Tasteful Attire: How Your Clothes Influence Flavour

Think back to this morning. Presumably you woke up and got out of bed. Perhaps you got dressed or perhaps you made a coffee first. Either way, before leaving through the front door it’s safe to assume you made a wardrobe decision. However, did you consider how your fashion choices could impact every flavour experience you have today?

It’s not often that we take into account such things when riffling through one’s wardrobe. Why would we? Broadly speaking peoples' wardrobes are based on the impressions that clothes create (Peluchette, Karl, & Rust, 2006). In this sense clothing is a means of communication (Johnson, Lennon, & Rudd, 2014), and becomes part of a person's self-identity (Stone, 1962).

But how about electing attire that would alter the perception of flavour too? A cognitive step too far perhaps when grappling with an inner verdict on vogue. But once we delve into the science it soon becomes apparent that it’s an area of sensory psychology that should not be overlooked. I promise, you will never look at tartan troosers in the same light again.

The Power of the White Coat!

In 2017, 58 undergraduate students took part in an experiment conducted by researchers at Northwestern University in the US. Everyone was required to undertake a Stroop Test as part of the experiment. What’s a Stroop Test you ask?

The Stroop effect is a psychological phenomenon demonstrating interference in reaction time of a task. It occurs when the name of a colour is printed in a different colour, making it difficult for participants to identify the colour of the word quickly and accurately. For the example the word ‘red’ written in green text.

Participants were asked to identify the word without being influenced by the text colour, and everyone was marked on their accuracy and speed. The 58 students were divided into three groups.

One group was wearing white coats that they believed were doctor’s coats. Another group was wearing similar white coats, but they believed they were artists’ smocks. The final group was just in their casual clothes, but a white coat was on the desk at the front. How did the coat impact the students’ performance in the test?

As you may have guessed the participants wearing what they thought were doctors’ coats performed the best in the test, making fewer errors. The participants in the ‘artists smocks’ performed the worst. While those in ‘casuals’ were in the middle. A fascinating experiment, but what does this have to do with whisky?

Tartan Tastes Better

It wasn’t the white coat itself that impacted cognitive ability but the participants’ predetermined associations with either doctors or artists. Stereotypes in other words. We are all aware of stereotypes, but it may not be so obvious to what degree stereotypes impact cognitive function.

It’s fascinating how simply taking on the persona of a stereotype that we associate with learning can increase cognitive function. Whereas a more creative stereotype can reduce cognitive function. Even though the effect is subliminal. The experience of flavour, through being a cognitive function, can also be impacted in a similar way.

Consider how wearing a white coat could impact your own experience of a whisky’s flavour? Or would a scotch whisky’s flavour seem more expressive whilst wearing tartan even? Even the distinction between formal and informal clothing can make a difference.

A study by Michael L. Slepian et al looked into the consequences of formal clothing on cognitive function. They identified how wearing formal clothing can enhance abstract processing and the perception of meaningful relationships between objects and categories.

So, it would seem that the style of attire does have an impact on how our brain functions. Not convinced? Let’s go deeper.

It’s All About Perception

Gastrophysics is abundant with studies on how all kinds of things impact our flavour perception. The weight of cutlery, the shapes of plates, the colour of food, and even background music. Want your seafood to taste more maritime? Simply build your restaurant by the sea, or even under the sea!

Understanding how something as simple as a white coat can impact brain function, it stands to good reason that appearance can impact flavour perception too. After all, clothing is just another visual input, the same as cutlery, crockery, and caramel food colouring. It’s our associations with such things that changes our perceptions.

For example, we associate dark colours with rich and spicy flavours. Whereas we associate light colours with sweeter flavours. We associate rough textures with bitterness. And soft textures with creaminess. So in many different ways our clothes can impact how something may taste.

Don’t put your phone on the table

Other studies have demonstrated how seemingly insignificant articles can also impact cognitive function. A study by McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin, demonstrated how having a smart phone within one’s visual field can reduce cognitive capacity. Participants who left their phones in another room during a test significantly outperformed those who had their phones on the desk.

A study by Aaron C. Kay et al at Stanford University identified how items relating to corporate environments can alter participants’ feelings of trust and cooperation. A sense of trust was reduced when a briefcase was placed on a desk during an experiment. A seemingly insignificant detail that in fact had a profound impact.

