The Power of Fashion | Maria Raveendran | TEDxUTSC — Transcript

Full transcript

1. 0:11Ladies and gentlemen,
2. 0:14let's talk about Adam and Eve. Now, for
3. 0:17the heathens in the crowd today,
4. 0:19Adam and Eve is a story from the Bible,
5. 0:22and it's about the first human beings
6. 0:24who are created by God, and they lived
7. 0:26naked in the Garden of Eden.
8. 0:29The Garden of Eden was gorgeous. It was
9. 0:31this luscious place, and these two had
10. 0:34to fulfill just one condition to live
11. 0:36there.
12. 0:38Don't eat a fruit from the forbidden
13. 0:41tree. It sounds really easy, right? The
14. 0:44tree literally has the word forbidden in
15. 0:46its name.
16. 0:49Apparently, it wasn't because one day
17. 0:51Adam and Eve decide to eat an apple from
18. 0:53the tree.
19. 0:55And the moment they take a bite,
20. 0:58they realize they're naked.
21. 1:00And they feel really embarrassed, so
22. 1:01they run around the garden trying to
23. 1:03find leaves to cover themselves up.
24. 1:07Am I skipping some parts of that story?
25. 1:10Definitely.
26. 1:11But, I summarized the parts that to me
27. 1:14demonstrate the fundamental way most of
28. 1:16us see clothing.
29. 1:18It exists for a single purpose, and
30. 1:20that's to cover our bodies.
31. 1:23Our society looks at clothes, hair,
32. 1:26shoes, makeup, accessories,
33. 1:27collectively, what I will call fashion,
34. 1:31in a very practical and utilitarian way.
35. 1:35Folks,
36. 1:36today
37. 1:38I want to show you why that's wrong.
38. 1:40I want to talk about the power of
39. 1:42fashion and the ability it has to
40. 1:45transform our lives.
41. 1:48But, before we jump into all of that
42. 1:50juicy stuff, who is this person that's
43. 1:51going to stand here for the next 20
44. 1:53minutes and tell you all that you dress
45. 1:55really badly?
46. 1:57Well, in case you've already forgotten,
47. 1:59my name is Maria. I'm a student, a
48. 2:02researcher, an author, a bunch of other
49. 2:04cool stuff.
50. 2:06I think for a 20-year-old, I have a
51. 2:07pretty good resume. I'm happy with where
52. 2:09I'm at.
53. 2:11But trust me when I say that that resume
54. 2:14just used to be a blank page.
55. 2:17I want to take you back in time to about
56. 2:203 years ago.
57. 2:22And I ask you to imagine this scared
58. 2:2417-year-old high school student who's
59. 2:27about to embark on a journey at Canada's
60. 2:29number one post-secondary educational
61. 2:31institution.
62. 2:33She was also about to live on residence.
63. 2:35So, she was kissing goodbye to her mom's
64. 2:38home-cooked meals and her dad killing
65. 2:40any insects in the house.
66. 2:42She was basically looking down a really
67. 2:45dark tunnel and all she could see was
68. 2:48hours spent at the library, microwaved
69. 2:50bowls of old pasta,
70. 2:52and cowering in fear because the spiders
71. 2:54had colonized her bedroom.
72. 2:59I was that 17-year-old.
73. 3:01You thought I looked bad now, right?
74. 3:03Surprise.
75. 3:04But in the middle of all of this change,
76. 3:07I had to simplify at least one aspect of
77. 3:09my life, so I picked my wardrobe.
78. 3:12I came up with a personal uniform of
79. 3:14sweatshirts and skinny jeans. I could
80. 3:16eat in them, sleep in them, and study in
81. 3:18them, which are the only things that
82. 3:19really matter to a student, right?
83. 3:23At this point in my life, all I was
84. 3:25thinking about was productivity.
85. 3:28I had come into university with all
86. 3:30these dreams and goals that I was trying
87. 3:32to achieve, so all my energy went
88. 3:34towards that.
