How I Discovered Dopamine Dressing with Pinterest

I first came across the phrase dopamine dressing through Pinterest Predicts in 2022. Pinterest was already one of my favourite places to explore ideas and create digital mood boards, so a prediction built around wearing colour immediately caught my attention.

The idea arrived in my Pinterest inspiration feed with a question: Can you dress yourself happy? It made me look at my own wardrobe and, inevitably, at what I wear around horses.

I thought of my wardrobe as predominantly blue, but apparently I was already something of a colour magpie. Eurasian teal, deep purple and bold pink: tick, tick, tick. I was also being drawn to the richness of the costumes in Bridgerton and The Gilded Age. Colour certainly seemed capable of lifting my mood, but dopamine dressing made me think a little more about the choices we make when we get dressed and how those choices can influence how we feel.

As a horse rider, colour appeals to me, but fit, function and performance matter too. I need clothes that give me freedom of movement as well as room for a little freedom of expression. What we wear can affect how we feel when we pull it on, and there is something rather lovely about opening the wardrobe before going to the yard and reaching for a colour that makes you smile.

What do you think? Do you think about your riding outfit and how the colours work with your horse? I’ve dressed a chestnut in burnt orange and bright blues while wearing plenty of bright colours myself. Sometimes looking in the mirror makes me smile and whatever my horse thinks of my outfit choice, that seems reason enough to enjoy it.