What are clothing dreams about?

You can gain insight from thinking about any dream, no matter how strange. Only you, as the dreamer, have final say on what your dream may or may not mean. Each dream is unique.

The DreamWell dictionary provides information on how each dream symbol appears in dreams in general. Finding how experience clothing in dreams can be a key to understanding its meaning.

Our emotions in dreams can help us understand its meaning. Pay attention to how you felt in the dream. Pay attention to how you feel about clothing in dreams. See how you feel about clothing now, in your waking life.

Clothing in general can have symbolism, and certain clothing items can have specific symbolism. Refer to the entries listed below.

Clothing is associated with persona, the image you “wear” or project. Persona is your public identity.

Shopping for clothes can symbolize making decisions about the image you project to the world or the identity you take on.

For example, a man who started a new job dreams about shopping for a jacket for work. He finds one that’s appropriate and takes it to the cash register. The price is exactly how much money he has in his checking account. The dream reflects the man’s thoughts about the personal price he’s paying to do the job. He already feels overextended, and fears that doing the job right will require everything he has in the “bank,” meaning his store of energy and personal resources. The fact that he does not wear a jacket at his actual work and does not need to buy one stands out because it must be symbolism. See: Shopping

For another example of clothing-store symbolism, see: Chase.

Remember though that dreams create symbolism based on your personal associations. Clothing is closely associated with image, but for some people, shopping for clothes could connect with spending priorities. You might only shop for clothes after all other bills are paid—or shop for clothes despite being unable to afford it—and those associations can be used to create symbolism for habits or priorities, or for willingness or unwillingness to sacrifice.

Getting dressed can symbolize preparation. See: Dressing

Taking off clothing can be a way of revealing the person beneath, or giving up a role, title, or identity. See: Undressing

Dreaming about someone tearing off your clothing can symbolize being self-conscious about your body.

Giving your clothes to someone can show willingness to help or provide, like giving the shirt off your back.

Nakedness can symbolize lacking something related to identity, job, or relationship. For example, after leaving a job as a newspaper editor, a man dreams he’s in the newspaper office, at his desk, naked and wanting to get back to work. The lack of clothing symbolizes the social identity he lost when he left the job. As an editor, he had an identity that was closely tied to the job. See: Being naked

Clothes are used to cover the body, and other words for cover are “conceal” and “hide.” See: Hiding

Heavy clothes can symbolize desire to conceal yourself or a feeling of personal heaviness. See: Burying

Excessive clothing can symbolize covering the person you are, or feeling weighed down by the expectations and effort of keeping up appearances. It can symbolize trying to protect yourself from emotional or personal closeness, or being overprotective.

Wearing athletic clothes can symbolize energy and achievement. It can connect with a personal image as an athlete or active person. See: Athletes

Formal clothes can symbolize a formal or cultured image. For example, the girlfriend of a man who just got hired to work at a country club dreams about him dressed in a tuxedo and sporting a fancy pocket watch. The tuxedo and watch reflect her perception that the country club is a fancy place. Wearing formal clothes can reflect thoughts related to an upcoming event such as a graduation or wedding. If the clothes feel constricting, it can mean you feel restricted by formality.

Clothes from childhood can indicate holding onto something immature. On the other hand, they can indicate reconnection with the child within you. See: Children

A disguise can symbolize a facade, or deception. See: Disguises

A uniform can symbolize a role you play, whether formal or informal, or something related to the job performed by a person in the uniform, what it says about a person, and how that can translate to symbolism. Wearing a police uniform can symbolize authority. Dressing as a construction worker can symbolize any subject related to building: renovating a home, constructing your life, building up your self-esteem. For an example dream, see: Cheat (Exam).

And remember, action defines the symbolism. Symbolism related to building or construction will show in the action. An idle construction worker is not building anything. Instead, the meaning might have more to do with lack of action or activity.

Work clothes can relate to your work life or roles you play that feel like work. For example, wearing a maid’s outfit might express how you feel about doing chores. See: Jobs

Clothes that belong to someone else can symbolize wrapping yourself in his or her identity. For example, wearing your boyfriend’s shirt can be a way of saying your personal identity and public image are connected closely with him.

