BRIGHTEN YOUR MOOD WITH A DOPAMINE FIX

Words by Jamal Grootboom | Images: Supplied/Getty

Colours play a huge part in your overall mood. When the sun is out and everything is bright and vibrant, you instantly feel more awake and alive. Conversely, when everything is dark and grey it can impact your mood in the opposite manner.

Enter dopamine dressing. Following the return of maximalism in fashion, dopamine dressing acts as a remedy to inject your wardrobe with happiness through the addition of colour. And when we say colour, it’s not your pastels or muted tones. It’s all about bright and bold blues, reds, oranges, greens and pinks.

This trend can be attributed to the Valentino PP Pink F/W Collection in 2022, which saw the vibrant fuchsia pink have a ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ cerulean blue moment and take over the fashion sphere.

Adding colour to your wardrobe can be intimidating since you have to consider your skin tone, undertone and basic colour theory. We’ve made an easy-to-follow guide, whether you what to get your toes wet or dive into the deep end of dopamine dressing.

Bright colours can be daunting, but starting one piece at a time is the best way to ease into it. Start off with a handbag, pair of heels, bucket hat, sweater or shirt. This way, you can soft launch your wardrobe into colour and see how it makes you feel with little risk. These pieces are also easier to style with other neutral, black or white items in your wardrobe since the colourful picks become the focal point of your look, making it a lot easier to style around them.

A key reason people are afraid of colour is due to a misunderstanding around colour theory. This extends beyond just knowing what colours are complementary or contrasting but also what looks good with your undertone. An easy guide to follow is starting by figuring out what your undertone is first.

Check the veins on your wrist. If they are blue or purple, you have a cool undertone. If they are green you have a warm undertone and when it’s somewhere in the middle you're neutral. Those with warm undertones look best with colours that have a warm base of reds or yellows.

People with cool undertones look best with colours that have a blue base to them. This means if you’re warm-toned, a purple that has more red pigment to it will suit you and vice versa if you’re cool-toned. If you have a neutral undertone then you can go either way.

The key to executing dopamine dressing is committing to it fully and not being afraid to stand out in the crowd. In the same vein as to how Beyoncé has been sporting full bright and bold colourful looks on the Renaissance World Tour and clearly feeling herself, this is the type of energy you have to feel when you commit to dopamine dressing.

The thrill of a full fuchsia pink, lime green, scarlet red or Azure blue is something that is sure to have you receiving compliments from everywhere. This goes for monochromatic outfits or mixing complementary colours (red and green; yellow and purple; orange and blue; green and pink.) together.

Dopamine dressing has so much hype behind it since it gives your mood a boost not only due to the effect bright colours have but the way you brighten up a room. Don’t be afraid to experiment and give it a try.