Dressing impressively to live longer

The desire to look good and fashionable is common across all demographic and socio-economic classes.

Every person has the right to dress as they like and feel good about themselves.

While those who can afford it, do not have to put in much time and effort and can pick up whatever they like, the less privileged ones often struggle with the dress to impress mantra and often suffer from esteem issues.

This is the part where it’s seen that dressing has something to do with the mind. There’s a deep connection between your outward dressing and our inward wellbeing: because when you dress and feel confident in yourself, you excite your Dopamine levels: Dopamine is that circuit (forgive us for using academic lingo here) which pushes us to take action and feel smug in ourselves when we feel that we’ve achieved something great, and nice and good.

Two things drive human actions: necessities — food, sleep, avoidance of pain; and rewards.

Two things drive human actions– Necessities and Rewards

NECESSITIES

REWARDS

Any object, event, or activity can be a reward if it motivates us, causes us to learn, or elicits pleasurable feelings

Any object, event, or activity can be a reward if it motivates us, causes us to learn, or elicits pleasurable feelings.

But how do our brains compute the value of a reward and how is that translated into action? The answer lies in the brain circuitry known as the “reward system.”

There are jargons like Neurons, synapses, prefontal cortex and all whatnots that we will not talk about here. The essential message is all that matters.

So, wirings in the different regions of the brain comprising the reward system communicate using dopamine: For example, dopamine-producing wires in the reward processing area of the brain communicate with those in the action processing area of the brain in order to process rewards and to motivate behavior. Wires that release dopamine are activated when we expect to receive a reward.

Dopamine also enhances reward-related memories. It strengthens knots — the junctions where brain wires pass messages — in the brain’s learning and memory center, the hippocampus.

Dopamine signaling in areas of the brain that process emotions and regions involved in planning and reasoning also creates emotional associations with rewards.

With this simplified lesson on the scientific basis of rewards and mental wellbeing, we can see how dressing helps us live longer by boosting our ego, making us feel good with ourselves, and making us feel that life is beautiful to us from inside out.

Interestingly, many people do not know that you can even dress impressively without spending a fortune on the designer article.

1.) CLOTHES

Your clothing is the most dominant part of your attire. It is the first thing that comes into notice and therefore most people are worried about getting their dressing right.

An impressively dressed rich guy is often seen as someone dressed in a Tuxedo from Christian Dior or Giorgio Armani or a T-shirt from Ralph Lauren or Burberry. In the case of a female, it is often some exquisite gown customized by similar fashion industry bigwigs such as Versace or Dior.

However, not everyone is lucky enough to be born in a rich house or become a celeb. That does not mean that you cannot dress in a similar manner. If you subtract the big brand names from the equation, there are some great moderately priced and budget-friendly options that you can use.

Some of the great high street fashion brands such who we do not really know their names, can be as good as any other high-end fashion designer.

You can even find some very economical clothing from the open street market like Balogun at CMS in Lagos.

You only need to Keep tabs on the latest fashion trends and pick your selection of shirts, pants, jackets and other clothing items accordingly.

Pay attention to cuts, patterns and color tones that are in the current trend.

2.) SHOES We all dream of flaunting a gold heel by Versace or a pure leather shoe from Louis Vuitton or Gucci.

However, life does not end if we cannot. When it comes to shoes, we should thank all the Thai and Chinese producers who are dumping unbelievably similar replicas from the high-end brands.

However, if you are still not a replica person, shoe markets in Balogun at CMS in Lagos, and other open markets have some of the most amazing collection of shoes.

You don’t have to buy your shoes from Stores in Lekki-Lagos if you can’t afford it.

You can as well go for locally Made In Nigeria. Unfortunately, these don’t come cheaper, as many had thought to expect.

3.) BAGS/ WALLETS
Be it handbags for women or wallets for men, they remain an important accessory and yet another article where the designer brand game is pretty high. Although Prada, Gucci, Coco Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, and Burberry are known to be the industry leaders in the bags and wallet game, brands such as Aldo and Charles and Keith have managed to produce good quality affordable designs inspired from the bigwigs. You can also find some great variety at Macy’s.

4.) WRISTWATCHES
Watches are the most important fashion accessory for both men and women. If you cannot afford to own the most expensive watches such as a Rolex, you can find some cool picks from other brands such as Times, Swatch, Guess and Calvin Klein. After all, you do not necessarily have to wear a Swiss watch to make your mark.

5.) PERFUMES Perfumes and deodorants are popular today because not only do they help you fight body odor, but also boost your morale. But, do you know a perfume has several other benefits too? It can help you beat stress and cure insomnia too! Would you like to know more? Read on to find top ten benefits of perfumes.

Is body odor a big turn off for you? Do you like to wear your favorite perfume for that crucial meeting? Well, if you can relate to the above situations, it means you love fragrance!

WRAPPING UP In all of these, Style & Patterns is by the corner, waiting to help you wash those clothes and garments which have picked up stains and dirt along the way, of your flurries and adventures through the motions of life.