Fashion Friday 💅🏾👙 - The effects of lingerie and enclothed cognition.

In 2020 former beauty queen Mabel Banda Khonje successfully launched the first ever Malawian lingerie brand called Boudoir by Doll Mabel.

It truly is exciting to see how many women are using fashion to help empower women to love their bodies and embrace who they are. You see lingerie and sexy underwear have historically been viewed as being for the partner’s benefits only. The truth is we live in a time where women are empowering themselves, saying, ‘This is good enough just for me to wear.’ And we can wear it whenever we want for how we want to feel in that day and moment.

According to Fashion psychologist Shakaila Forbes Bells our outfits are typically bound by cultural and societal norms…Lingerie sets, on the other hand, do not have to conform to such norms because they are for our eyes only.” She pointed to the concept of “enclothed cognition” to describe the systematic influence that clothes have on the wearer's psychological processes which suggests that the traits and feelings associated with certain clothing not only affect how others perceive you but also how you perceive yourself and behave in different attire.

Studies have also found that women considered underwear as a powerful, affirming and challenging identity shift from boring to daring, and expressing their true identity that they weren’t able to project externally,” Mair noted.

In this sense, undergarments provide the opportunity to express inner desires and instincts, free from any concerns about judgment or interference from others. This freedom can be therapeutic for the wearer as it allows them to wear sets in styles that are a true reflection of their creativity and personal tastes.

“I think there’s a level of self-care and self-love that goes into buying nice underwear or lingerie especially when no one else might see because they are literally only doing it for themselves,” said licensed marriage and family therapist Rachel Thomasian.

Making a conscious effort to feel and look good, whether it’s with your undergarments, your eyeshadow or your socks, is a way of treating yourself.

“It takes time and effort to buy and put on a nicer set of lingerie, so treating yourself affirms your self-worth.”

Ladies this is why @boudoirbydollmabel brand is important for Malawian ladies.

P.S Its not too late to pick up tickets for the brands very first annual runway show happening tonight; featuring performances by @BlaqDiamond @dr.namadingo and @sipe_mw at the BICC on , by Acres, Puma Area 18 and Maula Filling Stations in Lilongwe and Chitawira Puma Filling Station in Blantyre.