89. 3:37This focus on productivity is such a
90. 3:40strong message in our culture, and
91. 3:42fashion is just one of the ways that
92. 3:44it's reinforced.
93. 3:46Some of our most idolized and iconic
94. 3:49figures are famous for the fact that
95. 3:50they have uniforms.
96. 3:52Take Mark Zuckerberg, for example. He
97. 3:55wears the exact same gray T-shirt every
98. 3:58day.
99. 4:00Now, when he was asked about that in an
100. 4:02interview, he said, and I quote,
101. 4:06"I feel like I'm not doing my job if I
102. 4:09spend any of my energy on things that
103. 4:11are silly or frivolous about my life.
104. 4:15So, that way I can dedicate all of my
105. 4:18energy towards just building the best
106. 4:21products and services." All right, so
107. 4:23his wardrobe suffered so that you and I
108. 4:25could have a platform to share cat
109. 4:27videos on.
110. 4:29And he's not the only one, right? Steve
111. 4:31Jobs also comes to mind. Black
112. 4:33turtleneck, dad jeans, white sneakers. I
113. 4:36mean, these people are iconic. They're
114. 4:38so respected in our society, and this
115. 4:41was their opinion on the clothes we put
116. 4:43on our backs.
117. 4:46Naturally, I felt the same way.
118. 4:49I had a budding interest in fashion, but
119. 4:51I thought, at the very least, I had to
120. 4:54wait till I've achieved something really
121. 4:56significant with my life before spending
122. 4:58time on things like that.
123. 5:00You know, maybe once I'd created the
124. 5:02next big tech company, Pineapple or
125. 5:05Spacebook,
126. 5:07then I could start devoting time to my
127. 5:09outfits.
128. 5:12Unfortunately,
129. 5:15I was nowhere near starting the next
130. 5:18Pineapple.
131. 5:20I was in my first year at university.
132. 5:24And when you're at university,
133. 5:26you realize that you're a guppy
134. 5:29in a shark tank.
135. 5:31Everyone sitting in these lecture halls
136. 5:33has actually already started their own
137. 5:35tech company or invented a water
138. 5:38purifier that cost 5 cents or interned
139. 5:40at NASA when they were 3 years old.
140. 5:43I hadn't done anything remotely close to
141. 5:45that impressive. I mean, I'd been on my
142. 5:47high school's lacrosse team for a week,
143. 5:49but one day the ball came flying towards
144. 5:51my face, nearly broke my nose, so I
145. 5:54dropped out. I like my nose.
146. 5:58Suddenly, I'm sitting there and I'm
147. 6:00questioning everything. Myself, my
148. 6:02abilities, my goals, my ambitions. I'm
149. 6:04really wondering, will I ever achieve
150. 6:06those big dreams I had?
151. 6:11I'm sure most of the students in this
152. 6:13room today completely understand where
153. 6:14I'm coming from. The modern
154. 6:16undergraduate is expected to have
155. 6:18everything. Grades, work experience,
156. 6:20volunteering, extracurricular clubs, and
157. 6:23a fantastic social life.
158. 6:26I am not the only one who is wearing
159. 6:28myself out trying to have it all.
160. 6:31We're expected to be extremely
161. 6:34productive, and yet
162. 6:37we're also expected to be extremely
163. 6:39happy. And you know what, folks?
164. 6:42That makes complete sense. This day and
165. 6:44age is, statistically speaking, the best
166. 6:47time ever to be alive. We have longer
167. 6:49lifespans, way lower mortality rates,
168. 6:51easier access to food, shelter,
169. 6:53education. We should all be so
170. 6:54incredibly grateful for the gift of
171. 6:56being alive in the 21st century.
172. 7:01But there's a catch, right?
173. 7:04All those perks of the modern age are
174. 7:07pretty much offset by that constant
175. 7:09pressure to be productive.
176. 7:13What good is a longer lifespan when
177. 7:15you're spending most of that time
178. 7:16working?
