[Applause]
so in 2011 I arrived here as a
bright-eyed girl all the way from Ohio
you see I believed I was living my best
life because I was engaged I was
attending Columbia University for
Counseling Psychology and I was pursuing
a hobby which I loved a lot modeling I
would enter the world of Freud during
the day and enter the world of fashion
and night then came the day that would
change my life
in more ways than I could ever imagine
you see it started off as a normal
weekend my fiance he came up for a visit
and we were at dinner I was being the
typical bride-to-be you know a Chatty
Cathy and I would talk about you know
the guest lists and the bridesmaids and
the colors and all that fun stuff but I
noticed that he wasn’t really engaging
with me though believe it or not he was
a bit more riskier than usual
so I kept chatting on and on and on and
dinner finished and we head home and I
was wondering was he okay was with
everything all right what had happened
and it turns out he wasn’t okay and on
that night my fiancee sexually assaulted
me the man that I was willing to spend
the rest of my life with raped me I
passed out and when I came to I was in
utter disbelief I could not believe that
this had happened to me me I was in so
much shock that I ran out of my
apartment and I called my parents and I
told them what had happened and they
said dawn what do you want to do what do
you want us to do and although my
parents knew that I loved him very much
they also knew the law and so I didn’t
want them to do anything I didn’t want
to do anything I just wanted to continue
on with my life I just wanted to move on
and so I hung up the phone and I walked
back to my apartment and my fiance he
began and apologizing to me profusely
over and over again and I I told him
that the engagement was often that I
never wanted to see him again and so the
next morning he boarded a bus back to
Ohio to my surprise I heard a knock at
the door and I was hoping that it was it
was my fiancee begging me to come come
back to him and and for me to put back
on the engagement but I opened the door
and it was the police you see my parents
had called the police all the way from
Ohio and so I was forced to file a
police report and so the police asked
dawn would you like to press charges and
how could I press charges against the
man that I loved and so again I told
them no I just want to I don’t want to
do anything I just want to move on with
my life and so they said okay
and they left and I went to my closet
and I picked out one of the best outfits
that I had ever owned and the next
morning I put that outfit on and
I went to class as if nothing had
happened as if I had a normal weekend
you see I pushed myself to forget and
forget and I did my best and I thought I
was doing a great job but I noticed that
I was a bit more withdrawn and if I was
noticing that I know my professors were
noticing as well and so on separate
occasions they called me into their
office one by one
and they told me they said John Karen
you’re not really connecting with your
clients they said in but so many words
that I lacked the empathy to be a
traditional therapist I felt like a
failure and later than they went on to
give me a suggestion and said perhaps
you need to take a leave of absence to
get yourself together
again I felt like a failure I could not
return to Ohio I had lost my fiancee I
lost everything what was I supposed to
do so you know what I got a job as a
nanny a nanny me a nanny and so I began
working with the most imaginative kind
gentle soul this seven year old boy and
he brought so much joy into my life at
that time we would do a lot of pretend
playing and on one particular day he
would say miss don’t miss don’t miss
dawn I want to be a pilot when I grow up
can I be a pilot and I would say yeah
that’s really sure you can be whatever
you want to be and so we would get on
the number one train and we would
pretend to be pilots soaring high into
the sky and on the second day he would
say mister mister mister can I be an
astronaut today and I would say yes
honey you can be whatever you want to be
and so we would get on the number one
train and we would be holding onto the
poles and soaring into outer space and
we would come back to earth only when we
got to the last stop
and so on the third day he said miss
dawn miss time what do you want to be
when you grow up and I had no idea I was
honestly had no idea and so I went home
and per my usual I called my dad and I
said dad you know I had a an interesting
conversation with you know my my young
boy and and he asked me what did I want
to be when when I grew up and and so I
knew I didn’t want to be a nanny and my
father he encouraged me to explore what
did I want to be and so I began
revealing to him that while at Columbia
University I was inspired by a professor
who was pioneering the multicultural
psychology field and I said maybe I can
do something that like that like after
all people who had came out of you know
Ivy League universities they’ve done
like some amazing things you know
they’ve done innovative things
revolutionary things and maybe I could
be a part of that and so my father told
me to do some research and so I was
doing my research and I stumbled upon a
professor at Harvard University who in
the 19th century illuminated this notion
of fashion psychology he was one of the
first professors from the first persons
to illuminate this notion
his name was William James and so I had
this epiphany like perhaps I could
continue where he left off and so I
landed a second job writing magazines
and thus began my career as a fashion
psychologist I ended up traveling to the
Middle East and living out there for
nine months and I was working alongside
journalists doing media interviews after
media interview and I was doing them as
far as Australia all the way to Asia and
I ended up in about 25 countries and so
I said hmm I think I got something
and so when I felt completed I took a
plane back to New York and I end up
receiving a position as one of the
youngest professors here at MIT at the
Fashion Institute of Technology and so
as I look back on my journey I couldn’t
help but to wonder why on one of the
most horrific weekends of my life did I
want to wear one of my best outfits what
was that all about like what was I
trying to achieve and so in a sense I
had become a client as a therapist I had
become a client so I bet you’re
wondering what is the difference between
