Enclothed cognition: The effect of fashion on fitness

Maybe.

Physically wearing a white lab coat, believing it is a doctor's increases your attention, while wearing the same coat, believing it is a painter's won't.

The idea, called "enclothed cognition", is that the clothes we wear can influence the way we feel and even our behaviour.

It is an extension of the "embodied cognition" school of psychology which says our bodies influence our brains as much as our brains influence our bodies.

"It's all about the symbolic meaning that you associate with a particular item of clothing," Hajo Adam, who coined the term alongside his colleague from Northweston University's management school Adam Galinsky, told The Atlantic.

The idea, he believes, can apply to the activewear market too, he says.

"I think it would make sense that when you wear athletic clothing, you become more active and more likely to go to the gym and work out."

This is lucky considering the activewear market is growing exponentially.

General apparel has seen a downturn. Meanwhile, the local athletic apparel industry increased 8.3 per cent from 2006 to 2012, according to an industry outlook report by Ken Research.

It's fit and it's in fashion.

Beyonce has formed a venture with Topshop to produce an athletic streetwear brand,  Adidas continues to collaborate with Stella McCartney and Pharrell Williams, Puma named Rihanna as creative director overseeing the women's sportswear range.

Fit fashion was front and centre at last year's New York Fashion week, Cara Delvingne, in a pink croptop, matching leggings and running shoes, looked like she accidentally stepped on to the Chanel runway at Paris fashion week instead of her treadmill in one show, Lululemon put on a show at Melbourne Spring Fashion Week and Net-a-Porter has spawned Net-a-Sporter.

"We found that there was a bit of a gap in our offering for someone who loves fashion and exercise and wants to look great doing it," said Net-A-Porter President Alison Loehnis at the time. "She shouldn't be in any way shortchanged when it comes to exercise and looking great."

As for Lululemon, who have almost singlehandedly made wearing yoga pants... almost everywhere, OK, they largely spawned the activewear trend when they launched their stylish yoga line in 1998.

They have tapped into "enclothed cognition" argues The Atlantic in a new feature titled 'Psychology of Lululemon: How Fashion Affects Fitness'.

"You think other people will think, if you're wearing those clothes, you're a workout woman! You must be really good at it," psychologist and personal trainer Susan Rudnicki tells The Atlantic. "I see girls at hatha yoga wearing Lululemon clothes, and they look the part, and I think: They must be really good. They have their life together. I'm an instructor, and even I feel that."

The perception of others that shifts, but also our own.

It's simplistic to think that whacking on some leggings will make us go for a run.

In the transtheoretical model and stages of change, there are six parts. If you fit into the precontemplation part where you aren't intending to take action in the next six months, then it's highly unlikely that a pair of Givenchy designed Nikes will motivate you from your laptop to start doing laps.

If, however, you're in the preparation stage and are actually thinking about working out, then they just might.

As functional fashion is centralised around our busy lives it makes the transitions between work and working out, sweating and socialising easier. Plus, it looks good and has become commonplace so we're more comfortable wearing it.

And, of course, adopting the idea of embodied clothing, if we believe we're not just wearing leggings, but our gymwear, then we may be more inclined to... go to the gym.

"Once you start feeling better, you're gonna dress the way you feel," Rudnicki told The Atlantic. "Your clothes represent your inner motivation and feelings. It's a feedback loop—I feel good, so I'm going to wear the things that make me look good."