Dressing Your Inner Truth: How Style Shapes Mindset

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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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to the Dove's Inner Beauty Podcast, where we
foster emotional awareness, oneindividual at a time.
Leading the way is DemetriaNickens, a certified mental
health first aid instructor andtrauma recovery coach with over
two decades of experience infostering emotional awareness in
others by engaging their mentalhealth awareness in others by

(00:31):
engaging their mental health.

Speaker 2 (00:34):
All right, Ever notice how a great outfit can
change the way you carryyourself, uplift your mood?
What if the way we dress isn'tjust about looking good, but
about setting the tone for ourmindset, confidence and even our
sense of purpose?
Bianca Smith, the visualaesthetic, joins me to dive into
the connection between fashion,self-perception and reflection,
and being purposeful with ourmental health by being

(00:56):
purposeful with our fashion.
Welcome, welcome, welcome,welcome back everybody.
I am your host, DemetriaNickens of the Doves Inner
Beauty Podcast, and I'm in thestudio today with my friend,
Bianca Smith, the visualaesthetic.
Bianca, how are you doing today?
I am well.
How are you?
Good, good, good.
So we're going to jump rightinto it with the question.

(01:19):
I'm so glad you're here with us, so talk with us a little bit
about dressing with intentionand how your style can influence
your mindset and purpose.

Speaker 3 (01:29):
So I believe that the way that you show up, including
your confidence, what you'rewearing, how you carry yourself,
is the start of pretty mucheverything.
That's the start of how you'regoing to show up to other people
, how you're going to feel aboutyourself.
So I think when you really putsome thought into dressing in a
way that's going to reflect whoyou are and how you want to be

(01:51):
perceived by other people, itjust gets the ball rolling to
make sure that your intention isreceived by those people that
you are interacting with or thatyou come in contact with as
you're moving about your day ormoving about the space that
you're in.

Speaker 2 (02:11):
Absolutely right.
So what do you think are somepractical ways that people can
start dressing with intention?

Speaker 3 (02:15):
daily.
I think the first thing youhave 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'seasier to kind of pinpoint the
things that are going to reflectthat right.
If you are a very by naturemore conservative, a more
reserved person, then to me itwouldn't make sense that you're
going to show up in like leatherand like fishnets and like

(02:37):
right.
That doesn't seem to match towhat your personality is and who
you are, right.
So we can kind of start tointentionally pick the things
that we wear that are going toreflect who it is that we are on
the inside.
So I think the first thing iskind of really get to know who
you are and what it is that youwant.
I also think being intentionalabout really putting some time

(02:57):
into observing how you feel whenyou wear certain things.
Like when you put on a nicedress, like do you feel
immediately confident?
Do you feel more yourself?
Wear certain things, like whenyou 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'smore casual?
Your thing, like think aboutthe things when you put them on,
what really makes you feel yourbest and the most confident,

(03:19):
and then gravitate towards thosethings, because that's probably
what's going to be in line withwho you are and who you want to
be.

Speaker 2 (03:27):
Oh, my gosh agreed right.
So can you share a personalexperience about, like, when
dressing intentionally changedyour confidence or mindset?

Speaker 3 (03:37):
Absolutely For me.
I will tell you that a personalstory.
For me, clothes were alwayslike what I would call my armor
right.
As a person who wasn'tinitially a very confident
person, wasn't a very secureperson, when I put on clothes
that really made me feelconfident.
It was like my armor right.
When I look good and feel good.

(03:58):
You don't know how insecure Iam, you don't know how maybe I'm
not really as confident as Imay appear right.
So it's kind of like the armorto me is what I like to call it
For me.
If I know I'm going to asituation where I'm nervous or
maybe my confidence is a littleshaky, I'm going to put extra
effort in how I show up and howI look Right.
When you notice me, you're goingto be like, oh, she looked nice

(04:20):
.
Like you're going to notice howI look and you're not going to
know about the stuff.
That like I got butterfliesbecause I'm about to do a
presentation or I'm a littlenervous because these are new
people, you don't know that part.
I'm able to kind of hide thatbehind showing up in a way
that's going to reflect who I amand in a very confident kind of
way.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Oh, I like it.
I like it.
It makes so much sense, right?
So then, when you think aboutlike dressing down or, you know,
not dressing right, do you feellike it negatively impacts,
like would you use the wordnegative your mental health, or
would you say differently, like,what do you think about that?

