我們的衣著選擇暴露的個人信息比我們預想的要多。實際上，我們可以把衣著看做我們向他人展示自己的一種語言。

每件衣服是一個單詞，而我們把這些單詞連成一句話，告訴別人我們是誰。我們擁有的“單詞”越多，我們能造出的“句子”也就越多，由此，我們傳遞出去的信息也會更準確。

A good example of how we use clothing in order to portray an image of ourselves is the way we dress for job interviews. A business-like appearance is often thought to represent success and employers often believe that a professionally dressed person indicates motivation, skill and a hard-working attitude. An interesting study in 1970 found that people perceived nurses as less caring when they dressed casually. This goes to show that how we dress gives off important information about our personality, education, background and credibility.
我們通過著裝來樹立良好形象的最佳例證就是我們去參加求職面試時的著裝選擇。一般都認為，商務類型的著裝代表成功，雇主們也認為身著職業裝的人傳遞出積極、技能和勤奮的工作態度。1970年的一個有意思的研究發現，看到護士身著休閑服裝，人們通常會認為這個護士不那么會照顧人。這也說明，我們如何著裝會傳遞出有關我們的個性、教育、背景和可信度等方面的重要信息。

In addition having an impression on others, our clothing can have an effect on ourselves too. The multi-sensory aspects, social factors and symbolic associations of clothing can affect our individual emotions.
我們的著裝除了能給別人留下特定的印象以外，對我們自己也有影響。著裝的多方位感知、社會因素以及標志性關聯都會影響我們每個人的情緒。

The idea that what you wear affects your mentality is called'enclothed cognition.' A study of participants wearing white lab coats found that the participants performed better in tests when they believed that they were wearing a doctor's coat than when they were told they were wearing an artist's coat. These results suggest that we take on the perceived characteristics of the clothing that we wear, so much so, that it influences the way we think and behave.
認為衣著會影響一個人心理狀態的理論叫做“著裝認知”。一項研究發現，身著白大褂的被試者認為自己穿的是實驗室大褂時的表現優于其認為自己穿的是藝術家大褂時的表現。這些結果表明，我們會把衣裝的一些特質加在自己身上，由此，這些衣服也就影響了我們的思維和行為方式。

In fashion, this is seen when designers create a persona for their collections and women aspire to wear the brand to take on the characteristics of the muse. If you associate Prada's collection with an intelligent, powerful woman, you are more likely to act that way, when you wear the clothing yourself.
在時尚界，設計師通常會為他們設計的服裝設定個性特點，而選擇該品牌衣裝的女性則會把這些個性特點也加在自己身上。如果你把Prada系列的衣服與智慧、有權勢的女性聯系在一起，那么當你穿上Prada的衣服以后，就很可能會表現成為一個智慧有權勢的女性。

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen）