Prof Pine said the results showed that people’s mental processes and
perceptions can be primed by clothing, as they unconsciously embody the
symbolic meaning of their outer layers.

She said that people in a white coat improved people’s mental agility, as
their brain was primed to take on the mental capacities they associated with
being a doctor.

Her previous research discovered that women are more likely to wear jeans when
they are depressed.

In her new book she reveals that when women are stressed they wear less of
their wardrobe, neglecting 90 per cent of it, and the main reason women
dress up is not to look attractive but to feel confident.

The results were published in Prof Pine’s new ebook Mind What You Wear: The
Psychology of Fashion.