Dove's Inner B.E.A.U.T.Y. Podcast

Dressing Your Inner Truth: How Style Shapes Mindset

• Demetria Nickens • Episode 26

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Dressing with Intention: Can Your Style Influence Your Mindset and Purpose?

Have you ever noticed how your confidence soars when wearing certain outfits? There's a profound psychological connection between your clothing choices and mental wellbeing that goes far beyond mere appearance.

On this episode of the Dove's Inner B.E.A.U.T.Y. Podcast, style expert Bianca Smith (The Visual Aesthetic) joins host Demetria Nickens to explore the fascinating concept of "dressing with intention." Bianca shares her personal journey of using fashion as psychological "armor" during moments of insecurity, revealing how deliberate style choices can project confidence even when you're feeling vulnerable inside. The conversation delves into practical strategies for aligning your wardrobe with your authentic self, uncovering how understanding your true personality creates the foundation for meaningful style choices.

We tackle thought-provoking questions about the relationship between dark clothing preferences and mental states, examining whether your closet might be reflecting—or potentially influencing—your emotional wellbeing. Bianca offers nuanced insights, distinguishing between aesthetic preferences and clothing choices that might reinforce negative mental patterns. For those navigating life transitions or struggling with their personal style identity, she provides compassionate guidance that prioritizes mental health while using fashion as a complementary tool for self-expression and confidence building.

Whether you're curious about the psychology behind your wardrobe decisions or seeking practical ways to use fashion as a form of self-care, this episode offers valuable perspectives on how what we wear shapes how we feel—and how intentional style choices might help shift our mindset in positive directions. Listen now to discover how your closet could become a powerful ally in your mental wellness journey.

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to the Dove's Inner Beauty Podcast, where we foster emotional awareness, one individual at a time. Leading the way is Demetria Nickens, a certified mental health first aid instructor and trauma recovery coach with over two decades of experience in fostering emotional awareness in others by engaging their mental health awareness in others by engaging their mental health.

Speaker 2:

All right, Ever notice how a great outfit can change the way you carry yourself, uplift your mood? What if the way we dress isn't just about looking good, but about setting the tone for our mindset, confidence and even our sense of purpose? Bianca Smith, the visual aesthetic, joins me to dive into the connection between fashion, self-perception and reflection, and being purposeful with our mental health by being purposeful with our fashion. Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome back everybody. I am your host, Demetria Nickens of the Doves Inner Beauty Podcast, and I'm in the studio today with my friend, Bianca Smith, the visual aesthetic. Bianca, how are you doing today? I am well. How are you? Good, good, good. So we're going to jump right into it with the question. I'm so glad you're here with us, so talk with us a little bit about dressing with intention and how your style can influence your mindset and purpose.

Speaker 3:

So I believe that the way that you show up, including your confidence, what you're wearing, how you carry yourself, is the start of pretty much everything. That's the start of how you're going to show up to other people, how you're going to feel about yourself. So I think when you really put some thought into dressing in a way that's going to reflect who you are and how you want to be perceived by other people, it just gets the ball rolling to make sure that your intention is received by those people that you are interacting with or that you come in contact with as you're moving about your day or moving about the space that you're in.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely right. So what do you think are some practical ways that people can start dressing with intention?

Speaker 3:

daily. I think the first thing you have to do is really get to know who you are. What is it that you want? Who is it that you are right? When we know who we are, it's easier to kind of pinpoint the things that are going to reflect that right. If you are a very by nature more conservative, a more reserved person, then to me it wouldn't make sense that you're going to show up in like leather and like fishnets and like right.

Speaker 3:

That doesn't seem to match to what your personality is and who you are, right. So we can kind of start to intentionally pick the things that we wear that are going to reflect who it is that we are on the inside. So I think the first thing is kind of really get to know who you are and what it is that you want. I also think being intentional about really putting some time into observing how you feel when you wear certain things. Like when you put on a nice dress, like do you feel immediately confident? Do you feel more yourself? Wear certain things, like when you put on a nice dress, like do you feel immediately confident? Do you feel more yourself, right, or is it a great pair of jeans or athleisure, like it's more casual? Your thing, like think about the things when you put them on, what really makes you feel your best and the most confident, and then gravitate towards those things, because that's probably what's going to be in line with who you are and who you want to be.

Speaker 2:

Oh, my gosh agreed right. So can you share a personal experience about, like, when dressing intentionally changed your confidence or mindset?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely For me. I will tell you that a personal story. For me, clothes were always like what I would call my armor right. As a person who wasn't initially a very confident person, wasn't a very secure person, when I put on clothes that really made me feel confident. It was like my armor right. When I look good and feel good. You don't know how insecure I am, you don't know how maybe I'm not really as confident as I may appear right. So it's kind of like the armor to me is what I like to call it For me. If I know I'm going to a situation where I'm nervous or maybe my confidence is a little shaky, I'm going to put extra effort in how I show up and how I look Right.

