Colour brave hearts

Ranveer Singh. Pic/Instagram

When COVID-19 restrictions eased off, fashion and lifestyle company Net-a-Porter's senior market editor Libby Page noticed a drastic change in the surging customer demand for more optimistic fashion, which included bright colourful clothes and playful prints. This new trend is now being described as dopamine dressing. Dopamine is a type of neurotransmitter, also known as the "feel-good" hormone, and that's exactly what this trend is meant to make people feel.

Dutch model Doutzen Kroes at the 2019 Met Gala wore a dress by Giambattista Valli Haute Couture; (right) English singer-songwriter Charli XCX at the 2019 Met Gala wore a dress designed by Jean Paul Gaultier. Pics/Getty Images

Fashion content creator Mansi Pandey, 21, says she expresses herself through clothes. "I wear clothes depending on my mood. So, the colours reflect what I am feeling. That gives me a sense of personality." During the pandemic, she started experimenting with more than one colour, and most of these were bold choices. She slowly became more confident in her style. "Eventually, I found colours that complimented my skin."

Purvi Shah, psychologist

This was also the case with Chahat Saraogi, a 21-year-old fashion stylist, style educator and fashion design student from Pearl Academy. "Fashion and clothes definitely help lift my mood. Whenever I felt low or when I was not feeling myself, I'd dress up in my favourite aesthetic." Saraogi says she initially hopped onto this trend to experiment, but soon realised, it wasn't just a trend anymore, because it had become her personal style as well.

Wearing black is dopamine dressing for Charu Gaur because that's what she feels happiest in

Another reason why both Pandey and Saraogi say they were inclined towards bold colour choices for their outfits is because it made them stand out in a crowd. "Everyone is teaching you how to style a white shirt, but wearing something colourful is [considered to be] dangerous. It gives you an adrenaline rush and the challenge of styling something colourful and making it work is something else," shares Pandey. In fact, Pandey now ensures that every outfit she wears has a pop of colour, even if it's just her makeup.

Fashion content creator Mansi Pandey says she wears clothes depending on her mood

Charu Gaur, founder and editor of digital fashion magazine Runway Square, feels that Indians have always been "dopamine dressers". "We don't need people to tell us [Indians] to wear colourful clothes, we have been doing it all our lives." Gaur, however, describes it as a very personal trend. "It is a mix between something that is comfortable, but also makes me feel like I am slightly dressed up," she says, adding that for her, wearing black would be dopamine dressing because that's what makes her happy. Gaur has noticed that post lockdown, people feel like they can wear whatever they want. "Dopamine dressing is not restricted to colourful clothing and colour blocking," she says. "For me it can be anything to which a memory is attached."

Fashion stylist and style educator Chahat Saraogi says she initially hopped onto the trend to experiment, but soon realised, "it had become her personal style as well"

Examining why this trend has picked up, Purvi Shah, psychologist and founder of counselling service, I Purvi Shah, says, "From childhood, we've been taught to link colours with thoughts, emotions and behaviour." She says these factors often work in a loop. "The moment you get a thought, it provokes a certain kind of emotion and that emotion provokes a certain type of behaviour. You associate the same kind of feeling every time you wear a particular piece of clothing."

Dopamine dressing also introduced a trend called kid core, which is plastic jewellery made out of beads, a style often associated with children. Gaur feels that, "sometimes these trends tend to be a little textbookish". "I don't support anything that's plastic; eventually it's just another thing that people are going to wear for a few months and throw away." Gaur supports dopamine dressing only when it's more about being mindful. She urges people to look into their wardrobe and only shop if they actually want something. "Find your own happiness while dressing up and think about how you're feeling in that moment and what clothes can do for you. Don't overdo it. Find your own dopamine."