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Our children's clothes matter. Here's what science and religion teach us
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In the past two weeks, a quintessentially local story became news around the world. The Charles Middle School in El Paso, Texas, banned all-black clothing for the coming school year because such attire “has become more associated with depression and mental health issues and/or criminality than with happy and healthy kids ready to learn.”
The response was fast and furious. Krista Wongate, the chief of child and adolescent services at El Paso’s Emergence Health Network said: “… mental health and depression, they don’t have colors. They don’t have outfits.”
Alex Lucero, a member of the community, objected as well. He said: “The color of clothing has nothing to do with your ability to do anything or feel any emotion.”
In recent years, a new discipline has emerged at universities across the world – fashion psychology. (iStock)
The response worked. The dress code was revoked.
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As is always the case with social, cultural, psychological and political questions, there is one book to consult for guidance – the Torah.
Let’s start with Genesis 28, perhaps the pivotal movement in the early history of the Jewish people. Rebecca has a few hours to prevent her husband, Isaac, from making a huge mistake, and giving the blessing of eternal Jewish leadership to their impulsive, unthoughtful and undisciplined son Esau.
She has an alternative: Esau’s twin, Jacob. If Rebecca can convince Isaac that Jacob is really Esau, her husband will – mistakenly but irrevocably – give the blessing to Jacob. The future of God’s project on earth is in her hands, at that moment.
The problem: Jacob, we are told, “dwelt in tents” – indicating that he spent his time studying, apart from the difficult doings of the world. He has never done anything like the trickery she needs him to perform. How can Rebecca get Jacob to immediately become like Esau. She has the solution. She tells Jacob to put on his brother’s “favorite clothes.”
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Why Esau’s “favorite clothes”? Why, for that matter, Esau’s clothes at all? Isaac is blind, and would have no idea what Jacob was wearing. The clothes were not to deceive Isaac. They were to change Jacob. Rebecca knew that we become what we wear. Sure enough, the young man who “dwelt in tents” pulls the most important ruse of all time.
Moving from the first to the last book of the Torah – Deuteronomy – there is a speech from Moses about what the Jewish people will need to emphasize in order to be a free people in the Promised Land.
Moses, amplifying a law from Leviticus, commands: “You shall not wear wool and linen together.” The ancient rabbis interpreted this commandment so strictly that they ruled that one who finds himself in public wearing wool and linen should take off those clothes rather than continue!
Why is the commandment against mixing wool and linen so important? It relates to the Torah’s idea of separation. We sanctify things by separating them. For instance, we sanctify the Sabbath by separating it from all other days. We sanctify marriage, formally under the chuppah (the marriage canopy), by separating our wife from all other women. The prohibition on mixing wool and linen has us wear the concept of separation, so that it is always a part of who we are.
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Is the guidance throughout the Torah that we become what we wear correct?
For Pittsburgh sports,1979 was a great year. The Steelers had won the Super Bowl and the Pirates had won the World Series. But there was a problem.
The Penguins had started the season by winning less than half of their games. They made one change that was entirely within their control. They changed their uniforms – from white and blue to black and gold. There was a result, but it did not show in the win-loss column. The Penguins, after they changed their uniforms, had a 50% increase in their number of penalties.
The Cornell University professors Thomas Gilovich and Mark Frank set out to determine if this was a fluke. It wasn’t. They examined the penalty data for the NFL and the NHL from 1970 to 1986. Of the 28 teams in the NFL, five wore black uniforms. These teams had the first, third, seventh, eighth, and 12th most penalties. Of the 23 teams in the NHL, five wore black uniforms. These teams had the first, second, third, sixth and 10th most penalties.
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Is there anything unique about sports that might explain how clothing profoundly affects performance? No. The reasons and evidence showing that we become what we wear has been demonstrated in activities from heavy metal drumming to math test-taking – and are discussed in the chapter on clothing in my forthcoming book “God was Right: How Modern Social Science Proves the Torah is True.”
A quintessential example came from Northwestern University in 2012. Professors Hajo Adam and Adam Galinsky gave the same kind of white coat to two groups of study participants. They told one group that the coat was a painter’s coat. They told the other group that it was a doctor’s coat.
The result: those who were told it was a doctor’s coat did far better on tasks that required careful attention to detail. Galinsky explained, “Clothes invade the body and brain, putting the wearer into a different psychological state.”
In recent years, a new discipline has emerged at universities across the world – fashion psychology. Degrees in fashion psychology are offered at Purdue, Pepperdine, Arizona State, the London School of Fashion and other universities. One of the leaders in this emerging field is Karen Pine of the University of Hertfordshire.