a fashion stylist in the fashions
psychologists right so a fashion stylist
seeks to dress you and what looks good
on you according to your body type
dresses you on according to season
according to trend but as a fashion
psychologist you see I would dress you
and I would get to the roots of why you
wear what you wear and how that impacts
you in your everyday life so let me give
you an example when I was in the Middle
East I had a client and she particularly
lived in Abu Dhabi and so she wore the
traditional abaya which is a long black
cloak and she struggled with some
identity issue she didn’t really feel
like herself which she would travel to
Europe she would wear more revealing
clothing and when she would return she
would put back on her
Abhaya and so she really felt
inauthentic she felt incongruent and so
I began counseling her to get to the
root of her issues and we later placed
her and some elaborate pretty fancy
scarves and we placed her in some
fashions that was reminiscent of what
Western women wore in the 1950s and
1960s similar to Jackie O and over time
she began to tell me that she felt like
she was being her true self she felt
like she was being authentic like
or some congruence on from the inside
out and so like many things around you
clothing can be used to help you feel
better according to researchers and
Queensland Business School they
interview participants and people
actually did say they use clothing to
help themselves feel better they
actually said clothing reflected their
mood and so I had an idea to coin two
theories they’re called mood
illustration dress and mood enhancement
dress so how does this all work so
basically I tell my students and my
clients you know to get off autopilot
you know you you when you’re on
autopilot you usually go to your closet
you trash your room because you have
nothing to wear but there’s like a slew
of clothes everywhere so what I told
them to do is censor themselves before
they place their feet on the ground
lying in bed and ask yourself self how
am I feeling today and most of you guys
don’t do that so how are you feeling
today
so in particular I was feeling I woke up
on the wrong side of the bed I was
having a bad morning and I had to
lecture on this particular day and I
wanted to wear sweats but you know you
can’t wear a sweat to the professor so I
was wearing sweats and I said perhaps if
I paired it with some leopard heels and
an elaborate coat
perhaps that would make me feel better
and so I performed my lecture and
actually improved my move now this may
not work for all of you but I love
leopard heels and I love to become to
all my sweats and look at me
you don’t look happy so today I am here
and I can tell you that I returned to
Columbia University to finish what I
started and and I was able to found the
first-ever online institution dedicated
to disseminating and teaching the
fashion psychology field and I
ultimately want my students and my
clients to learn how to style from the
inside out
as a fashion psychologist now that
horrific moment could have been a
defining moment it could have been
defined by the hurt that I felt but
instead I used it to inspire me and for
that I am healed thank you
[Applause]
so in 2011 I arrived here as a
bright-eyed girl all the way from Ohio
you see I believed I was living my best
life because I was engaged I was
attending Columbia University for
Counseling Psychology and I was pursuing
a hobby which I loved a lot modeling I
would enter the world of Freud during
the day and enter the world of fashion
and night then came the day that would
change my life
in more ways than I could ever imagine
you see it started off as a normal
weekend my fiance he came up for a visit
and we were at dinner I was being the
typical bride-to-be you know a Chatty
Cathy and I would talk about you know
the guest lists and the bridesmaids and
the colors and all that fun stuff but I
noticed that he wasn’t really engaging
with me though believe it or not he was
a bit more riskier than usual
so I kept chatting on and on and on and
dinner finished and we head home and I
was wondering was he okay was with
everything all right what had happened
and it turns out he wasn’t okay and on
that night my fiancee sexually assaulted
me the man that I was willing to spend
the rest of my life with raped me I
passed out and when I came to I was in
utter disbelief I could not believe that
this had happened to me me I was in so
much shock that I ran out of my
apartment and I called my parents and I
told them what had happened and they
said dawn what do you want to do what do
you want us to do and although my
parents knew that I loved him very much
they also knew the law and so I didn’t
want them to do anything I didn’t want
to do anything I just wanted to continue
on with my life I just wanted to move on
and so I hung up the phone and I walked
back to my apartment and my fiance he
began and apologizing to me profusely
over and over again and I I told him
that the engagement was often that I
never wanted to see him again and so the
next morning he boarded a bus back to
Ohio to my surprise I heard a knock at
the door and I was hoping that it was it
was my fiancee begging me to come come
back to him and and for me to put back
on the engagement but I opened the door
and it was the police you see my parents
had called the police all the way from
Ohio and so I was forced to file a
police report and so the police asked
dawn would you like to press charges and
how could I press charges against the
man that I loved and so again I told
them no I just want to I don’t want to
do anything I just want to move on with
my life and so they said okay
and they left and I went to my closet
and I picked out one of the best outfits
that I had ever owned and the next
morning I put that outfit on and
I went to class as if nothing had
happened as if I had a normal weekend
you see I pushed myself to forget and
forget and I did my best and I thought I
was doing a great job but I noticed that
I was a bit more withdrawn and if I was
noticing that I know my professors were
noticing as well and so on separate
occasions they called me into their
office one by one
and they told me they said John Karen
you’re not really connecting with your
clients they said in but so many words
that I lacked the empathy to be a
traditional therapist I felt like a
failure and later than they went on to
give me a suggestion and said perhaps
you need to take a leave of absence to