179. 7:18We tend to forget that being happy
180. 7:20requires work, too. Now, I was so
181. 7:23stressed trying to be this productive
182. 7:25student that I decided enough is enough.
183. 7:27I need to shift some of this work
184. 7:29towards being happy. And how did I do
185. 7:31that?
186. 7:32Well,
187. 7:33I looked at that budding interest that I
188. 7:35had in fashion,
189. 7:37and I decided to nurture it.
190. 7:39I went into my closet and I dug out all
191. 7:42those clothes that I was saving for
192. 7:43special occasions and I just started
193. 7:45wearing them to lectures or to to work.
194. 7:48I stopped spending all my money on
195. 7:51skinny jeans and hoodies and I said,
196. 7:53"Maria, try something interesting,
197. 7:55something different."
198. 7:57It got to the point where I was having
199. 7:59so much fun dressing up that many Monday
200. 8:02mornings when the last thing I wanted to
201. 8:04do was crawl out of bed for 8:00 a.m.
202. 8:06calculus,
203. 8:07I forced myself to.
204. 8:10I had a duty to show the good people of
205. 8:12Toronto the fantastic outfit I had
206. 8:14planned for the day.
207. 8:18Now every night I'd stand in front of my
208. 8:19wardrobe deciding what to wear and I'd
209. 8:21ask myself,
210. 8:23"Would I be happy if a future employer
211. 8:26or a future boyfriend saw me in this
212. 8:28outfit?"
213. 8:29And not at the same time, folks. One or
214. 8:31the other. I'm not that kind of person.
215. 8:33You don't have to worry.
216. 8:36But that idea, that sentiment, it's
217. 8:38based in something we all intimately
218. 8:41know. We all know
219. 8:42that the way you dress influences how
220. 8:44other people perceive you.
221. 8:47It's the reason why your mom's ironing
222. 8:48that white shirt before your first
223. 8:50proper job interview or why you're up at
224. 8:52midnight texting your friends 15
225. 8:54different outfit options before your
226. 8:56first date with that smoking hottie from
227. 8:58the library. We're trying to project
228. 9:00confidence, skill, wit, intelligence,
229. 9:02all these wonderful and amazing aspects
230. 9:04of our personality.
231. 9:07All I did was adopt that into my daily
232. 9:10life.
233. 9:11Why should I just project these amazing
234. 9:13things at job interviews and first
235. 9:15dates?
236. 9:16Why not project it every single day?
237. 9:21What do I have to lose?
238. 9:25But there's something we rarely ever
239. 9:26focus on and that's how the clothes
240. 9:29influence how we see ourselves.
241. 9:32I noticed something that was happening
242. 9:33around the same time as this new found
243. 9:35passion for fashion. I was walking with
244. 9:38a bit more bounce in my step. I was more
245. 9:40confident going outside of my comfort
246. 9:42zone.
247. 9:43I felt like the imposter syndrome that
248. 9:46had gripped me since my very first day
249. 9:48at university
250. 9:49was decreasing
251. 9:51little by little.
252. 9:54The thing I attributed this change to
253. 9:56was my new found interest in fashion.
254. 10:00I noticed that taking a few minutes to
255. 10:02craft a good outfit made me feel
256. 10:04prepared to take on the day and any that
257. 10:06would
258. 10:07have.
259. 10:09I felt like my clothes were helping me
260. 10:11be my best self.
261. 10:15Now, the last thing I want to do is
262. 10:18assume that a correlation equals
263. 10:20causation and folks right now, I'm just
264. 10:23a girl
265. 10:24standing in front of a crowd asking it
266. 10:26to believe me based on a personal
267. 10:28anecdote. So, I went out to try and find
268. 10:31a study that would support everything
269. 10:33that I was thinking.
270. 10:35And guess what? I did find a study. Now,
271. 10:37this paper was published in 2012 by Dr.