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Professor Pine’s research has led her to conclude that it is possible to contemplate “a wardrobe of ‘happy clothes,’ as protection against ever feeling miserable again.” She recommends: distinctive jewelry, playful patterns evoking childhood, flowered prints that signify health, and bright colors that connect us with nature.
There is now a term for what Pine described: Dopamine Dressing. Dopamine Dressing is the concept that clothing choices significantly influence the release of dopamine, the “feel good” neurotransmitter associated with feelings of pleasure, motivation, satisfaction and joy.
While Pine’s specific recommendations may be novel and helpful, the general truth she tells should resonate widely given recent lived experience. In March 2020, when COVID-19 struck, millions of people suddenly found themselves working from home. The customary workplace norms and customs quickly became obsolete. How should people working from home adapt? One guiding principle emerged, especially among those mindful of mental health.
On March 17, 2020, the BBC highlighted this as the No. 1 recommendation in their article, “Coronavirus: Five Ways to Work Well From Home”: Get dressed. A variety of studies published after the pandemic confirm that those who dress formally for work are more mentally fit, productive and successful than those who do not – whether the work is at home or in the office.
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So the Torah, validated by modern social science and experience, does for El Paso what it always does: it illuminates the path of truth for any social, cultural, psychological or political question.
The Charles Middle School administrators were absolutely right that a student’s attitude and performance will be profoundly affected by the clothes he or she wears. They were right again in concluding that wearing all black clothing is inadvisable for a cohort of students who might be struggling with mental health issues.
They were wrong only in conceding to clearly erroneous ideas that “mental health and depression… don’t have outfits” and that “the color of clothing has nothing to do with your ability to do anything or feel any emotion.”
Within the next few weeks, our children will be back at school. We parents are preparing them in all kinds of ways – from school supplies to class selection, from organizing transportation to choosing after-school activities, from easing social anxieties to getting doctor’s appointments.
The Torah and social science converge to tell us parents: Remember what just might be the important thing – which is what your children wear. The primary function of clothing, the divine and scientific voices are telling us, has nothing to do with temperature control or aesthetics. It has everything to do with helping us to feel, think and act as we want to.
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How might parents help our children in this back-to-school season? We could follow the wisdom of King Solomon, who told us: “Educate the child according to his way” – with, crucially, the “his” being singular. We parents who want our children to thrive in this school year should consider the specific gifts and challenges of each child – and dress them accordingly.
If we have a daughter who is struggling with depression, we should take the advice of Pine and fill her closet with bright colors and floral prints.
If we have a son who is struggling with confidence issues, we should channel our inner Rebecca and tell him to go to school in his “favorite clothes” – his jerseys of Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant or Aaron Judge.
If we have a child who gets distracted doing his homework, we should tell him to put on a button-down shirt and pressed pants – even, and perhaps especially, if he studies alone in his bedroom.
We can explain to our children, and to ourselves, that there is nothing pediatric about this advice. It is universal. We adults should, as well, think about how we want to feel and who we want to be – and dress accordingly!
MARK GERSON
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Republican Sen. John Cornyn says that Rep. Jasmine Crockett’s campaign launch in Texas’ high-stakes 2026 Senate race is proof that “the Democratic Party has become the captive of the left wing.”
Cornyn, the longtime senator from Texas who’s facing arguably the toughest re-election of his political career, charged in a Fox News Digital interview that the bid by Crockett, a progressive champion and vocal critic and foil of President Donald Trump, shows that “even people like Chuck Schumer,” the top Democrat in the Senate, “have been hijacked by the Bernie Sanders and AOC wing of the Democratic Party.”
Crockett, a two-term lawmaker who represents a Dallas-area district, launched her bid earlier this month hours after former Rep. Colin Allred, a more moderate Democrat running a second straight time for the Senate in right-leaning Texas, ended his campaign.
Crockett will now face off in her party’s March 3 primary with state Rep. James Talarico, a former middle school teacher and Presbyterian seminarian who is also seen as a rising Democrat. The general election showdown in Texas is one of a handful of midterm races that may determine if the GOP holds its Senate majority.
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Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, speaks after announcing her run in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Monday, Dec. 8, 2025, in Dallas. (LM Otero/AP Photo)
Cornyn embraces Crockett’s entry into the race.
“I think she is unelectable in a general election in Texas. Texas is still a conservative red state,” Cornyn claimed. “She can’t win, so I’m really happy she’s decided to run.”
While Crockett and Talarico face off for the Democratic nomination, Cornyn is battling Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Rep. Wesley Hunt in a competitive and combustible Republican primary.