get yourself together
again I felt like a failure I could not
return to Ohio I had lost my fiancee I
lost everything what was I supposed to
do so you know what I got a job as a
nanny a nanny me a nanny and so I began
working with the most imaginative kind
gentle soul this seven year old boy and
he brought so much joy into my life at
that time we would do a lot of pretend
playing and on one particular day he
would say miss don’t miss don’t miss
dawn I want to be a pilot when I grow up
can I be a pilot and I would say yeah
that’s really sure you can be whatever
you want to be and so we would get on
the number one train and we would
pretend to be pilots soaring high into
the sky and on the second day he would
say mister mister mister can I be an
astronaut today and I would say yes
honey you can be whatever you want to be
and so we would get on the number one
train and we would be holding onto the
poles and soaring into outer space and
we would come back to earth only when we
got to the last stop
and so on the third day he said miss
dawn miss time what do you want to be
when you grow up and I had no idea I was
honestly had no idea and so I went home
and per my usual I called my dad and I
said dad you know I had a an interesting
conversation with you know my my young
boy and and he asked me what did I want
to be when when I grew up and and so I
knew I didn’t want to be a nanny and my
father he encouraged me to explore what
did I want to be and so I began
revealing to him that while at Columbia
University I was inspired by a professor
who was pioneering the multicultural
psychology field and I said maybe I can
do something that like that like after
all people who had came out of you know
Ivy League universities they’ve done
like some amazing things you know
they’ve done innovative things
revolutionary things and maybe I could
be a part of that and so my father told
me to do some research and so I was
doing my research and I stumbled upon a
professor at Harvard University who in
the 19th century illuminated this notion
of fashion psychology he was one of the
first professors from the first persons
to illuminate this notion
his name was William James and so I had
this epiphany like perhaps I could
continue where he left off and so I
landed a second job writing magazines
and thus began my career as a fashion
psychologist I ended up traveling to the
Middle East and living out there for
nine months and I was working alongside
journalists doing media interviews after
media interview and I was doing them as
far as Australia all the way to Asia and
I ended up in about 25 countries and so
I said hmm I think I got something
and so when I felt completed I took a
plane back to New York and I end up
receiving a position as one of the
youngest professors here at MIT at the
Fashion Institute of Technology and so
as I look back on my journey I couldn’t
help but to wonder why on one of the
most horrific weekends of my life did I
want to wear one of my best outfits what
was that all about like what was I
trying to achieve and so in a sense I
had become a client as a therapist I had
become a client so I bet you’re
wondering what is the difference between
a fashion stylist in the fashions
psychologists right so a fashion stylist
seeks to dress you and what looks good
on you according to your body type
dresses you on according to season
according to trend but as a fashion
psychologist you see I would dress you
and I would get to the roots of why you
wear what you wear and how that impacts
you in your everyday life so let me give
you an example when I was in the Middle
East I had a client and she particularly
lived in Abu Dhabi and so she wore the
traditional abaya which is a long black
cloak and she struggled with some
identity issue she didn’t really feel
like herself which she would travel to
Europe she would wear more revealing
clothing and when she would return she
would put back on her
Abhaya and so she really felt
inauthentic she felt incongruent and so
I began counseling her to get to the
root of her issues and we later placed
her and some elaborate pretty fancy
scarves and we placed her in some
fashions that was reminiscent of what
Western women wore in the 1950s and
1960s similar to Jackie O and over time
she began to tell me that she felt like
she was being her true self she felt
like she was being authentic like
or some congruence on from the inside
out and so like many things around you
clothing can be used to help you feel
better according to researchers and
Queensland Business School they
interview participants and people
actually did say they use clothing to
help themselves feel better they
actually said clothing reflected their
mood and so I had an idea to coin two
theories they’re called mood
illustration dress and mood enhancement
dress so how does this all work so
basically I tell my students and my
clients you know to get off autopilot
you know you you when you’re on
autopilot you usually go to your closet
you trash your room because you have
nothing to wear but there’s like a slew
of clothes everywhere so what I told
them to do is censor themselves before
they place their feet on the ground
lying in bed and ask yourself self how
am I feeling today and most of you guys
don’t do that so how are you feeling
today
so in particular I was feeling I woke up
on the wrong side of the bed I was
having a bad morning and I had to
lecture on this particular day and I
wanted to wear sweats but you know you
can’t wear a sweat to the professor so I
was wearing sweats and I said perhaps if
I paired it with some leopard heels and
an elaborate coat
perhaps that would make me feel better
and so I performed my lecture and
actually improved my move now this may
not work for all of you but I love
leopard heels and I love to become to
all my sweats and look at me
you don’t look happy so today I am here
and I can tell you that I returned to
Columbia University to finish what I
started and and I was able to found the
first-ever online institution dedicated
to disseminating and teaching the
fashion psychology field and I
ultimately want my students and my
clients to learn how to style from the
inside out
as a fashion psychologist now that
horrific moment could have been a
defining moment it could have been
defined by the hurt that I felt but
instead I used it to inspire me and for
that I am healed thank you
[Applause]
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