There’s a lot of talk about Dopamine dressing at the moment and the impact that wearing colour can have on our mood and consequently on our well-being.
What exactly is Dopamine dressing?
How does it work?
We process colour on the right, intuitive side of the brain and shape and intellect on the left. This means that to fully understand how colour affects us, we need to combine our emotional side with our intellectual, factual side of the brain.
Our eyes see colour as light. The light vibrations are transmitted to the brain, where they are converted into electrical impulses and sent to the gland which in part, controls the hormonal system. When we chose colourful outfits that we feel good in, the brain’s cells detect this and release the Dopamine hormone, which makes us feel happy.
Each day we may feel the need for a different colour because our emotions continually change, we will all have varying colour requirements to help us keep a healthy balance.
Dopamine is often described as the happy hormone, when it’s released it can lift our mood. And certain colours promote the release of Dopamine. When we see ourselves in a colour we like, the brain releases Dopamine and so we feel a sense of optimism, positivity and happiness.
Knowing that the colours we wear can have an impact on our mood is very powerful.
The colour Orange, for example, is associated with positivity and optimism.
Blue, thought to be the world’s favourite colour, creates a sense of calm and with the release of Dopamine, reduces anxiety so bringing a feeling of tranquillity and happiness.
Ellen Peters, House of Colour Thame
ellen.peters@houseofcolour.co.uk