Speaker 3:

When you notice me, you're going to be like, oh, she looked nice. Like you're going to notice how I look and you're not going to know about the stuff. That like I got butterflies because I'm about to do a presentation or I'm a little nervous because these are new people, you don't know that part. I'm able to kind of hide that behind showing up in a way that's going to reflect who I am and in a very confident kind of way.

Speaker 2:

Oh, I like it. I like it. It makes so much sense, right? So then, when you think about like dressing down or, you know, not dressing right, do you feel like it negatively impacts, like would you use the word negative your mental health, or would you say differently, like, what do you think about that?

Speaker 3:

I think it can have the potential to add to what you're already feeling. Right. If you are in a dark place, you're in a deep, in a almost negative space. Right? If you're in a state of depression, if you're going through something that just kind of has you down, most people when they are in that kind of state aren't going to want to like dress up or like, oh, let me go put on something where I feel my best. They want how they're looking to match what their mental is feeling right.

Speaker 3:

So most of the time when we're depressed, when we're not feeling great maybe we went through a breakup or a heartbreak or we lost somebody wearing dark colors, we're maybe in sweatpants, like big t-shirts, because we don't want to feel necessarily, we don't wanna look the best at that moment. Right, we want what we have on to reflect the way our mental is feeling right. So when you think of when you're in mourning or where you're just like in a deep place, it's typically dark colors. Like you in some raggedy sweatpants, you in some old t-shirt, right, like just something that is in line with how your mental is right.

Speaker 3:

So I think it can add to where you are mentally If we're able to kind of get to a place where we like take the time to put on something different, like almost the idea of when you feel good, you look good. I'm not. I want to make sure that I'm clear that I'm not minimizing that putting on clothes are going to automatically make you just snap out of not feeling great or snap out of a depression, but it can maybe start to help you move towards getting to a better place. Right, you're putting on something more than those old dark clothes and colors. Maybe it can start the process of helping you to get to that next level, that place that's not so dark, not so drab.

Speaker 2:

You mentioned dark colors. I know, like, even for me, you know, my mental health is my whole world right. Like I wear a lot of dark colors often. I notice that I wear dark colors often. Is that something I should be paying attention to more because I wear dark colors? Like, is that something I need to notice because of the colors that I wear? Like, how does colors possibly impact how I'm feeling?

Speaker 3:

I think it kind of depends on who you are and where you are right, like some people just naturally like dark colors or more neutral things, and I think it's for several reasons. Sometimes it's because you just like to blend in. There are people that don't like to stand out. When you wear color, you wear print, you wear things that are going to draw attention, people are going to notice you and sometimes we don't want to be noticed. So if you're wearing dark colors, you're wearing things that are going to kind of help you blend into the background. You're not going to be noticed in the same way, and sometimes that's our intention.

Speaker 3:

And I think, if you're aware of, I don't want to be noticed, I don't want people looking at me. That's not where I am and I think you are intentionally dressing in a way that's going to help you achieve that goal. Now, if you are doing it for the reason of something that is, you know, I'm in a depressed state, so I'm dressing in this way because it matches that depression, I think that's a little different. But I mean, you just happen to like dark colors, so I don't think that's a necessarily a bad thing. I mean, I don't think it's bad either to throw in some you know some color, some print a little bit you know a little bit every now and then. But I think if you intentionally know that you just like dark colors because that's your aesthetic, I think that's different than kind of feeding into that negative mental space that you're in.

Speaker 2:

Sweet. So last question what advice do you feel like you have for someone struggling to like redefine that personal style, maybe due to life transitions, maybe due to mental health concerns, Like? What advice did you give to them?

Speaker 3:

I think First I say deal with the mental right, because that's the biggest part, Right. So get the help to deal with whatever it is that you're going through. Right, and when you're in a better place mentally, then you can start to look at what do again. What do I feel good in, what helps me to have a more positive outlook? Right, is it putting on a little bit of color? Is it doing my makeup? Is it whatever makes you feel good? And that's going to help with the shift you're trying to do with your mental. I say do that. And now, if it's a literal like I don't know what my is, I say get help from somebody that does that, like myself. Right, where I help you do a style assessment. Right, like what do you like? What do you want? Who are you? Right, because I always like to start with who are you, because that's what's most important and that's also going to lead you to what kind of visual aesthetic will play into who you are.

Speaker 2:

I'll help you get to know who you are and then we can work on what that looks like from a how you show up kind of perspective. I love it. I love it. Thank you for the advice. Bianca is awesome having you here with me. Thanks for joining me today. Have a awesome, fantastic rest of your week. Thank you so much.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for tuning into the Doves Inner Beauty podcast, where we foster emotional awareness, one individual at a time. For a complimentary consultation, visit dovesinnerbeautycom or call 336-298-6599. That's 336-298-6599.