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And unlike the Democratic primary, where Crockett and Talarico are the only major candidates, the three-way Republican race may be headed towards a May runoff, which would be triggered if no candidate tops 50% in the March primary.
But Cornyn said that a GOP runoff won’t “really change our chances of winning in November.”
Cornyn is backed by Senate Majority Leader John Thune and the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) in the GOP primary.
NRSC chair Sen. Tim Scott predicts Cornyn will be the GOP’s nominee, emphasizing in a Fox News Digital interview last week that “we are confident that Texas will be red, ruby red, with John Cornyn as our candidate.”
Paxton, who has been battered over the past decade by a slew of scandals and legal problems and who is now dealing with a messy divorce, is a longtime MAGA champion and ally of Trump, who remains neutral in the Senate GOP primary race.
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Cornyn, highlighting his Trump credentials, noted that “I get along well with the President. I’ve supported him during his first term, and now in his second term, I think the figure we came up with was 99.3% of the time. So I want the president to be successful and look forward to continuing to support him and his policies.”
But he acknowledged that “I don’t think he’s [Trump] in a big hurry to endorse. He says that both the attorney general and I are friends of his, and I don’t think he wants to disappoint some of his friends who support one or the other of us, if he…goes to support one and not the other.”
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tx., seen on Capitol Hill on Dec. 9, 2025, is arguably facing the toughest re-election of his political career in the Senate. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The Republican primary in Texas has become explosive, with charges flying from all sides.
But Cornyn, remaining more diplomatic than incendiary, merely touted that he would be the most effective general election candidate. And he pointed to Paxton and Hunt and argued, “They’re probably not going to be able to win, certainly by the same margin, and they might not be able to win at all because they’re flawed candidates.”
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“I’ve been through a lot of races before. This is nothing new for me, and we look forward to a good primary on March the third and probably a runoff that will finish the race off in May, and then we’ll get ready for whoever the Democrats decide to nominate for November,” he added.
Paxton campaign spokesman Nick Maddux, pushing back against Cornyn, told Fox News Digital, “Everyone knows that Jasmine Crockett, who said Hispanic Trump voters have a ‘slave mentality,’ is going to lose the general election miserably after winning the Democratic nomination. Cornyn’s reciting this tired talking point about the general election because his sad campaign has nothing else to talk about it.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, seen during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Tuesday, July 16, 2024, is primary challenging GOP Sen. John Cornyn in the 2026 elections. (Hannah Beier/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“Ken Paxton won his last statewide general election by nearly double digits, despite tens of millions in negative spending against him, and he’ll do exactly that again in 2026,” Maddux predicted.
Cornyn, who is running for a fifth six-year term representing Texas in the Senate, announced his re-election campaign in early March, with Paxton launching his primary challenge a month later.
Hunt, a West Point graduate who flew Apache helicopters during his Army service and a rising MAGA star who is in his second term representing a solidly Republican district in the Houston-area, jumped into the race in October.
As he declared his candidacy, Hunt showcased his own Trump credentials, saying, “I was the first person in the nation to endorse President Trump, and I have remained steadfast in my commitment to the people of Texas.”
Hunt had been mulling a Senate run for months and sources confirmed to Fox News earlier this year that the congressman made his case to Trump’s political team that he’s the only person who could win both a GOP primary and a general election.
Republican Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas, seen during the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 15, 2024, is primary challenging Sen. John Cornyn in the 2026 elections. (Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images)
Asked about Hunt, Cornyn claimed that “he can’t win the primary. He can force a runoff.”
And Cornyn said Hunt was “pretty headstrong and is determined to run, which is his right… but he also has a right to lose, which is what’s going to happen.”
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The 44-year-old Hunt, responding to the 73-year-old senator’s comments, told Fox News Digital that “Cornyn continues to lose support and now stands as the most vulnerable and ineffective incumbent in the country.”
“He refuses to step aside and pass the torch to a new generation of leadership, one aligned with the America First movement and committed to codifying President Trump’s agenda, something Cornyn has spent years opposing in the United States Senate,” Hunt charged.
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Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, denied believing that Hispanic Trump voters had a “slave mentality” when asked about her past claims on Tuesday.
CNN’s Jake Tapper reminded the Texas Senate candidate of comments she made to Vanity Fair in 2024, when she compared Latinos who voted for President Donald Trump to slaves who would “hate” themselves.
“It almost reminds me of what people would talk about when they would talk about kind of like ‘slave mentality’ and the hate that some slaves would have for themselves,” she said.
