There is a certain type of joy I feel when I see a well-dressed person walk past me. Even more joy if they smell good too. I have written about his topic before on other platforms but it is one that keeps popping up in my head and in conversation. A lot of people have either become too lazy or have just forgotten the importance of dressing well. There are so many reasons but some are more important than others. I will attempt my best to explain to you the more important reasons why you should think twice about the way you dress. I want to first make sure you understand that these are important to yourself. You never dress for other people. It may seem that way but when you really think about it all it becomes clear that you dress for yourself and not for others.
Expressing yourself correctly is one of the most important things you can do. If you think about it, you need people to know exactly who you are. They need to know what you stand for, what you don’t stand for, the mood you’re in and what your intentions might be. If you look at the people around you it will become clear who are the people you might get along with and who are the people you most likely wouldn’t get along with. All you have to judge them from is their appearance. It is exactly the same when people look at you. If you are looking for financial advice you are more likely to trust the advice from someone in a suit than advice coming from someone in tracksuit pants. There is no reason the person in tracksuit pants would give you the wrong advice. This is a clear sign that what you wear dictates how seriously people are going to take what you say and what you stand for.
One of the very simple reasons I judge people by their appearance is because I feel that if you cannot show respect for yourself and your own body and expression how could I expect you to show any respect for me? This is why there are certain dress-code “commandments” for job interviews, weddings, church and even birthday parties. Having respect for yourself means that you are most likely going to have respect for those around you, and this will first become visible when you walk into the room wearing something that expresses just that.
We would all love to live in a world without judgement. This is never going to happen. You can, however, use this to your advantage. You can use what you wear and what you look like to influence the way people treat you. If you would like to be taken seriously then make sure you look as if you take what you do seriously. If you would like to be treated in a casual manner then dress that way. If you would like to be treated like a slob then by all means leave the house in your pyjamas. I cannot explain to you the impact that the way you look has on the way people treat you.
A few weeks ago, I was on a bus and two ladies of more or less the same age climbed on. I guess they must have been in their sixties. Lady number one was dressed in skinny jeans, a pretty blouse and sparkly sandals. Lady number two was dressed in a lavender two-piece that was too big for her, puffy old-lady shoes and no make-up. Immediately someone got up and offered their seat to lady number two but paid no more attention to lady number one. I am certain that they were both equally capable of standing on the bus, both looked equally as healthy. The only reason that lady number two was treated like an old lady and lady number one was not is because lady number two was dressed like a frail old lady. The way you dress directly impacts the way you are treated. Walking past a man in a suit on a dark road at night is far less scary than walking past a man in dirty old clothes on a dark road at night but there is no reason the man in the suit would not be the dangerous one.
This does not mean that you need to spend hours every morning constructing the perfect look. It just requires taking 5 extra minutes to look at yourself in the mirror and ask: “What does this look say about me today?”
