Just a couple of weeks ago, I found myself sitting on the edge of my couch wide-eyed, heart racing and compulsively eating popcorn as I watched the “American Horror Story: Asylum” series.

I admit I was kind of a nervous wreck when suddenly in one of the episodes Zachary Quinto, who plays the role of psychiatrist Oliver Thredson, mentioned the Harry Harlow experiments from the 1930s. At that point I had one of those phonographic scratch moments when you have an epiphany and start to ask yourself certain questions.

The question I asked myself was if there was another reason, besides the obvious need for warmth in the cold weather, that some people more than others tend to relate soft textures with emotions of love and affection.

In the Harlow experiment, monkeys where given two surrogate mothers six hours after birth. One of the substitute mothers was made of wire, while the other was made of wood covered in Terrycloth, a fabric normally used for body towels.

Even when the source of food came from the wire surrogate, the monkeys spent significantly more time holding on to the soft terry cloth instead. This means that the infants not only had basic needs for food, safety, and warmth, but they also had a necessity to feel love and acceptance from their parents. The monkeys fulfilled the latter need by clinging to the soft fabric.

Although the final observations from this experiment were intended to show the basic psychological needs of the monkeys, I think it is a perfect example of how a fabric or texture can take on certain psychological dimensions.

People correlate personal memories or emotions to these “soft” fabrics because in our childhood we were conditioned to feel a sense of comfort and ease by the fabrics or even any stuffed animals around us. However, this conditioning was probably not done on purpose.

Synaesthesia is a harmless neurological condition in which there is a crosstalk between two areas of the brain that are normally separated, according to an article in the British Medical Journal. In other words, one or more senses are connected to each other. 

A person who has this condition is normally unaware of it and can relate numbers and letters to certain kind of textures and colors or emotions, which is why to some people a fuzzy fabric, makes them feel “warm” inside.

With that being said, treat yourself to fabrics and textures that make you feel at home and generate a comfort feeling this fall.

As we enter the time of sweater weather, the most important aspect of an outfit is the different kinds of textures of the garment. Based on what I have seen in the runways as well as in the street fashion at WGSN trend forecasting, natural fibers such as cashmere, merino or angora wool are the “go to” for this season. If those fabrics are a little out of your price range, then look for acrylic pieces that mimic those natural fibers.