Apparently we now have a name for wearing things that make us happy.
Dopamine dressing.
I'm not entirely sure we needed a name for it, but as someone who has spent a large proportion of her life choosing the brightest thing in the room, I'm very much on board with the general idea.
Because colour really can change how you feel about what you're wearing.
And here in Scotland, where the weather can turn a perfectly good outfit into coat, boots, possibly waterproof at very short notice, accessories are one of the easiest ways to bring a bit of colour into everyday life.
You don't have to dress like a rainbow
I think this is where people sometimes get put off by the idea of wearing more colour.
They imagine that one pink earring is somehow going to lead to them leaving the house dressed as a packet of Fruit Pastilles.
It doesn't.
If you normally wear jeans, a white T-shirt and trainers, keep wearing them.
If you love your black dress, wear the black dress.
If prising your navy coat from your hands would require some sort of intervention, keep the navy coat.
Then add something.
Bright earrings. A colourful scarf. A great bag. A stack of bracelets. A ridiculous brooch that makes you smile.
That's often all an outfit needs.
Our Accessories collection is probably a fairly good indication of my feelings on this subject.
Colour doesn't have an age limit
This is one I feel quite strongly about.
I don't know when we're supposed to reach the age where somebody quietly removes all the interesting clothes from our wardrobe and replaces them with sensible beige ones, but I appear to have missed the memo.
I don't believe you're too old for bright pink.
Or statement earrings.
Or leopard print.
Or colourful trainers.
Or anything else you genuinely enjoy wearing.
Of course our tastes change as we get older. Mine certainly have. But I think there's a big difference between your style evolving because you want it to and slowly removing things you love because you've decided they're no longer appropriate for your age.
Wear what makes you happy.
That's pretty much the Pocketful approach.
Start small
If you've spent years wearing mostly neutrals, suddenly buying a lime green coat might be a bit ambitious.
Accessories are much less scary.
Try a coloured earring with your usual outfit. Add a scarf. Swap your sensible everyday bag for something brighter. Wear a colourful bracelet with your watch.
Then see how it feels.
One of my favourite things in the shop is watching someone pick something up and immediately say:
“Oh, I love that... but I couldn't wear it.”
Why not?
Usually there isn't actually an answer.
And quite often they leave wearing it.
Scotland could do with a bit more colour
There are many things I love about living in Scotland.
Our weather in February is not necessarily one of them.
When it's grey outside at 3pm and you've been wearing the same coat for what feels like 17 consecutive weeks, a bit of colour earns its keep.
That's one reason I love accessories so much.
A bright scarf against a dark coat. Colourful earrings peeking out from underneath a hat. A great bag with jeans and boots.
You don't need an entirely different winter wardrobe. You just need a few things that stop it feeling quite so... February.
And yes, you are absolutely allowed to wear yellow when the sky is grey.
Possibly especially when the sky is grey.
Forget the rules for a minute
There's lots of advice around colour.
Which colours go together. Which colours suit particular skin tones. Which colours are fashionable this season. What you're apparently supposed to wear with what.
Some of that is genuinely useful — I'm fascinated by colour myself and increasingly interested in understanding whycertain colours make us look and feel fantastic.
But I don't ever want that to become another set of rules telling women what they're allowed to wear.
If a colour makes your face light up, brilliant.
If a colour makes you light up, I'd argue that's pretty important too.
And sometimes those two things aren't exactly the same.
Style should still have room for instinct, personality and the occasional I know this shouldn't work but I absolutely love it.
Your wardrobe doesn't need a complete overhaul
This is another reason accessories are such a good place to play.
Most of us don't need another 25 new outfits.
We probably need to look at the things we already own slightly differently.
That black jumper you've had for years looks completely different with a great necklace and bright earrings.
The denim jacket you've worn approximately 400 times can take pretty much any colour you throw at it.
A colourful bag can completely change jeans, trainers and a plain top.
And a scarf is basically an enormous opportunity to get away with colours and prints you might never choose in a dress.
If you're looking for ideas, Pocketful Favourites is where you'll find some of the things we're particularly loving at the moment.
Wear the thing
I talk about this a lot because I really believe it.
Life is too short to save things for best.
Wear the earrings.
Use the nice bag.
Put the colourful scarf on for Tesco.
Wear the bracelet on an ordinary Wednesday.
The things we own should be part of our lives rather than waiting patiently in cupboards for some imaginary occasion worthy of them.
And if putting on a pair of ridiculous pink earrings makes a wet Wednesday morning slightly more enjoyable, I'd say they're doing their job perfectly well.
So, does dopamine dressing actually work?
I'm not going to claim that putting on an orange scarf will magically transform your life.
It won't.
But can colour make getting dressed more enjoyable?
Absolutely.
Can an accessory make an outfit you've worn dozens of times feel different?
Definitely.
Can catching sight of something bright on a particularly grey Scottish morning make you smile?
I think so.
And maybe that's enough.
You don't need to follow a trend, reinvent your wardrobe or suddenly become someone who wears every colour at once.
Just notice the colours you're drawn to.
Try something you wouldn't normally try.
And perhaps next time you hear yourself saying “I love that, but I couldn't wear it”, change the ending.
I love that. I'm going to wear it.
You can browse our latest Jewellery and Accessories online, or come and play with colour properly at Pocketful of Joy on Bank Street in Kilmarnock.
We won't tell you to tone it down.