FASHIONABLE SCIENCE

The Magazine’s WHERE WHAT WEAR series provides capsule wardrobe looks according to the neuroscience of personal style. Pair outfits with the best ways to stay balanced through eating and doing.

PITTA: The Focused, Fiery One

Style Goal: Cool, structured, refined 

Vibe: Carolyn Bessette meets Florence Welch at Dia Beacon

Mantra: "Tailored, not tame."

Weekly Rotation + Rituals: San Francisco Edition

We’re taking the hills with this one.

This person schedules everything, she’s early to the 9a Monday meeting, she needs data not emotional hang-ups. Hello, Type-A or Mizz Perfectionist Pitta.

Though Pitta personalities are compassionate, they prefer it if feelings did not take over their lives like Kapha or Vata types. A tincture of Pitta’s heat boosts everyone’s confidence.

Mizz P preempts becoming a controlling overlord by experiencing nature, eating the bounty, and appreciating art. Wearing quirky button-downs, being pretty in pink, and pairing soft textures also ups her equilibrium A game.

San Francisco is the ideal city to both remain a leader and tap a softer persona. Mizz P needs to loosen her concrete mind, leap over her fast heart rate with her bigger heart, and use her power red when it really matters.

Here is what our Type-A Pitta executive leader wearing, what-ing, and where-ing.

We know it gets tight during the week, so adjust the wellness warrior day planner. If you cannot make it to the art space, check it out online. Do not forget juice and jams as digestives and ambience. Sip a cup of tea or matcha that contains L-theanine to reduce impatience for those who are not ready for Monday to be Monday.

THE SCIENCE

MONDAY

It’s Monday and you are ready to roar… at your colleagues who are still in weekend mode. Slip on a pair of fun shoes with a hint of your power red used in a fun way, top it off with the softest beige members only jacket to stay soft (Fig. 1). Sleek Phoebe Philo-esque cargos loosens all-work mentality. Power Word: Fun. Power Move: Creation.

The de Young Museum with Golden Gate Park as a backdrop calms sympathetic “heat” (arousal) in the brain, lowers heart rate and blood pressure through parasympathetic activation, and increases vagal tone to stabilize the gut-brain axis. This counteracts the high cognitive load and stress-linked physiological activation associated with take-charge leaders.

Figure 1: Monday style takes it easy(er) on Monday’s to make it less manic for Type-Sunday-Scaries.

Feel the groove and soften perfectionism with Deee-Lite. Pitta’s cardiovascular system tends toward high sympathetic arousal, fast reactivity, and inflammation. A playful, rhythmic song like Groove Is in the Heart lowers heart rate, increases heart-rate variability (HRV), reduces amygdala activation, and triggers positive‑emotion pathways that physiologically soften intense drive.

TUESDAY

Here’s a giant star for being the best at everything! Tuesday and tailored, but make it pink and Sandy Liang (Fig. 2). Break the achievement loop that burns out. Try not to over-analyze the walls at SF MoMA. Feel the difference it makes on emotional reflection? Let the abstract be just that to lower the cognitive load taken on to fixate on ambitious ambitions. Sip an iced matcha latte to stay alert, but calm the thought process through its L-theanine content. This way, outperforming God isn’t stressing the heart.

Soften up in The Row’s beige cords and Vivienne Westwood’s suede maroon bag. It is just enough brick red to sustain fired up personalities, but closer to Earth. A strong blazer in demulcent navy paired with oxblood Clarke’s set the University Club tone.

The laid-back tempo of The Pharcyde’s Passin’ Me By interrupts Pitta’s achievement‑driven dopamine loop. The song’s theme of longing and acceptance taps into non‑competitive dopamine pathways, which helps Pitta step out of “must win, must achieve” mode and into a more open, receptive emotional state.

Try to free write a little. Writing calms Pitta by shifting the brain from stress‑driven circuits into regulated prefrontal processing,

WEDNESDAY

On Wednesday, take a walk through one of the greatest city parks on Earth and fill up on both a smoothie and veg burrito (Fig. 3). Type-A’s typical appetite is as huge as her drive and in need for mid-week fuel. Reduce the ‘food, now’ feeling and keep the huger hormone ghrelin lower for longer throughout the day by eating a generous meal at lunch. Choosing two big dishes is not out of character as Pitta is quite decisive. The Hangry Monster won’t get in the way of rousing leadership.

Ghrelin is directly related to the sensation of hunger. Blame cravings on Neuropeptide-Y (NPY), which amplifies the appetite for carbs, sugar and quick energy foods. Eating substantial meals suppresses this brain-based molecule. GLP-1 is the satiety hormone that leads to better fullness and reduced evening hunger. Your body naturally activates it more effectively earlier in the day.

When in balance, Pitta actually appreciates creativity when it is beautiful and aesthetically pleasing. Use your strength in seeing the big picture at Golden Gate Park. Otherwise, what is the whole point of taking charge? Not to be hippie dippy, but walking through Golden Gate Park allows entrusting the natural world and slackening ambitions. Contentment grows, competition abates. Recognize that breathing naturally slows, emotional heaviness decreases, and natural scents feel grounding.

