Call me crazy, but I think fashion is important. The way you look says more about you than anything else. The phrase, “A picture is worth a thousand words” doesn’t exist because appearances don’t matter. The way you not only choose to present yourself but also express yourself plays a lot into the way that others view you. How do I know this is true? Simple, I’ve experienced it.
I was standing in line in the student union waiting for my breakfast at the coffee shop. One of the workers was a girl who had been in my ethics class last fall. When she saw me she smiled and said, “Hey girl, what’s up? Looking fierce as usual, I see.” That’s right, she called me fierce. In that moment I felt like freaking Beyoncé. Why you ask? Because not only did she remember me, she remembered to compliment me. Not on my personality, not on how smart (or not) I was in ethics, but on how I looked, because she remembered that detail about me.
So, why does it matter that this random girl – who I may never have a class with again or see after I graduate – complimented my appearance? Again, it’s simple. She didn’t remember me for anything more than the way I looked. She liked my outfit. She had complimented me on numerous occasions during that semester, and to my surprise, other girls in the class nodded in agreement with what she was saying. In my ethics class I had an epiphany. No, unfortunately it had nothing to do with the ethics systems of the world, but instead about the way I was being perceived.
I have not always believed in "look good, feel good" or "dress to impress." I once believed that it didn’t matter what I looked like. If I was truly better than someone else, I thought I could’ve shown up to an interview wearing a sack and still got the job. I think quite differently now.
A friend of mine posed the question to me, “Why do you think when you dress better you feel better?” So I thought about it, and I came to this conclusion.
- What builds confidence? When we feel good about ourselves.
- How do we make ourselves feel good? We take care of ourselves and try to remain positive.
- What types of things do we do to take care of ourselves? We wash our bodies, do our hair, put on make up, shave, brush our teeth, trim our nails, use perfume/cologne, we put on clean clothes, etc.
- Why do our clothes matter in the grand scheme of taking care of ourselves? I don’t know about you, but if I put on clothes that I’ve already worn, they never feel as good as clothes that are fresh. No one wants to wear something that makes him or her uncomfortable or makes them feel bad.
This train of thought lead me to realize that the way I feel physically and emotionally is deeply connected to my self presentation.
Okay, maybe you’re wondering where I’m heading with this. Maybe you’ve heard it before on some Facebook post claiming that science says dressing nicely makes you feel better, blah blah blah. What I want to point out is that the way you dress, as seen from my story, not only affects your own perception of yourself (whether you feel good or not), but it molds the way others see you.
To further my point, I will explain the truth behind why I started dressing nicer on a daily basis. For the last year I had been interning at a public relations and advertising firm. I was running right to my internship after classes, so not wanting to carry around extra clothes, I decided to start wearing them to my classes. Not only were my outfits on point, I was really putting a lot of effort into getting up early to do my hair and makeup. What I realized was extraordinary. Not only did I feel more confident about myself, I noticed others were viewing me that way as well. When this girl complimented me in class, and the other girls agreed, I realized that my sense of confidence was being expressed through my appearance.
In the end, I’ve had people try to knock me down about this change in my life. Someone said to me, "Why wouldn’t you want to be more comfortable in class? Don’t you get tired of putting so much effort into getting ready?" The answer is no, I don’t want to be more comfortable so I’m falling asleep in class. No, I don’t want to put on sweats and a hoodie and go to class feeling like a bum. I want to get up, get ready, feel positive and confident, and be fierce. Because hey, who doesn’t want to feel like Beyoncé?
