation and conscious symbolic meaning, we can try to think about how the same mechanism could be activated with sustainable clothing—even if no one has yet rigorously measured it.

Let’s take a concrete example. Every morning, a person puts on an upcycled sweatshirt, purchased from a brand whose supply chain they know. They know how it’s made, they know what it represents. According to the logic of enclothed cognition, that garment isn’t just a warm garment: it’s a physical reminder, worn for hours, of one’s intention to consume differently. Much like the doctor’s coat activated attention and rigor, that sweatshirt could activate—with each subsequent purchase—a higher threshold of awareness. Not because the fabric has magical properties, but because the meaning we attribute to it silently guides our behavior.

Or again: imagine a manufacturing employee given uniforms made from recovered fabrics with a precise explanation of how and why they were produced. Not an institutional communication forgotten in an email, but something they wear every day. The logic of enclothed cognition suggests that that gesture—consciously wearing a symbol of corporate values—could strengthen identification with those same values ​​far more than any sustainability training course.

A third example concerns those who choose secondhand with intention—not to save money, but out of conviction. If that person knows the history of the garment, knows where it comes from, and has deliberately chosen it as an alternative to new, they might experience that garment as an active statement of identity. And according to the mechanism Adam and Galinsky described, that statement wouldn’t remain merely external: it would re-enter, day after day, the way that person thinks about themselves and their choices.

These are hypotheses, not certainties. But they are hypotheses based on the same logic that produced measurable results with doctor’s coats and high heels. They are worth putting to the test.

An open territory: Dress ECOde’s contribution

Enclothed cognition reminds us of something we know intuitively but tend to overlook: clothes are not neutral. They are not passive containers of our bodies—they are active constructors of our selves.

If this applies to a doctor’s coat, it could also apply to a recycled wool sweater chosen with intention, a secondhand jacket purchased with awareness of its history, or an ethically produced dress worn with pride. The skin touching the fabric, the meaning we recognize in that fabric: the mechanism is the same.

But it “couldn’t” be enough. The available research raises more questions than it answers, and the direct connection between enclothed cognition and long-term sustainable behavior remains to be empirically demonstrated with the rigor it deserves.

This is why at Dress ECOde, we’re interested in contributing to the study of this phenomenon: understanding whether and how dressing sustainably—not just buying ethical products, but wearing them with awareness of their meaning—can become a real driver of cultural change toward more conscious clothing choices.

The question that guides us is simple, even if the answer isn’t: can the right dress, worn with the right awareness, change the way we think and act in the world? We believe it’s worth finding out.