The Lunch Tray Saga

When I truly enjoy a movie I walk out of the theatre still feeling as if I stalked through the surreal world the film created; whether this means floating along as a penniless noblewoman, or slinking around and watching my back as an assassin. What also helps create a sense of mood and personality for my day is the outfit: I will never feel shabby or unprepared in my black trench coat.
Selina (of Flying Saucer) pointed out that maybe the colors affect my actions (poise, mood, etc) rather than my initial mood affecting my choice of color. It brings to mind an interesting point on how our clothes change us (and they do).
Freshman year of college for one of my classes I wrangled several of my friends into performing a social experiment. Our hypothesis was: boys will be chivalrous to girls in skirts. Basically, we thought boys would be more likely to aide a girl if she was deemed approachable by usual male standards: hair down, figure highlighted, skirts, etc.
Two of my friends dressed up in their finest girly-girly outfits and together we went to the cafeteria. I seated myself at a strategic location and watched as they picked up their lunch trays, walked by a large table crowded with young males, tripped, and dropped their trays--spilling the contents everywhere. For each of the girls (the tray dropping was staggered) five or more boys leaped to their aide.
The next day we pulled back their hair, dressed them in pants/power suits and dropped trays again. To one of the fine females a single male helped her retrieve her items. For the other, there was no such luck, she was alone in cleaning up the mess.
My hypothesis was proved, or so it seemed. But as I began to interview my friends, I began to realize the experiment had been one on them, as much as the unknowing males. Both girls said that they had felt vulnerable and embarrassed kneeling down in skirts to retrieve their food and silverware and they thought they projected this. In contrast, on the second day in their "business" outfits, they felt very in charge and disdained the necessity of help. Clearly, how the girls felt was a large part in how the men reacted (don't even get me started on endorphins).
There are also the "wild card" factors--such as the one boy who helped the girls in their strong outfits. He clearly was more concerned about being a helpful person than whatever she was wearing.
So, in the end, are the outfits more approachable, or do you become more approachable when you imbue them and they imbue you?