Figure 3: What would midweek be without Golden Gate Park and ocean blues?

Eardrums ring with Free by Florence + The Machine. See Pitta Ladies for who they are. Stability is not about suppressing true inner fire, but rather stopping short of becoming Cruella. Pair all of this with a range of oceanic blues and soft loose suede. The visual and tactile signals promote compassionate circuits upon returning to the corner office.

THURSDAY

When was the last time you hung out in a rocking chair? Rock back and forth on Thursday in the one at City Lights Books to widen attentional networks. This means that you are unclenching your mind to put yourself in “being mode” than “doing mode”. Stress signals taper and emotional equanimity sets in.

Do we dare wear relaxing pants during the weekday? Yes! But make it tailored, velvet, and in a dark cherry. Wear a Tom Ford pink in an Audrey Hepburn style with Monday’s artsy pumps or Vivienne Westwood-style plaid sneakers (Fig. 4). Off the rails, boss! Pairing yesterday’s suede trench with Morrissey’s Suedehead thumps your highly intellectual noggin with the fact that you need the cuddly closeness that makes you feel invaded.

Figure 4: Rock it out with baby pink, shoe switch-ups, and, yes, a rocking chair.

Despite the studies promoting its benefits, coffee generally ignites a lot of negative qualities about highly ambitious personalities. The chlorogenic acids in coffee increases digestive acidity and stimulates gastric juices that Pitta does not need. But to a lesser degree on a full stomach and in small doses. Order the smallest ounces or share a flight at Saint Frank.

FRIDAY

Make it a 5p dinner. That means leaving work at a reasonable time for a proper meal at a table that is not a desk. We want to curb biomarkers like hs-CRP (high-sensitivity C-reactive protein) that signal systematic inflammation that arise from stress and diet. Early time-restricted eating (eTRE) and circadian-aligned eating reduce those inflammatory markers.

Pinky swear on that star button-down and add a top coat (Fig. 5). Add cutesy My Melody-inspired pearls as a necklace and sandals to take it into the weekend.

Figure 5: Make like an alley cat and prowl public art spaces. Don the pinkest pinks to ease up ambitious energy.

Play on your emotions with a song and a sway. Personal Jesus registers your humanness and need for help. It leads corporate hounds into a weekend that is not dominated by work. Give up control for a few days! The murals through Clarion Alley shifts the brain from high prefrontal “task mode” into slower, more parasympathetic states, reducing sympathetic arousal, lowering cortisol, and widening attentional networks. This essentially interrupts the intensity loop that drives Pitta’s Type A reactivity.

SATURDAY

Do something super crazy and uncharacteristic by taking a walk around, and maybe even through, the Ferry Building. The horror! A high tourist spot has potential to be surprisingly therapeutic for Empress Irascible. What it does is activate the prefrontal cortex’s emotional-regulation circuits when the irritating exposure is brief and safe. Also, the waterfront location lowers cortisol, and improves HRV.

High tourist traffic may initially spark irritation, but then the combination of movement, sensory variety, and mild social exposure nudges Pitta out for her intensity loop and into a more regulated physiological state. A Type-A person gets angry in these environments because crowds, noise and unpredictability trigger heightened amygdala reactivity, overload the prefrontal cortex’s control circuits and increase sympathetic nervous system arousal. This creates a fast, stress-linked physiological response that feels like instant irritation.

Saturday blends office space and 1990’s grunge. The waterfront waves in blues, and oxblood loafers run through your collegiate veins (Fig. 6). The proportion of structure and softness in the satin skirt and baby tee honor your preference for orderliness while scaling back that unyielding demeanor. A beige wool hat shaped just askew adds Vata-type distraction for a carefree day.

Figure 6: Train your patience on those who test your patience. Tourists! With a side of calm blues.

Activate your female agency and pop in Be Sweet. This is Japanese Breakfast’s reminder to take it easy on yourself through specific brain functions. Stimulating reward circuits interrupts over‑responsibility patterns. This gives you permission to take up space.

SUNDAY

Pitta has a higher carb tolerance, so take advantage of that blistering metabolic rate a big breakfast or brunch of French Toast or Eggs Benedict. Allow artists to humble you at the galleries in the Mission.

Sunday’s look is for the books. A nod to Fall/Winter football while keeping your preferred chic vibes with a very stylish coat and Chanel ballet flats (Fig. 7). We chose a patent leather version to remind us of precious childhood moments. This coat is the perfect example of adding Vata vibes that are more creative than analytical. This coat stays the course with skewed lines.

Figure 7: Sunday Funday like a head-in-the-clouds Vata.

Before greeting Monday, access sympathy for the valiant few on your team. The emotional intensity of Massive Attack’s Unfinished Sympathy quiets the brain’s control circuits, reduces vigilance, activates empathy networks, and evokes vulnerability that Pitta usually suppresses.

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