Why we enjoy the not-so-simple pleasures of new clothes

There's something exciting about the smell, feel and look of brand new clothes

This is a week for new clothes and dressing well. One of the most firmly established Eid traditions is to mark the occasion by donning one's best clothes, often a new outfit. In the run-up to Eid in the UAE you were hard-pressed to find any tailor who could fit you in, so inundated were they with orders for fasaateen (dresses), abaayaat (over-cloaks) and kanaadeer (male robes).

This demand for new attire is hardly surprising; wearing new clothes can confer a host of sensory delights. They look, feel and smell good. Sometimes they even sound good - think of the baritone swish of corduroy, or the staccato click-clack of high-heeled shoes.

Transformed by new garments and slightly self-conscious, we might even notice ourselves walking differently. Yes, the buzz from new clothes can be almost dangerously intoxicating.

The recording artist Shawn Corey Carter, better known as Jay Z, fully appreciates this. On his latest album, Magna Carta … Holy Grail, he dedicates an entire track to fashion designer Tom Ford: "I don't pop Molly, I rock Tom Ford", he sings.

"Molly" is the street name for MDMA, a pure form of Ecstasy, an illegal narcotic, so the reference to Mr Ford suggests that the pleasure of a new outfit exceeds any pleasure that might be derived from illicit drugs.

But what is it about clothing that makes it so pleasurable?

Of course clothes offer us protection and comfort from the elements. But clothes also have far- reaching psychological and social implications. They are used, for example, to assert status.

Look how the 18th-century author Lady Mary Montagu wrote of her meeting with the Sultana Hafiten, wife of Ottoman Sultan Mustapha II. Lady Mary describes being overwhelmed by the magnificence and splendour of the Sultana's heavily bejewelled dress, a garment she estimated to be worth over £100,000, or in today's terms about £12.5 million (Dh71m).

Today, those wearing clothes unsuitable for manual labour implicitly assert their membership in the professional or leisure classes.

For more than a century, social scientists have attempted to explore just what lies behind our dress sense. One common conclusion is that much of what drives our clothing choices is simply imitation.

Herbert Spencer, sociologist, philosopher and early commentator on fashion, suggested that imitation - in dress - could be motivated by one of two forces: veneration or competition. Veneration is often the force behind traditional clothing, for example deferential imitation of revered elders or religious personages. But competitive imitation is more likely to be associated with modernity, and its profitable offshoot the fashion industry.

Social scientists writing about fashion have tended to describe it as a trickle-down system. Elites set trends, while those lower down the social hierarchy compete in imitation, desperately attempting to emulate their "betters", always hoping for a status upgrade, and perhaps one day entry to the elite circle.

The elite, however, frequently change their style, reasserting their distinction. Thus begins an endless dance of imitation and differentiation. This is one reason why some social scientists refer to fashion as: "capitalism's favourite child".

In the UAE, however, Emirati male attire - the kandura and ghutra - seems to remain relatively unchanged, except for an occasional foray into the world of colour.

The abaya, on the other hand, appears to have truly fallen victim to the vicissitudes of fashion. In the past few years each season has brought striking new variations on the traditional theme: the pleated abaya, the belted abaya, even the abaya with punk-style spikes and studs. Are these the sartorial green shoots of an indigenous fashion system? Dr Yuniya Kawamura, sociology professor at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology, writes: "The drive for distinction weakens the power of tradition and this is the beginning of fashion ..."

Clothing styles and high fashion aside, it is comforting to note the overwhelming success of the "dress1million.ae"campaign that was launched by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai. Over one million needy children from around the world are enjoying wearing good clothes this Eid. Looking good is fine, but doing good is better.

Justin Thomas is an associate psychology professor at Zayed University in Abu Dhabi