Fascinating study. Great post. Well organized information. It is true. I rarely dress formal and when I do I feel that even my walking changes. Probably because of the dress shoes, the step is different, but the whole body language, the attention one pays to the pockets, the coat, the tie, etc.

The perception of the change in how people perceives you, automatically changes your own perception.

There is a saying/advice: dress well if you feel bad.
It's hard to do these days, but i have seen people consistently doing it, despite the crisis, despite everything falling apart around them. That should be the attitude, but sometimes it becomes a vicious cycle. You feel so bad, you can't dress well and perceiving yourself so poorly magnifies your self of undervalue, and so on and so forth

That circle got to be broken.