272. 10:41Adam and Dr. Galinsky in the Journal of
273. 10:43Experimental Social Psychology.
274. 10:47One day, these professors see a white
275. 10:49lab coat and they think, "Hmm.
276. 10:52White lab coats are typically worn by
277. 10:54doctors and scientists and generally
278. 10:56people who are very careful and pay a
279. 10:58lot of attention to detail."
280. 11:00So, they conducted a study and they
281. 11:02confirmed that yes, the majority of the
282. 11:04population associates white lab coats
283. 11:06with traits like carefulness and
284. 11:08attention.
285. 11:11This finding led them to wonder
286. 11:14would wearing a lab coat make a person
287. 11:16take on those traits for themselves?
288. 11:18So, would it lead to increased
289. 11:20attentional abilities?
290. 11:24To test this idea, they got a bunch of
291. 11:26undergraduate students and they divided
292. 11:28them up into three groups. Group one was
293. 11:30given a white lab coat to wear, and they
294. 11:32were told that it's a painter's coat.
295. 11:35Group two was given the exact same white
296. 11:37lab coat to wear, but they're told it's
297. 11:39a doctor's coat.
298. 11:41And group three, they're also given the
299. 11:43exact same white lab coat, they're also
300. 11:45told it's a doctor's coat, but they
301. 11:47weren't allowed to put it on. It simply
302. 11:50lay on a table next to them.
303. 11:53Next, all three groups were given two
304. 11:55images that were identical except for
305. 11:57some tiny differences. Now, when they
306. 11:59were asked to write down those
307. 12:01differences,
308. 12:03group two, wearing the lab coat they
309. 12:06believed was a doctor's, found the most,
310. 12:09reflecting better attention.
311. 12:14They also found that when people are
312. 12:16wearing a doctor's lab coat, they make
313. 12:18half the number of mistakes in an
314. 12:20attention task compared to people not
315. 12:22wearing a lab coat at all.
316. 12:27So, the crucial finding of the study is
317. 12:29that the effect of a lab coat depends on
318. 12:31two factors. First, it depends on what
319. 12:34the coat symbolizes. Group one, who is
320. 12:37wearing a painter's coat, didn't show
321. 12:38any changes, presumably because we don't
322. 12:41associate painting with traits like
323. 12:43carefulness and attention.
324. 12:46And second, you have to physically wear
325. 12:49the lab coat to see any improvement.
326. 12:52Group three, that saw a doctor's lab
327. 12:54coat, but didn't actually put it on,
328. 12:57showed no change.
329. 13:01The name for this effect
330. 13:03is the theory of enclothed cognition,
331. 13:06which describes the effects that clothes
332. 13:08have on the wearer's psychological
333. 13:10processes.
334. 13:13They had found that when people wear a
335. 13:14lab coat associated with the traits of
336. 13:17carefulness and attention to detail,
337. 13:19they showed increased attentional
338. 13:21abilities themselves.
339. 13:24What a thought-provoking study, right?
340. 13:26Pretty interesting.
341. 13:27But the question is,
342. 13:29how relevant is that to you and me?
343. 13:32The last time a student walked around
344. 13:34everyday in a lab coat, he was
345. 13:36pretending to be a doctor and he ended
346. 13:37up in jail.
347. 13:39You should Google it. It was a really
348. 13:40weird story.
349. 13:43But what the study got me thinking was,
350. 13:45we all have our own personal lab coats.
351. 13:49We all have things that when we put them
352. 13:51on, we feel invincible. Now, maybe it's
353. 13:54a color that makes you feel like you
354. 13:56stand out from the crowd. Perhaps it's a
355. 13:58style of clothing that makes you feel
356. 13:59really professional and put together.
357. 14:01You could even be inspired by how your
358. 14:03idols dress. Whatever it is,
359. 14:06we all have our own personal lab coats
360. 14:09that we associate with important traits.
361. 14:12And they have the potential to help us
362. 14:14feel like our best selves.
