Comfy Clothes are More Than Just Comfy ClothesIf you’re feeling like that title is a bit woo-woo, I hear you. In fact, if you had told me ten years ago that I would be making a case for comfy clothes, I would have laughed. Back then, I wore jeans so tight I dreaded sitting down, I sported cute but impractical footwear on -30 degree days that probably left my toes with permanent damage. I shopped for clothes with one thing and one thing only in mind: how they looked. In all honesty, if you had told me back then that fast-forward ten years I’d be prioritizing comfort when shopping, I probably would have thought it was a sign of “letting myself go”. What I have come to believe, is that it’s actually a powerful way of choosing myself and my well-being. Here are 2 reasons why: Uncomfortable clothes keep us looking at our bodies from the outside inI recently read the following quote:
”Self-objectification occurs when people learn to view their own bodies from an outside perspective, which is a natural result of living in an environment where bodies are objectified (…) When we are self-objectifying, our identities are split in two: the one living her life and the one watching and judging her.” - From the book More Than A Body by Lindsay Kite and Lexie Kite)
If you are noticing that you live a lot of your life as an outsider looking in and wish that weren’t the case, I think choosing clothes that make you feel like you and that provide comfort to your body can be a powerful way to practice being with your inner self looking out at the world, instead of the opposite. Uncomfortable clothes can feel like a threat to our nervous system We know that our nervous systems are constantly scanning and assessing whether things both outside our bodies and sensations from inside our bodies are safe or threatening. There’s a hypothesis that uncomfortable clothes can act as a stimulus all day long that leaves our nervous systems looking for the source of the nagging discomfort, or even as a threat. I don’t know if there is research on this theory, but I would invite you to check in with your yourself on days you are in really comfortable outfit versus days you are in a less cozy outfit. Do you feel more on edge in one over the other? Does your body carry more tension in one over the other? There are no wrong answers, just exploration!
Final thoughts for today:Having an interest in fashion is not mutually exclusive with leaning into comfort! I believe the two can co-exist. There is no such thing as prioritizing comfort “right or wrong” - perfectionism can creep in in the funniest of places. I encourage you to keep an eye out for it!
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