Confidence is one of the key factors that help you succeed as a student. A belief in your ability is the foundation a learner needs to build resilience, improve social skills, set goals, and practice self-acceptance. Confident students are more likely to be leaders, raise their hands to speak, and engage in discussions. These positive behaviors contribute to better performance in school and beyond.
Unfortunately, not everyone is born confident. In fact, nobody is. Confidence is something you develop over time. One of the ways to do this is through your appearance.
How does style help? The way you look influences your mood, focus, and creativity. Style impacts how you think about yourself. You can use this to make yourself feel more content and powerful.
Here are four tips to help you boost your confidence through style.
- Develop Your Signature Style
It is exciting to follow the latest fashion trends. However, what matters most is to find a style that matches your personality. This is something that fits you and makes you feel good about yourself.
The process of finding the look takes a lot of mixing and matching. You should experiment with colors, textures, and patterns to find clothing that feels like you. It is a source of empowerment and confidence.
Developing your style takes time. While you practice, you can also sustain your confidence in class by getting academic help with your papers. Where do I write my essay cheap? EssayService is ready to help. Professional writers will help you research, develop a strong argument, and be there to answer any question.
- Go for Style and Comfort
You can hardly feel confident if your dress is so tight, you can barely move, and your heels give you blisters. The comfort of your attire even influences your performance in school. Rigid fabrics and tight fits can distract you and cause extra stress. Luckily, you can look stylish and feel comfortable at the same time.
You can easily evaluate your outfit by adding a smart item. A casual t-shirt works well with a chic skirt or trousers. Your usual jeans get a totally new look if you pair them with heels. Besides, a statement accessory will immediately make you feel classy. Sacrificing your comfort is a risk that rarely pays off. In contrast, comfort mixed with chic style is always a win.
- Choose Professional Clothing
There’s a correlation between clothing and cognition. Psychologists Adam Galinsky and Hajo Adams called it the enclothed cognition effect. They asked one group of people to wear a doctor’s coat while the other group wore a painter’s coat. The first group demonstrated an increase in sustained attention compared to the second group. This happened because people generally perceived doctors as someone with greater attention to detail than painters.
The enclothed cognition effect applies to other types of attire as well. Another study explored it by comparing casual and professional clothing. 120 high school students were divided into the control group, the casual group, and the professional group. They performed self-esteem and self-efficacy tests to evaluate the change in their attitudes and behaviors influenced by the clothing they were wearing. The professional group demonstrated significantly higher confidence levels compared to the other two groups.
So make the enclothed cognition effect work for you! Whenever you prepare for something important like a presentation, job interview, or meeting, suit up to support your self-perception and feel more confident.
- Find Inspiration
It’s often challenging to develop your signature style when you don’t know where to start. One of the ways to do it is to find your fashion inspiration. It is something individual and unique for every person. Here are a few sources you can explore and assemble your style mood board:
- Look through fashion blogs on social media and consider different styles. When something catches your attention, ask yourself: “Does this outfit feel like me?”
- Go window shopping. It’s a good way to familiarize yourself with trends and learn how to combine and layer clothes. If in-person shopping seems too tiring, you can always check lookbooks of different brands online.
- While runway shows and fashion blogs are the most obvious places to look into, you can also find style inspiration literally everywhere. For example, borrow style choices from movies and color combinations from art and nature.
Final Thoughts
Staying confident is often a struggle for a lot of students. You may feel nervous when giving a presentation or engaging in classroom discussions due to low self-esteem. But you can begin changing the way you view yourself and your behavior by rethinking your style. Use our tips to start your transformation journey!
Confidence is a great resource that supports your belief in your ability and judgment. It allows you to dream big and pursue your academic and personal goals. Try to use everything at your disposal, including fashion and style, to develop and maintain confidence, and it will set you up for success!