Enclothed cognition and hidden meanings in important Ottoman textiles

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis Group in TEXTILE Cloth and Culture on 1 September 2016, available online at: https://doi.org/10.1080/14759756.2015.1125700This paper illustrates how hidden details in garment design may reveal important clues about the motives of the wearer or designer that are of considerable cultural relevance. We suggest these hidden design features may reflect key psychological factors previously not considered. We illustrate this by doing a multilevel analysis of two important 16th century examples of Ottoman court clothing from the Topkapi Palace Museum. We show that these garments contain early examples of the use of ‘enclothed cognition’ where the designs themselves are likely to have influenced the mind of the wearer. We suggest that the historical-social analysis of clothing may benefit from considering the concealed, as well as the explicit, psychologically relevant design features. We suggest that psychosocial interpretations of clothing may help further our understanding of textile and apparel design more generally, even within an historical context.Peer reviewe

Unbuttoned: : The interaction between provocativeness of female work attire and occupational status

This document is the Accepted Manuscript. The final publication is available at Springer via https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0450-8.Gender-biased standards in United Kingdom (UK) workplaces continue to exist. Women experience gender discrimination in judgements of competence, even by other women. Clothing cues can subtly influence professional perceptions of women. The aim of this study was to investigate how minor manipulations to female office clothing affect the judgements of competence of them by other UK females and to examine whether such effects differ with occupational status. One group of female university students (n = 54) and one group of employed females (n = 90), all from London and the East of England, rated images of faceless female targets, on a global competence measure derived from six competence ratings (of intelligence, confidence, trustworthiness, responsibility, authority, and organisation). The dress style was conservative but varied slightly by skirt length and the number of buttons unfastened on a blouse. The female targets were ascribed different occupational roles, varying by status (high – senior manager, or low - receptionist). Participants viewed the images for a maximum of 5 s before rating them. Overall participants rated the senior manager less favourably when her clothing was more provocative, but more favourably when dressed more conservatively (longer skirt, buttoned up blouse). This interaction between clothing and status was not present for the receptionist. Employed participants also rated females lower than did student participants. We conclude that even subtle changes to clothing style can contribute towards negative impressions of the competence of women who hold higher status positions in a UK cultural contextPeer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Hidden meanings in important Ottoman textiles

This exhibition is about the power of clothing. The clothes people wear obviously affect the impression others have of the wearer. These effects can be very subtle and influence a very wide range of impressions that the observer may be unaware of. Our previous research has shown that minor manipulations of clothing detail influence ratings of intelligence, flexibility, trustworthiness, confidence, success, salary and organizational abilities. What is less well known or understood is the effect of clothes on the wearer – called ‘enclothed cognition’. Design decisions can influence the mind and behavior of the wearer, as our psychological research has shown. Clothing has always been a signifier of power and we believe that Ottoman Sultans in the past were aware of the hidden power of enclothed cognition. This exhibition reveals how the Sultans of the past knew of – and used – the hidden power of clothing that our contemporary fashion psychology research has examined. The exhibition shows some of our recent research in which we have reconsidered the design of some very important Ottoman garments made in the 16th Century from the collection of the Topkapi Palace Museum, Istanbul. We suggest that our analysis of three important articles of Ottoman court clothing illustrate how hidden psychological factors may be of important cultural relevance in determining explicit and implicit textile designs. The analyses suggests that a psychosocial interpretation may help further our understanding of textile and apparel design more generally, especially within an historical context

Past Futures Manifested : Enclothed cognition: Reconsidering the power of clothes

Catalogue for the 2nd Istanbul Design Biennia