Ep. #21- Jonathan Cavaliere

My chat with Mr. Cavaliere surprised me. A part of me was worried going into the interview that it’d be tough to link together “mindset” and "Men’s fashion"... But that quickly turned out to be a quite the silly thing to worry about. Jonathan talks about how the best part of the job as a custom menswear designer is witnessing first hand the transformation from “previous-self" to “more-confident-self" with his clients. This led me to do a little digging into the psychology of clothing, to which I was surprised there is a whole field. 

 

There’s a term in the field called “Enclothed-cognition” which basically states that clothing has an effect upon a persons mental process, the way they think, feel, and function, in areas like attention, confidence, or abstract thinking. It’s a real thing, the clothes you choose legitimately say something about your inner-world. In the book “You Are What You Wear,” by Dr. Jennifer Baumgartner, She says  “Our clothing is a reflection of what we are thinking and what we are feeling. Often, wardrobe mishaps are simply our inner conflicts bubbling to the surface." 

 

This has led me to start paying attention to what I wear, and why. Or as Jonathan would put it, being more intentional. And I can tell you that even if I stay at home all day and throw on a suit jacket while editing these podcasts… something feels different. I know that nobody will see me, so I know it may seem a little odd, But when I take a bathroom break and look at myself in the mirror, I think of myself as more successful than if I were to be stared back at by myself in comfy sweats. It’s like I can be proactive and create an environment where my inner dialogue is motivating rather than de-motivating.  I believe this will be a tremendously powerful tool moving forward in the 6AM Mindset.