363. 14:18Now, when I looked at my experience from
364. 14:20this perspective, I could immediately
365. 14:22understand why I was feeling the way I
366. 14:24was and I could see my personal lab
367. 14:26coats. So, I'd like to share them with
368. 14:27you today.
369. 14:30Lab coat number one, crazy trousers. I'm
370. 14:32talking cuts, colors, flares, prints,
371. 14:35anything and everything. I'm wearing
372. 14:36them today. I love them.
373. 14:39Now, this might surprise some of you,
374. 14:41but I am a serious introvert. I'm the
375. 14:43definition of an introvert.
376. 14:46And trust me when I say that's not
377. 14:47really very helpful when you're a measly
378. 14:50student trying to get their grubby
379. 14:52little hands on any job opportunity that
380. 14:54they can get.
381. 14:57Crazy trousers are the opposite of
382. 14:59introverts. They're loud, they're
383. 15:00flashy, they're confident.
384. 15:03I had to be bold when I wore them.
385. 15:06And that boldness helped me seize a lot
386. 15:09of opportunities that otherwise
387. 15:12might have just passed me by.
388. 15:16Lab coat number two are my round
389. 15:18glasses.
390. 15:19For For reason, round glasses are really
391. 15:22common in academia. I feel like we've
392. 15:24all had that professor that came in the
393. 15:26first day of the semester, round
394. 15:28glasses, turtleneck, suit, papers under
395. 15:31their arm, and you just knew, "Wow, this
396. 15:33person is really smart."
397. 15:35Well, that happened to me because
398. 15:37eventually, I began to associate these
399. 15:39glasses with everything I wanted to be
400. 15:41one day.
401. 15:42This wise, intellectual scholar who's
402. 15:45the go-to in their field.
403. 15:48Think Dumbledore.
404. 15:51Now, I stumbled across these one day. I
405. 15:53decided to try them on, and the moment I
406. 15:55did,
407. 15:57folks,
408. 15:58I felt smart.
409. 15:59I felt intellectual. I was channeling
410. 16:02all these traits that I admired greatly.
411. 16:07My final personal lab coat, thick
412. 16:09eyebrows. Now, thick eyebrows have
413. 16:11become really trendy recently, but to
414. 16:13me, they're a symbol of my heritage.
415. 16:17Women from my racial background always
416. 16:19had lots of hair and bushy eyebrows, but
417. 16:21even before it was cool.
418. 16:23So,
419. 16:24I like to wear my brows bold and unruly,
420. 16:28wild, and untamed because those are all
421. 16:30traits I think a woman of color needs to
422. 16:32thrive in our society.
423. 16:36And there you have it. Those are my
424. 16:38personal lab coats. Now, to some of you,
425. 16:40the crazy trousers are just that, crazy.
426. 16:42And to others, the round glasses were
427. 16:44less Dumbledore and more Harry Potter.
428. 16:46But guess what?
429. 16:47None of that matters. What's important
430. 16:50is that these items have significance to
431. 16:52me. They embody traits that I value, and
432. 16:56when I put them on,
433. 16:57I feel myself taking on those traits.
434. 17:02Now, it might have started out as
435. 17:03superficial, but that change became deep
436. 17:05and meaningful. No longer am I that
437. 17:08timid 17-year-old who was afraid of
438. 17:10trying hard and failing.
439. 17:13I became confident and fearless, well on
440. 17:16my way to achieving those big dreams.
441. 17:19A journey to find happiness, ironically,
442. 17:22ended up fueling my productivity and
443. 17:25driving me towards success.
444. 17:30That was really motivational, right?
445. 17:32Really inspirational. I bet each and
446. 17:34every one of you wants to run out now
447. 17:35and find your own personal lab coats.
448. 17:38And if you don't, may I ask, what's
449. 17:40wrong with you? I've just stood here and
450. 17:42told you how amazing they are.
451. 17:45But finding a personal lab coat isn't
452. 17:46always going to be easy.
