Unconventional dressing could be the key to social success, study finds.

The “normcore” fashion trend is the buzzword of the moment, but unconventional dressing could actually be the key to social success, according to a new study.

A Harvard Business School study claims that taking a unique approach to fashion, such as wearing red sneakers to work or wearing gym clothes while shopping in a designer store, could make you appear more influential.

The findings are based on a series of five social experiments conducted by Silvia Bellezza, Francesca Gino, and Anat Keinan, which included comparing public perceptions of university professors in ties and T-shirts, and of designer shoppers in both furs and sweatpants.

The results, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, showed that people who made a conscious effort to dress unconventionally for each situation were deemed to be more autonomous, and therefore gained more respect from their peers or from observers, reported the Wall Street Journal.

In the celebrity world, the theory is confirmed by personalities such as British supermodel Cara Delevingne, Hollywood actress Kristen Stewart and comedian Russell Brand – all of whom are known for their distinctive, messy and uncoordinated styles.

The findings are in contrast to the current “normcore” trend, the latest buzzword to enter fashion lexicon when it was coined by trend forecasting agency K-Hole recently.

The term refers to a trend which specialises in being ordinary, adapting your style to fit in with particular situations, such as wearing a football jersey to a game and then later on that same day changing into clubbing gear for a night out. – AFP Relaxnews