Whilst we are diverging away from the topic of attire, the point is that even small details that we take for granted can alter brain function. Even if it’s through being slightly distracted as opposed to being 100% present. A great deal of the effect has to do with a behavioural psychology term called priming.

Flavour Priming

Items around us, including clothing, will prime our perceptions through influencing our psychological processes. Flavour, being a subjective perception, is equally susceptible to material priming. The impact of clothing even has a special name, enclothed cognition.

As we have seen, a white coat can prime us to feel ‘smarter’. As can formal clothing. It’s likely that wearing a suit to work has a deeper impact on your cognitive performance than you realise. This priming effect is important for many people. It helps to engage a more optimised frame of mind for the task(s) ahead. Much like how an athlete mentally prepares for competition.

Want to feel stronger and more confident? Simply pop on a Superman t-shirt. As was demonstrated by Karen Pine, Professor of Psychology at the University of Hertfordshire:

“When wearing a Superman t-shirt the students rated themselves as more likeable and superior to other students. When asked to estimate how much they could physically lift, those in a Superman t-shirt thought they were stronger than students in a plain t-shirt, or in their own clothing.”

The question therefore arises. Would a cask strength whisky have more perceived burn or less burn if we were to wear a superhero outfit? Find your nearest fancy dress shop and let me know the results in the comments.

How about our emotional state?

There is of course another way in which our wardrobe can impact our experience of aroma and taste molecules. This has to do with how certain clothes make us feel. How they impact our mood. Studies have demonstrated how our emotional state will impact both aroma and taste detection.

So along with how our associations with colours, textures, weights, styles, and everything else that forms a party of clothing, how our daily attire impacts our emotional state will in turn impact our experience of flavour.

Feeling bright and expressive? Serious and official? How about comfy and relaxed? A German study identified how we use clothing to provide emotional support in times of stress. So, whether a fashion decision is based upon our emotional state at the time, or influences our emotional state thereafter, there’s no doubt that the two go hand in hand.

How clothes influence food choices

A multinational study titled The clothes that make you eat healthy, looked into how the style of clothing can affect food choices. Through a series of experiments the researchers set out to determine a link between what we wear and what we eat.

The results demonstrated that there is indeed a connection. When wearing formal clothing the participants tended to make healthier food choices. Whereas when in informal clothing, the participants made less healthy food choices. It would seem that wearing formal clothes can activate such formal-clothes associations as being self-controlled and organised.

The implications for whisky are that one's choice of attire may go beyond influencing whisky flavour. The choice of whisky itself, or serving method such as with/without water or mixer, could also be impacted by clothing. Taking everything into account, we arrive at the logical question.

What to wear when tasting whisky?

It’s clear that our experience of flavour can be impacted by the clothes we wear in two ways. As we have just discussed, firstly our emotional state plays a role. Secondly, clothing can influence cognitive function and has the potential to impact the cognitive function of those around us. The obvious question, therefore, is what should one wear when tasting or assessing whisky?

The answer is entirely dependent on what it is you wish to achieve. Whether it’s analysis or purely hedonistic pleasure. When it comes to the sensory analysis of samples, it’s both consistency and reducing external influences that take priority. The nuances of difference may seem small, but they are nonetheless worth consideration. What’s the most neutral clothing for sensory analysis? It’s a fascinating question.

For simply enjoying a dram, why not go to town and experiment with colours, textures, patterns, and styles. Crack open the fancy dress box and have some fun. Dalwhinnie dressed as Winnie the Poo? Bunnhabhain in your favourite Captain Birdseye attire? Or Balblair as a ballet dancer?

If nothing else, it highlights the sophistication of this tangled sensory labyrinth we call flavour. While the low-hanging fruit of whisky flavour may be aroma and taste, the reality is that even our clothing has a part to play. A concept that can be utilised to help us to focus when the time calls.

If you enjoyed this, if it has made you stop and think for a moment, why not share it with someone else who you know will benefit. It’s by looking deeper into flavour and asking pertinent questions that we can all learn, grow, and share drams in more meaningful ways. Join the conversation. Join the flavour crusade.