Personal Growth

Clothing is incredibly important. It doesn’t matter whether you’re someone who wears Armani suits or is comfortable going out in sports gear, the clothes you wear speak volumes about the type of person you are. This is true not only in social situations, but also in business ones, when what you’re wearing will give an indication to potential clients and corporate partners about your particular tastes and inclinations, as well as influence their perception of you. How you dress is also crucial to your mentality at any given time, and can motivate you and change your outlook on many things.

First impressions are everything

We all know how vital it is to dress up in a smart outfit for a job interview, but the art of dressing to impress is no more prevalent than the first date. This is often where men and women alike will stress out about how best to astound their date as soon as they enter the room. We make snap judgments within seconds, and regardless of whether this is fair or not is irrelevant, we all do it. Does your date have the best personality of anyone you’ve ever met? Maybe. But if they are dressed shabbily, it appears to us that they don’t care about their appearance, but more importantly, they don’t care about you. After all, nothing feels better than knowing someone went to so much effort in their looks just to meet you.

Great footwear is regularly something that’s discussed a lot as a deal-breaker, particularly with men. Women often discuss the significance of shoes that men wear on a first date, as this Askmen.com article talks about. In one point, stylist Kami Gray makes the case for Timberland shoes being the sharpest pair that men could wear. “A guy who wears Timberlands cares about his appearance from head-to-toe and intentionally puts an outfit together,  he also probably cares about other stuff too, like what he eats, where he vacations, and what car he drives,” she says. “A pair of Timberland Wodehouse chukkas says he’s not dining at Applebees, going to Vegas for vacation, and driving around in a brand-new red corvette.”

Dressing to build your own confidence

Of course, dressing successfully may have absolutely nothing to do with the image you want to show others, but more about how the clothes and accessories make you feel. So a survey of women says that a large percentage prefer men wearing Brogues on a first date, but you feel far more confident and natural wearing Nike sneakers – what’s the right choice? The choice that makes you feel like yourself. You’d like a wristwatch and your current budget tells you to pick up a cheap Casio, yet you know you’d feel more confident with a Swiss luxury watch. Then save up for a Rolex, Omega, or Panerai and look for something which gives you self-assurance, not an item which a magazine or website tells you is the “best watch for men.”

There is a fine equilibrium between what clothing you consider to be confidence-boosting and what is regarded as trendy and socially acceptable, but the bottom line is finding the right balance for you. Dressing for success means finding something that makes you feel great and gives the impression to others of power and achievement – not easy to do, but nothing worth getting is ever easy!

The argument over wearing school uniforms

In many schools across the world, like in Australia and Great Britain, school uniforms are mandatory and non-uniform days are happen once or twice a year. In the USA, however, it’s rare for school children to wear uniforms. Who is right? That’s hard to say, as there are considerable pros and cons to the dispute. One could argue that not having school uniforms forces kids to never wear the same sweatshirt or jeans two days in a row for fear of being bullied because they appear “cheap.” It may also force parents and guardians to splash out on buying more and more outfits to ensure the child always has new and trendy clothing to help fit in at school.

On the flip side, many hate uniforms because they are restrictive, uncomfortable, and limit self-expression. Whatever side you stand on, there’s a lot to consider surrounding the relationship between successful dressing and fitting in at school from an early age. Do uniforms encourage inclusivity or does it make it harder for kids to find others with similar tastes and interests?