Zgradis My .02 on anything

Dress up already!

Taking the train downtown today, it was obvious those who were going to school, or going to hang out with friends versus those who were going to work. In this short article I will talk about why it is important to dress up rather than down.

Why Dress Up?

There are several reasons, but before I go into those reasons you should try going to a nice bar or restaurant dressed in an old t-shirt, baseball cap, worn out jeans, and gym shoes.  If they don't throw you out, order something, stay for about 30 minutes, and pay attention to how they treat you. Leave a 15-20% tip (not matter how they treat you) and then try that same thing in a week, however, dress up this time to see the difference.  Wear a nice suit, a tie, maybe even cuff links and a pocket square, and of course nice shoes.  Now watch how they treat you.  I can promise you that they will treat you better no matter where you went.  Even though people don't do this on purpose, it is a different level of comfort, and you are more approachable.

Importance Of Dressing Up:

Dressing up gives you positive energy but also keeps an open warm feel to yourself.  When you wear a baseball cap or any other hat that covers your eyes, you tend to close yourself off from eye contact with others.  You tend to look down because you have something blocking your view up.  When you wear a t-shirt, you tend to wear something with writing on it, which can be off putting to some, especially if it isn't something they like.  But beyond it making you feel good and others feel like you are approachable, it allows people to look at you without feeling down or disgusted.  Next time you are somewhere public take a look around quickly, then look down, think to yourself what did I just see.  You almost always see the people who are well dressed and pretty.  That creates this image of others in a short period of time and if that's what you saw, most likely it is what others see.

Self Pride:

Old, young, ugly, pretty, fat, skinny, it doesn't matter if you portray yourself well.  I am not a skinny guy and I am not the best looking guy, but when I dress up people will always say, "Wow you look good, did you lose weight or something?"  The key is that you've taken the time to improve you look.  You've made a conscious effort to take pride in who you are and make sure everything is just right.  People tend to look at me when I am in a suit, while when I walk by in a hoodie, jeans, and a hat I almost never get noticed (which you can still look good by adding accessories like bright shoes, or a bright hat, something that sets you apart from the crowd, just remember it shouldn't be too much and it should match what you wear). Even something as simple as your hands, while most men won't notice other men's hands, women do. So take care of your hands.  Don't bite your nails or mess with your cuticles, and get a manicure if it gets bad.  If your worried about getting negative comments from men, don't worry about it so much, men wont tend to notice and women will appreciate it.  But most important you can't get into a suit or nice clothes and tell yourself you look bad.  If you don't feel comfortable in your clothes, go to the store (ideally with a girl who is a friend) and try putting on two things that your not used to wearing and one that you would wear day to day.  Perhaps a color shirt that you'd never wear, or a belt that you think looks goofy, just try some things on (and take advice from your lady friend or the salesman, remember they are there to help you).  With that, go into stores that are well organized and ideally with salesmen who are on some type of commission structure.  You want someone on commission because they want you to come back to them, and if you get something from them and you get a lot of compliments you will tend to go back to them and trust their style.  This builds a good relationship between you and them, which is why commission sales stores tend to do better than the low end clothing stores.  But back to feeling good, just remember that you dressed up not only for yourself but for others, and that open feeling you give off from your clothes will transfer to others around you as well as yourself.

Becoming More Productive:

Unless you're the type of person who once they set their mind to something, you can do it no matter what, you will be much more productive if you dress well.  While I think I am more productive when I set my mind to it, it always helps when I take a shower and clean up nicely.  If I wake up in the morning and don't take a shower right away, I almost always sit around and just relax around the house.  The moment I take a shower and get dressed my mind always says, "Chris, you took this time and effort to get ready and shower, now you have to make use of that effort and accomplish something." Now I never tell myself, "Oh you didn't accomplish anything because you took a shower and got ready for the day" so just remember that it wont 'hurt' to do it, so why not do it?  Now if you go into work and don't care about your look, you almost always tend to not care about your work.  Now there are some people who can still dress down and be productive, but that is the exception to the rule.

Short And Sweet:

Try dressing up, try doing something different with your look, and try taking the time to look good.  Why?  "Why not" should be the question.  It is worth your time to take pride in what you look like.  Plus, whats the worst that could happen?  You actually meet a new contact or get a job offer?  I am not going to promise it changes your world, but I can almost always promise it will improve your day to day life.