Serotonin Styling with Erin Walsh

Welcome to the VB Guest Edit, where each month, we tap the most inspiring friends, experts and muses in our orbit to share their own need-to-knows... This month, we’re passing the mic to Erin Walsh, a visionary stylist whose clients include Anne Hathaway and Selena Gomez, and author of “The Art of Intentional Dressing”, out May 5th.

We moved back to NYC last February, and we are now at one year as a family back in the city. I keep getting asked about the cold, especially from friends back in LA. “Are you freeezzzinngggg???” “Is it so hard with the kids?”

At the risk of sounding like Pollyanna, I have to say, I actually love it. The cold makes me feel alive. The shift in seasons reminds me of the passage of time in the best way, and they are a reminder to me to stay conscious and present. I love getting cozy indoors. And as for winter blues? As a creative person, I find most creativity comes from need. And when you’re in need of a mood boost, what’s better than finding ways to do it through what you wear?

Times like these are precisely when style becomes medicine.

Not in a performative way, but grounded, intentional, and intelligent.

My book, The Art of Intentional Dressing, is all about using what you wear to shift your internal chemistry—and in the colder months, I think the antidote is… serotonin!

Serotonin styling can help move ourselves from disconnected to embodied. Here are some core elements I find to be foundational when leaning into the idea of fashion as a tool to get back to your best self:

Serotonin styling isn’t about wearing a bright color just because someone told you it makes you feel better. It’s about wearing the color that makes you feel alive.

The one that:

• Brightens your skin

• Makes your eyes pop

• Shifts your posture before you even leave the mirror

• Changes your VIBE

For some, that may be red. For others, it’s butter yellow, jade green, cobalt blue, or even a crisp winter white.

And if you’re a neutral person, you can still elevate your neutrals: rich chocolate brown instead of flat black; buttery cream instead of slate gray. Camel brown layered on top of ivory white… because depth of color creates a mood shift, too.

Think of color as less about trend and more about circulation; a means to get you turned back on.

When it’s rather sludgy weather time, most of us are in uniform mode: chunky knits, sleek trousers, denim, boots, repeat.

And I’m not saying you need to reinvent the wheel here—the serotonin is found in the interruption.

Choose one boost:

• A chunky, bold earring or talisman. I love a good intentional one, like Jen Fisher’s Gabrielle necklace.

• A patent leather or super chunky boot

• An unexpected use of proportions. When in doubt, add something oversized—it offers an instant shift.

• A statement coat. I have been seeing lots of leopards this NYFW!

• Color blocking. I love the little pops of red, blue, and yellow I have been noticing in the collections. Red feels especially potent.

• A little sparkle! I am living for the sparkle collar on the VB denim jacket we showed on the Today show! Or some embellishment on your jean? A little sparkle anywhere will do.

That one small detail says: I am an active participant in my own life, and I give a damn about myself and how I feel. Every damn day.

It’s micro-joy—and that micro-joy can go farther than you think!

February dressing often becomes reactive. When it’s cold and gray, we sometimes lose ourselves in that.

But serotonin styling asks: who are you underneath the overcoat?

Are you structured? Romantic? Minimal? Dramatic? Playful?

Reintroduce an element of your core aesthetic, even if it’s subtle: a silhouette you love, or the jacket you’ve been saving for a special occasion.

Disconnection often masquerades as seasonal fatigue, and reconnection can be as simple as remembering what you actually like.

Wear something that feels like you, not just something that makes sense for that particular day. Even in winter, I go to denim options that offer a cinched waist, and I almost always reach for a bold shoulder. It just works!

Serotonin is not about discomfort. I’d actually say nervous system regulation matters a lot in February.

Soft knits, trousers with give, boots you can walk in, a coat that wears like a blanket are all ways we can feel protected, held, and regulated in the winter months.

But comfort alone can become complacency, so I like to add one element of risk:

• A sharper shoulder

• A higher heel

• A dress in winter (I LOVE THIS—it keeps the feminine energy moving)

• A bold proportion

• A piece of statement jewelry

Just enough expansion to remind yourself you are still evolving.

Clothing is physical: it sits on your skin, alters your posture, and changes the very ways we move and walk.

It should feel good. When you feel good in your body, your mood follows.

Your main thing to ask yourself with every single piece you invest in and every single piece you put on your body is: how does this make me feel?

And most importantly, start each day by asking yourself: how do I want to feel? That is the key to learning how to dress intentionally and using what you wear to uplift you, support you, and give you a little serotonin boost every single day.

You don’t need a new wardrobe. You need small, intentional shifts:

• A color that wakes you up

• One joyful boost

• A return to your identity

• Comfort anchored with courage

• Attention to sensation

I want to start a movement so that we all learn to better walk in our worth by changing our relationship not just to style, but to our possibility. I can’t wait to unpack it more with you in the coming months, from winter to spring and summer and beyond. Always clad in intention.

My book, The Art of Intentional Dressing, is out on May 5, 2026. Preorder now on erinwalsh.com