Disclaimer: I’m terrible on Monday mornings. I wake up feeling like a dead slug and get dressed while moving my lips in silent aggression toward my closet. I’ve been told this doesn’t exactly scream “approachable colleague.” On Monday mornings, I am my least favourite version of myself.
For years I’ve blindly reached for a black shirt with minimal sleeve coverage so I could avoid staring at my closet for any longer than necessary. Funky old tees + leggings = acceptable work attire for many years. Who cares if every Monday it’s exactly the same outfit?
I like those clothes, silly! But when I was interviewing folks for an unrelated freelance article on colour psychology in retail environments (“Oh hey Target!
I see you putting RED everywhere on purpose!”), I stumbled across a concept that made me rethink my monochromatic existence.
Enter: dopamine dressing.
Colour psychologist Dr. Sarah Chouhan explained to me that studies prove when we wear things that make us happy, our brains release dopamine (aka our happy hormones!).
Bonus: she said it can help boost your mood when you’re feeling low. Score. How to rock dopamine dressing at work was officially my main question going into interviews.
Dr. Chen, who researches the influence environments have on our mood, agreed that dopamine-dumping clothing exists. We traded emails a few times about the vibe I was going for Monday mornings and she encouraged me to pick an item that “makes you stupid happy” to wear for three weeks straight.
If I didn’t feel happier at work wearing it, she said we’d have to upend my office desk and interrogate me about my life choices. Sold. Week one was disastrous and amazing.
I unearthed an old blazer I thrifted at Goodwill a few months back but was saving for…some occasion. It’s a blazer, but it’s hot pink. TRUE CRIMSON velvet blended with hot pink isn’t a colour I know how to describe, but think “Barbie exploded in your closet and got dress material with the scraps” hot pink.
Bold shoulder pads and pockets give it that extra “WHAT AM I TRYING TO COMPENSATE FOR WITH THIS OUTFIT” vibe I was going for. I wore it with jeans and my thrifted white Converses because if you’re gonna go full hot pink velvet blazer, you might as well lean into it. Honestly, walking into the agency that morning was terrifying.
I felt like a kid walking into daycare for the first time. But here’s the thing – I didn’t hate it. Yes, I looked insane (still love you, Jonathan), but I didn’t feel totally miserable walking into work like I usually had been.
My boss Marcus did a full double take but kept walking, probably because we’re still both unsure if I’m the kind of person who will quit by chaotically dancing around their desk. Halfway through the morning I had people stopping me to ask where I got my jacket and by lunch I’d received more compliments than I typically get all week. COMPLIMENTS ABOUT MYSELF MADE ME WANT TO DO MORE WORK.
I volunteered to take on this random logo project I’d been sitting on waiting for someone else to touch. For the first time in awhile, that blazer made me feel like Julia who offers to help with stuff, not Julia who hides in her office cubicle praying no one asks her a question. Week two was yellow trousers.
But not “oh these trousers are kind of cute and yellow” yellow. I’m talking traffic cone, highlighter, “OH MY GOD WHY ARE YOU WEARING THE SUN” yellow. Baggy jeans cut so wide they make a swooshing noise when I walk (gift to humanity, I know).
Surprisingly enough, even when I have the worst Monday I could possibly imagine, I cannot feel sad in yellow sweatpants that whistle when I move. It’s a scientifically proven fact. I paired them with my navy Target jumper from clearance that I got on clearance to keep it slightly less intense, but honestly probably should’ve paired with the wall because these puppies stole the show.
My coworker Jenny sent me a picture of me from across the room: “WHY ARE YOU SMILING DIRECTLY AT YOUR COMPUTER IT’S MONDAY AND WE DON’T DO THAT lol.” News for you Jenny, I was smiling at an Excel spreadsheet on Monday. My trousers threw my brain into happy-overdrive. By week three I’d lost my marbles.
Another thrifted find from my favourite vintage store rolled around in my car: a vintage fruit print dress I found while dusting through racks at an estate sale. Watermelon. Pineapple.
WTF is that?? Best guess: passion fruit. Mangos?
Who knows. Does it matter? Probably not when you look like Carmen Miranda threw up fruit all over this dress.
It was only $12 and makes me feel like Pamela from TheBlair WitchProject who wandered into Cancun instead of the woods. Bonus: pockets. Yep, that’s our junior account manager asking if I got it from a boutique she should know about. “Um, no sweetie, aggressively old person owned a home in Beaverton.” Turns out rocking this crazy-print dress helped me crush a work presentation I’d been stressing about for weeks.