Speaker 3 (04:58):
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 ofdepression, if you're going
through something that just kindof has you down, most people
when they are in that kind ofstate aren't going to want to

(05:20):
like dress up or like, oh, letme go put on something where I
feel my best.
They want how they're lookingto match what their mental is
feeling right.
So most of the time when we'redepressed, when we're not
feeling great maybe we wentthrough a breakup or a
heartbreak or we lost somebodywearing dark colors, we're maybe
in sweatpants, like bigt-shirts, because we don't want
to feel necessarily, we don'twanna look the best at that

(05:43):
moment.
Right, we want what we have onto reflect the way our mental is
feeling right.
So when you think of whenyou're in mourning or where
you're just like in a deep place, it's typically dark colors.
Like you in some raggedysweatpants, you in some old
t-shirt, right, like justsomething that is in line with
how your mental is right.
So I think it can add to whereyou are mentally If we're able

(06:05):
to kind of get to a place wherewe like take the time to put on
something different, like almostthe idea of when you feel good,
you look good.
I'm not.
I want to make sure that I'mclear that I'm not minimizing
that putting on clothes aregoing to automatically make you
just snap out of not feelinggreat or snap out of a
depression, but it can maybestart to help you move towards

(06:26):
getting to a better place.
Right, you're putting onsomething more than those old
dark clothes and colors.
Maybe it can start the processof helping you to get to that
next level, that place that'snot so dark, not so drab.

Speaker 2 (06:41):
You mentioned dark colors.
I know, like, even for me, youknow, my mental health is my
whole world right.
Like I wear a lot of darkcolors often.
I notice that I wear darkcolors often.
Is that something I should bepaying attention to more because
I wear dark colors?
Like, is that something I needto notice because of the colors
that I wear?
Like, how does colors possiblyimpact how I'm feeling?

Speaker 3 (07:02):
I think it kind of depends on who you are and where
you are right, like some peoplejust naturally like dark colors
or more neutral things, and Ithink it's for several reasons.
Sometimes it's because you justlike to blend in.
There are people that don'tlike to stand out.
When you wear color, you wearprint, you wear things that are
going to draw attention, peopleare going to notice you and
sometimes we don't want to benoticed.
So if you're wearing darkcolors, you're wearing things

(07:24):
that are going to kind of helpyou blend into the background.
You're not going to be noticedin the same way, and sometimes
that's our intention.
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 Ithink you are intentionally

(07:46):
dressing in a way that's goingto help you achieve that goal.
Now, if you are doing it forthe reason of something that is,
you know, I'm in a depressedstate, so I'm dressing in this
way because it matches thatdepression, I think that's a
little different.
But I mean, you just happen tolike dark colors, so I don't
think that's a necessarily a badthing.
I mean, I don't think it's badeither to throw in some you know
some color, some print a littlebit you know a little bit every
now and then.
But I think if youintentionally know that you just
like dark colors because that'syour aesthetic, I think that's

(08:08):
different than kind of feedinginto that negative mental space
that you're in.

Speaker 2 (08:13):
Sweet.
So last question what advice doyou feel like you have for
someone struggling to likeredefine that personal style,
maybe due to life transitions,maybe due to mental health
concerns, Like?
What advice did you give tothem?

Speaker 3 (08:26):
I think First I say deal with the mental right,
because that's the biggest part,Right.
So get the help to deal withwhatever it is that you're going
through.
Right, and when you're in abetter place mentally, then you
can start to look at what doagain.
What do I feel good in, whathelps me to have a more positive
outlook?
Right, is it putting on alittle bit of color?

(08:47):
Is it doing my makeup?
Is it whatever makes you feelgood?
And that's going to help withthe shift you're trying to do
with your mental.
I say do that.
And now, if it's a literal likeI don't know what my is, I say
get help from somebody that doesthat, like myself.
Right, where I help you do astyle assessment.
Right, like what do you like?
What do you want?
Who are you?

(09:07):
Right, because I always like tostart with who are you, because
that's what's most importantand that's also going to lead
you to what kind of visualaesthetic will play into who you
are.

Speaker 2 (09:25):
I'll help you get to know who you are and then we can
work on what that looks likefrom a how you show up kind of
perspective.
I love it.
I love it.
Thank you for the advice.
Bianca is awesome having youhere with me.
Thanks for joining me today.
Have a awesome, fantastic restof your week.
Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (09:38):
Thank you for tuning into the Doves Inner Beauty
podcast, where we fosteremotional awareness, one
individual at a time.
For a complimentaryconsultation, visit
dovesinnerbeautycom or call336-298-6599.
That's 336-298-6599.