453. 17:49You might need to do some trial and
454. 17:50error.
455. 17:52The thing about trial and error is that
456. 17:54might require money. And that's not
457. 17:56something a lot of undergraduate
458. 17:57students really have.
459. 17:59So, the conclusion to my talk today is
460. 18:01that if you don't have money, I'm afraid
461. 18:03you can't have a personal lab coat.
462. 18:07I'm kidding. You obviously got that. Of
463. 18:09course, it's still possible. And to
464. 18:11prove it, I set myself a challenge.
465. 18:14I did a bit more research, and I found
466. 18:15out that the average Canadian Whoops.
467. 18:19The average Canadian spends
468. 18:22I've given away my challenge. The
469. 18:23average Canadian spends $3,374
470. 18:27a year on clothing, which translates to
471. 18:29$9 a day.
472. 18:32Now, my challenge was to create a
473. 18:34complete head-to-toe outfit based on 1
474. 18:37week's worth of that budget. So, to do
475. 18:39the math, that's 63 Canadian dollars.
476. 18:44Now, this is the outfit that I came up
477. 18:45with on that budget. It's a simple
478. 18:47dress, but with this wild jacket and
479. 18:49flame printed boots, it's pretty
480. 18:51amazing, right?
481. 18:53But I'm sure most of you are thinking
482. 18:55what I thought.
483. 18:57$63 for one outfit?
484. 19:00Folks,
485. 19:02that's the cost of 12 Big Macs.
486. 19:06So,
487. 19:07I went ahead and made 12 more outfits
488. 19:09with the three things I bought, but
489. 19:11using clothes I already owned. Now, the
490. 19:13first six, these are the simple ones.
491. 19:15They're made with things we already own,
492. 19:17like white t-shirts, black jeans, denim.
493. 19:21The second set, these are the flamboyant
494. 19:23ones. You can see the crazy trousers,
495. 19:25round glasses, a bunch of other funky
496. 19:27stuff. And these 12, they're just the
497. 19:29tip of the iceberg. There are tons more
498. 19:32outfits I could have put up there today,
499. 19:33even just by mixing and matching what's
500. 19:35on the screen.
501. 19:37The point is,
502. 19:38you don't have to go broke to have a
503. 19:41personal lab coat. You don't even have
504. 19:42to buy anything.
505. 19:44The value in a personal lab coat is the
506. 19:46meaning behind the clothing. It's not
507. 19:48what you wear, but why you wear it.
508. 19:51Each and every one of us
509. 19:54can dress with purpose, dress with
510. 19:56meaning, dress with intention.
511. 20:02Folks, I'm standing here, I'm looking
512. 20:04out, and I see a really amazing group of
513. 20:07people. I see the next inventor of
514. 20:09Facebook. I see the next author of the
515. 20:12Harry Potter series. I even see the
516. 20:14person that's going to invent a burger
517. 20:15that tastes better than the Big Mac.
518. 20:18But now that I'm standing here thinking
519. 20:19about that, I don't think it's going to
520. 20:21be too hard to do.
521. 20:23What I see is an incredible group of
522. 20:26people, and you will achieve incredible
523. 20:29things.
524. 20:30But standing in your way is your own
525. 20:32doubt. You will often feel like you
526. 20:34cannot do it.
527. 20:36You will need every single tool you can
528. 20:38get to help you achieve your goals.
529. 20:42Why is fashion
530. 20:44not one of them?
531. 20:47There's a really common idea that
532. 20:49dressing well is just for special
533. 20:50occasions,
534. 20:52but to that, all I can say is that life
535. 20:54is an occasion, and every day can be
536. 20:56meaningful if you just dress like it.
537. 20:59I want to thank you for listening to me
538. 21:01today, and
539. 21:02if I bored your pants off, please
540. 21:05feel free to try on some new ones,
541. 21:07preferably flat and bright yellow. Thank
542. 21:09you very much.