We know our workplace clothing choices can affect what others think us and influence our success. Do those choices also shape productivity by affecting how we see ourselves?

Researchers conducted two experiments in the United States and a field study in South Korea to investigate the meanings employees associate with their dress. In the first experiment, participants viewed photos of different outfits (套装) and indicated what they thought each would convey in a “business-casual” office. In the second, participants first changed into business-casual clothing and then into new business-casual outfits they selected to correspond with one of three randomly assigned characteristics: aesthetics (美学), conformity (一致性).uniqueness. A control group was asked to select an outfit similar to their first one. All participants were told to imagine that they worked at a company where people could generally wear what they wanted to and where most choose business-casual dress. After each clothing change they reported on how they would feel going to work in what they had on, what they thought their clothing would convey, and their level of self-esteem (自尊).

The experiments showed that people associate clothing high in aesthetics with personal attractiveness conforming clothing with a sense belong, and unique clothing with distinctiveness. and revealed that each of the three qualities raised self-esteem.

The field study involved 84 white-col1ar employees who worked on-site and were free to choose their clothes They filled out three questionnaires daily for 10days, reporting on what they were wearing, their self-esteem, their interactions with colleagues and their productivity. Aesthetic and unique clothing boosted self-esteem, which in turn boosted progress toward job goals and decreased social avoidance. Dress conformity had similar effects, but only when employees frequently interacted with colleagues.

“Investing a little extra time in the morning to prepare an outfit that is aesthetically pleasing and unique-and, if interactions with others are expected, highly conforming to organizational standards—can have a meaningful impact on how an employee feels about themselves throughout the workday,” the researchers write.

Perhaps there is no sport in the world more connected to sneakers than basketball. Many NBA players wear them to send important messages and showcase their personalities on court.

And now, thanks to a new policy, the NBA will strengthen its status as the most stylish sports league in the world. When the 2018-2019 NBA season kicked off in October, the NBA lifted its color restrictions on players’ sneakers. It is the first time in the league’s 72-year history that it has allowed shoes to be of any color a player likes, as long as no reflective (反光的) material is included.

In the past, the NBA required “uniformity (一致性) of uniform”, meaning each players’ shoes had to match those worn by the rest of the team. Their sneakers had to be at least 51 percent black or white, with an element of team color.

This landmark rule change is part of the NBA’s collective effort to support players “statements” on and off the court. “ More and more people realize that limitation of the color of players’ shoes actually constrains (限制) their personal expression and storytelling,” CNN News noted.

Sometimes a shoe was worn in a memorable game, or the design of a shoe has meaning for the player.

Before Los Angeles Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, nicknamed “the Black Mamba”, retired, it was said that he wore a new pair of sneakers to each game and stored his used sneakers.

Bryant brought the low-top style of sneaker with a Mamba print to the forefront in 2008 to symbolize the spirit of perseverance and bravery. In 2013, Bryant added nine red stitches (缝针) to the back of his shoe to represent the nine stitches from his Achilles tendon surgery. “It has become an attitude. That is my Mamba personality,” Bryant told Sports Illustrated magazine.

Kyrie Irving of the Boston, Celtics wears probably the most famous signature sneakers. Inspired by his mother, who died when he was four, he has a rose on one side of his shoe to represent her. All of his sneakers are also inscribed (刻) with the words, “JBY (Just Be You)”. “Just Be You is the motto I live by every single day, because I’m happy to be an individual. It’s a beautiful thing,” Irving told UK media site GiveMeSport.

There is no end to the stories about sneakers in basketball. It’s certain that they will remain a platform for players who want to use them to express their ideas and personalities.

The Chinese fashion icon, qipao, was born a century ago in Shanghai. However, the dress made its way through history from the hands of old craftsmen and is deep-rooted in Chinese culture.

“Qipao used to be so popular,” Leung Long-kong, 89, a well-known qipao craftsman, says, adding that the dress was an everyday outfit among women, from the less well-off to women at the highest levels of society. “Now, nobody is wearing them except on grand and happy occasions.”

To carry on the tradition, fashion designer Mary Yu, 41, who has been attending classes teaching knot button-making techniques, is trying to renew the design of qipao by taking symbols from Chinese history and literature.

“I feel I should look into Chinese culture and learn more about the past. People should have an in-depth understanding of their culture in order to move on,” Yu says. “Fashion design requires a profound knowledge of one’s culture before visualizing it.”

“After a period of wearing foreign brands all the time, there will be a day when one looks back to traditional Chinese culture. It is about finding the stuff that exists in your genes and suits you best.”

Yu set up her own qipao brand in 2016. Most of the clothes were made by tailors based in Shenzhen and Hangzhou, for their lower cost and more traditional work.

In the constantly evolving fashion industry, qipao is catching up with the times. Zippers, digital print patterns and new materials such as lace and denim have been introduced to a new generation. More daring ideas like 3D printed qipao have also become a reality. Yu believed that with the help of these new technologies, qipao will find its way back to the daily life of Chinese people in the near future.