This year, a very colourful trend has burst onto the scene in vibrant fashion. Meet dopamine dressing, aka, dressing for joy!
In a nutshell, dopamine dressing is all about wearing what makes you feel good, and it’s backed by science! Wearing vibrant colours can boost your mood by releasing dopamine, the feel-good hormone.
But it’s not just about your wardrobe... Dopamine decor uses the same principles to bring joy to your living space. Our locker-loving friends at Mustard Made know all about this colourful approach!
In this post, we'll hear from the Merry People and Mustard Made teams about their takes on dopamine dressing and decor, plus practical advice for adding more colour to your style and space.
If you want tips on brightening your life, this one's for you!
Mustard's Tips for Dopamine Decorating!
The team at Mustard Made are colour-lovers, just like us, and are chiming in to help us navigate the vibrant world of colourful interior design.
Here's their advice on how decorate with colour:
What are your top tips for bringing colour into the home?
We suggest having a think about how you would like your space to feel before choosing how you decorate it. If you want your home to be your calm sanctuary, you could choose a colour palette of neutrals, or nature-inspired colours like blues and greens. Whereas if you want your space to feel vibrant and energising, you might go for bolder pops of colour and add some more patterns!
There’s really no right or wrong here – if you love it, that’s all that matters! Some of our community love a tonal look, so we always recommend playing with our ombre shades.
Navy and Ocean make a beautiful combo if you love moody blues. Poppy, Berry and Blush are such a powerhouse trio of pinks and reds and now that we’ve added Butter to the lineup, Mustard + Butter are a delicious yellow pair!
But that said, sometimes the most unexpected colour combinations make a show stopping moment, like this lineup of Skinnys by @houseofedencourt featuring Poppy, Ocean and Sage.
If you choose pieces for your home that genuinely excite you or make your heart flutter a little, that’s always a good sign that it’s something you’ll love for a long time.
Like our wellies, Mustard Made’s lockers are designed to withstand, and work with any trend! How did you design them to achieve this?
Mustard lockers are designed to be the perfect balance of pretty + practical. What that means for us is that each piece we add to the family has to be useful in more than one way.
Our lockers are as at home in a baby’s nursery as they are in a teenager’s retreat or a grown-up office space, and that’s intentional – we love to see our lockers being used and reused throughout their lifecycle!
It’s also why we’ve designed them to be so versatile. For example, our newest locker, The Standard, was inspired by a TV unit but we’ve also made sure it works as a dining console, hallway organiser, toy storage, or even a window seat.
Mustard Made is very considered when choosing what colours you bring into your rainbow of lockers. How do you go about choosing your next colour?
We take colour VERY seriously here at Mustard!
Creating a new colour for our rainbow is always a long, in-depth process with lots of trial and error. It’s not unusual to find us poring over colour swatches and making tiny tweaks until they are just right!
One of the most important elements for us is creating colours that will outlast trends. All our products are made to last, and we like to say that although they have a retro feel, our lockers will look as good in 50 years time as they would have 50 years ago.
There are quite a few of you at the Mustard Made HQs who wear Merry People! What are your team’s favourite Merry People colours, and why?
We are total Merry People fans!
Our office is very colour-coordinated and it’s not unusual to see our team matching their Merry People boots to their lockers.
So it’s no surprise that Mustard Yellow is a firm favourite with the team, but we also have some Khaki Green fans (they’re a pretty close match to our Olive lockers!).
We’re still loving the pop of red trend, so the Tully ankle boot in Grapefruit Red is another winner, especially because it has that hint of Mustard!
If you could only pick one locker to store your Merry People in, which one would it be, and why!
The Midi is such a perfect size for shoe and boot storage! You can easily fit 12 pairs of boots inside and if you’re a clog lover, you can grab some extra shelves and make room for even more pairs!
The best thing about lockers is that they’ll keep your Merry People dry, dust-free and out of sunlight, while letting them breathe thanks to the handy vents. Happy feet!
Up Next: All About Dopamine Dressing!
The last part to our colourful blog is all about dopamine dressing.
If there was such a thing as an ‘expert Merry People stylist’, some would say that it's Charlie (we would say this!). As our Content Lead on photoshoots, Charlie spends a lot of time thinking about how to style our colourful boots.
Hear from Charlie on how to bring colour into your style:
Where have you seen ‘dopamine dressing’ come to life, and where do you think it comes from?
This trend is all over my social media at the moment! I’d say it stems from people just wanting to feel good and celebrate individuality. For some it’s dressing head to toe in colour and for others it’s feeling comfy in their favourite pieces.
We want to feel good everyday and that comes down to what we eat, what we do and definitely what we wear. Dopamine dressing doesn’t have a strict regime or structure, and for me, can absolutely change depending on the day or my mood.
It’s good to remember that no two people’s “dopamine dressing” styles are the same!
What advice do you have for someone looking to try bringing more colour into their wardrobe?
The beauty of dopamine dressing is that anyone can hop on the trend without having to buy a whole new wardrobe.
Start with colour and challenge yourself to wear something colourful everyday. Progress to wearing two colourful pieces, ideally shades that clash or a piece of clothing you’d usually have on reserve for a special occasion.
Next, play with texture, prints and bold accessories to finish it all off. Soon you’ll be colour clashing, wearing every single piece in your wardrobe and smiling at yourself as you catch your reflection!
What Merry People boots or clogs do you think are perfect for dopamine dressing?
You know I’m going to say all of them! ;)
Wearing colour is an easy way to hop on the dopamine dressing trend and keeping the colourful injections to footwear is ideal for those wanting to just dip their toe in the trend. I love the bright pastel hue of our Sky Blue Bobbi Boots; they pair so well with denim, blues and greens!
Ready for More Colour in Your Life?
Dopamine dressing and decorating are perfect ways to infuse joy into your style and living space, and with our colourful wellies and Mustard’s rainbow of lockers, you know just where to go if you’re looking to add a splash of colour!
Remember, while the trends of dopamine dressing and decorating may come and go, your personal taste and style will continue to evolve.
Trying out these trends is just another step in discovering what truly works for your style and space. Start small, experiment with colours that make you happy, and watch as your world becomes more merry!