“It’s almost like a slave mentality that they have. It is wild to me when I hear how anti-immigrant they are as immigrants, many of them. I’m talking about people that literally just got here and can barely vote that are having this kind of attitude.”
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Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, suggested the Latino community had a “slave mentality” for having concerns over illegal immigration. (Getty Images)
Tapper asked if all Hispanic Trump voters still have a “slave mentality.”
“No, and that‘s not what that said at all, to be clear,” Crockett said. “It did not say that every Latino has that type of mentality.”
“No, no, but the ones that vote for people that believe in strong or Trump‘s immigration policy,” Tapper clarified.
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“So, I don‘t believe that the people that voted for Trump believe in what they‘re actually getting. That is No. 1. What Trump said is that he was going to kick out the bad guys. And that‘s what I was talking about,” Crockett said.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett insisted President Donald Trump did not fulfill his promise to Latino voters. (Fox News Digital, Getty)
Crockett reiterated that she didn’t “understand what’s happening” with Latinos who insisted that there were people who entered the country “the wrong way.”
“At the same time, I knew what Trump meant because Trump had a record. Trump had a record of locking up kids and putting them in cages. So, I knew what Trump meant. And, so, that‘s why it wasn‘t making sense to me,” Crockett said.
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Fox News Digital reached out to Crockett and her campaign for comment.
In the Vanity Fair interview, Crockett also disparaged White women, claiming they “retreated” and failed Democratic candidates.
Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, launched her Senate bid on Monday. (John Medina/Getty Images)
“I said I don’t trust White women. I said I’m just telling you, and I think you need to have conversations with your sisters because they are the group that failed Hillary Clinton. I mean, when you go back and look at the numbers, White women were the ones that failed her. And, so, in my mind, if they failed Hillary, I don’t know that I can believe that they won’t fail Kamala,” Crockett said.
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She also accused Black men of “flaking” on former Vice President Kamala Harris.
Crockett is trying to become the first Democrat to win a U.S. Senate race in Texas since 1988. Trump carried the state easily in 2024 over Harris as he made major gains with Latino voters, and no Democratic White House candidate has won Texas since 1976.
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Florida’s CAIR threatens lawsuit against DeSantis after he labels group a ‘foreign terrorist’ organization
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The Florida chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) says it plans to take Gov. Ron DeSantis to court after the Republican governor issued an executive order labeling the Muslim civil rights organization a “foreign terrorist organization.”
Hiba Rahim, the chapter’s deputy executive director, said during a news conference that the order was an attack rooted in conspiracy theories and compared it to historical efforts that targeted Jewish, Irish and Italian American communities.
“We are very proud to defend the founding principles of our Constitution, to defend free speech,” Rahim said at a news conference. “We are proud to defend democracy, and we are proud to be America first.”
Rahim argued that the governor’s support for Israel played a role in the order, saying the group’s activism had caused “discomfort” to the U.S. ally. She said CAIR does not intend to back down.
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis labeled CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as a “foreign terrorist organization.” (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
Governor DeSantis, meanwhile, defended the move, saying his administration had sufficient grounds for the designation. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, he said he welcomed CAIR’s legal challenge and described the designation as “a long time coming.”
DeSantis’ order also lists the Muslim Brotherhood as a “foreign terrorist” organization. Last month, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to begin a federal process to consider designating certain chapters of the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization.
The governor said he expects Florida lawmakers to pursue related legislation when the legislature reconvenes in January, calling the executive order “the beginning.”
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said he welcomes CAIR’s lawsuit. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Under DeSantis’ directive, state agencies are barred from awarding contracts, employment or funds to CAIR, the Muslim Brotherhood or any groups deemed to have materially supported them.
At the Tampa news conference, attorney Miranda Margolis criticized the order and argued DeSantis had exceeded his authority by unilaterally designating a nonprofit as a terrorist organization.
“This designation is without legal or factual basis and constitutes a dangerous escalation of anti-Muslim political rhetoric,” Margolis said.
Florida’s action comes after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a similar proclamation. CAIR has challenged Abbott’s designation in federal court, arguing it violates the U.S. Constitution and Texas law. Muslim and interfaith organizations have urged Abbott to rescind the order.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation designating CAIR and the Muslim Brotherhood as “foreign terrorist organizations.” (Getty Images)
State-level designations do not carry the same legal weight as federal Foreign Terrorist Organization classifications, which can only be issued by the U.S. State Department.
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CAIR argues the Florida order violates its First Amendment rights and due-process protections and that terrorism designations fall under federal jurisdiction, not state power.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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