Disheveled clothing can symbolize a negative perception. Your reputation or self-image is tattered. If keeping up appearances means caring for one’s appearance, including social appearance, not keeping up appearances means the opposite. You don’t care how you are perceived or put no effort into maintaining appearances.

Torn clothing can symbolize arguments or fighting. It can mean that someone “tore into you,” or a situation is “ripping you to shreds.”

Stains on your clothes can symbolize stains on your character, self-image, or reputation. See: Clean

The fit of clothing can have symbolism. For example, wearing a stiff suit can symbolize stiffness or rigidness in personality. Ill-fitting clothes can symbolize playing a role or adopting a persona that doesn’t suit you. Tight clothes can symbolize the feeling of being constrained or hampered. A tight clothing fit can connect with the idea of freedom to be the person you want to be.

Trousers or underwear that are too tight can symbolize restricted sexuality. See: Underwear

Coats, jackets, and heavy shirts can symbolize protecting your emotions, because these articles of clothing only cover the top part of the body, including the heart. However, a full-length coat or trench coat can symbolize the desire to hide yourself or go unnoticed. Or it can connect with certain personality types: mysterious, dangerous, private.

Gloves can symbolize hiding something, particularly an action taken, stemming from the hands being used to take actions and fingerprints used to solve crime. Gloves are used to protect the hands and keep them from getting dirty, and “get your hands dirty” means participate or be involved in some action—particularly an action that you might describe as dirty, difficult, protective, or underhanded. See also: Fingerprints

Period clothing in a dream can connect with certain personality types, or be used to refer to the past. For example, if a dream drops you into a scene where everyone wears tie-dyes and bell-bottoms, it might symbolize something related to a loose attitude or personality. Or maybe it’s related to being a slacker, since some people associate the hippie lifestyle as an excuse to avoid work.

Clothing is associated with certain time periods. If you were a young child during the hippie era, the hippie style of dress might be associated in your mind with your childhood.

The color of clothing has many possibilities for symbolism, especially in connection with emotions. For example, a blue shirt can symbolize “feeling blue.” Shirts are worn over the chest, and the chest is where feelings such as sadness and depression are usually felt. Then again, blue is associated with deep thoughts. A deep-blue hat is particularly likely to symbolize deep thoughts because thoughts are associated with the head. To learn more, look up the entries for the color of the clothing in a dream if it sticks out to you. See: Colors

How you see yourself—the real “inner you”—can be symbolized with clothing color, too. For example, red is associated with aggression and is an apt color to symbolize an aggressive or assertive personality, while green is associated with creativity and establishing yourself in the physical world. The symbolism of clothing is usually related to the “outer” you, but it’s only a rule of thumb.

Dreams can make connections between people based on clothing. For example, if you dream about your husband wearing your dad’s clothes, or your wife wearing your mom’s clothes, it can mean they’re connected in your mind. Perhaps your spouse is like a parent to you, or exhibits some of the same behaviors, qualities, and traits.

Along this line, a dream character can represent someone in your life and be identified by the clothing it wears. For instance, if your brother usually wears a baseball cap backwards, a character wearing a cap backwards might symbolize your brother.

Finally, always keep in mind that dreams can use certain details to set the scene, and those details are not as important as how they connect with other details. For example, you dream about thoughts of the future as time traveling forward to a futuristic world. The dream needs the scenario to be believable, so it might dress the characters in futuristic clothing. Otherwise, the discrepancy might jar you out of the story instead of following along with it.

See also: Athletes, Burying, Children, Clean, Closets, Colors, Disguises, Dressing, Hatred, Hiding, Jobs, Lockers, Masks, Being naked, Shirts, Shoes, Shopping, Shortness, Underwear, Undressing

This interpretation is from ""The Dream Interpretation Dictionary: Symbols, Signs, and Meanings" and is provided by J.M. DeBord aka "RadOwl". He is the author of several acclaimed books about dreaming, the host of The Dreams That Shape Us podcast, and is a moderator of r/Dreams, one of the largest dream sharing communities on the internet.