Could’ve been Wednesday; I’ll never know. But when your work dress makes you feel like someone who knows how to nail a presentation, you roll with it. I’ll be honest: I texted Dr.
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Chen when I got home that Monday: “.are you SURE my clothes aren’t drugging me because if they are I’m not stopping” It’s now been close to eight months of forced-happywear Mondays and I am here for it. I’ve narrowed it down to a pretty simple formula. Sort of science.
My science is kinda based on “put this on once and it worked, so I’ll put it on again” so bare with me… Outfit formula: 1. Must be bright enough to see from space. Not blue that’s-sorta-a-dark-blue-but-not-really blue.
SEE-THIS-PERSON-WEARING-SUNLIGHT bright. Got this ugly ass green jumper that makes me look like a radioactive abortion. Colours reach your brain quicker than coffee (no joke, read some studies) and green cheers me right up.
2. Strange Textures are clutch. I’ve got this jumper covered in what can only be described as little balls of fabric.
It’s like wearing a stress ball. Literally. Don’t worry about those wonky charts when your jumper feels like kittens in your office cubicle.
3. Something quirky that reminds you of being weirdly cool. I picked up these earrings at Goodwill that look like they should be attached to roller skates.
They remind me of being ten and wanting to grow up to be in roller derby (spoilers: I tried rolling and fell on my butt). But they make me feel like that weird kid with the skater shoes rockin’ her craft projects up and down the street. 4.
At least one totally nonsensical item. Senseless clothes won’t make you happy. WTF skirts with pockets in the front that actually create weird bulges when you use them?
Insane socks that crawl up your ankle? Sign me up. 5.
Conversation starter. Interaction with your peers is half the battle. I’ve got as many as 12 unrelated conversations based on these tacky vintage earrings shaped like old time phones.
Bonus conversations when you get asked what the heck they are by at least three kids under the age of twenty-five. Listen, wearing a rainbow striped jumper isn’t going to fix bad job. If you hate what you do, Sparkle Tits sequins aren’t going magically fix that. (Although they will make posting your resume online less painful.) But donning a colourful garment on a day when you’d typically rather curl up into a ball and cry can totally give you a leg up on the week.
Your brain really can be tricked into believing you’re feeling things just by what you wear. psychologists call it “enclothed cognition” but let’s be real – wearing clothes that make you feel amazing is tricking your brain. Something about these crazy outfits has me mentally riding high about 80% of the time. Don’t get me wrong, last Monday I could’ve died and 100% wore my shirt covered in little pink flamingos dancing because sometimes clothes can’t fix Monday.
Trust me, I’ve gone full-method here. Last Monday I wore an old bowling shirt I found from the 80s (“Steve” is embroidered on the pocket, I am not Steve.) with hot trousers and heels. It was fireworks.
Literal fireworks went off in our interns head when she saw me that morning because she thought I was having an existential crisis starring herself as the villain. Truthfully, dressing like a fruity-pebbles unicorn for Monday meetings has spilled into the rest of my wardrobe. I used to hoard cute clothes “for special occasions that never came.” Instead my favourite outfits gathered dust in my closet mocking me daily.
Now that cute dress I scored at the NYE sale two years ago? Jeans and a funky top for “content strategy meeting Monday!” Heels with bedazzled ankles I found at Nordstrom Rack on clearance? Suddenly my go-to Tuesday after lunch feet attire.
If life is short and Mondays will always exist, your happiness inducing outfits shouldn’t be neglected to the back corners of your closet. Expectations: I post my #monicawear on Instagram mostly to keep track of my crazy outfits.
But now others are joining in!
My favourite was this tax lawyer who wore a tie adorned with little dinosaurs all week to meetings and closed his largest deal yet.
Another IG friend (a kindergarten teacher!) wore a different bold colour every Monday for four weeks and swears her attitude at work AND her students’ behaviour improved. Guess what?
Dopamine works both ways, kids. My coworkers are now definitely wearing less depressing colours on Mondays because of me. Does my mum think I’ve lost my ever-loving mind. “This is FOR WORK?? ?” she asks weekly when I post outfits.
Obviously, fashion folk probably think I’ve finally jumped ship and gone full-basic by admitting I enjoy wearing my clothes. But hey if rocking your favourite jumper makes you feel like a hot mess Monday morning? DO YOU, boo.
My point is this: we drastically underestimate how much our clothing affects our day. I’m not talking “dress for the job you want” Bobby McIntries shit; I’m talking about the instant joy you feel when you look in the mirror and think damn I look like I know what I’m doing today. If seeing someone rocking rainbow capris on public transportation brightens your day, say hello – it might be me not wanting to kill myself on another Monday.
