Hey there readers. So, here is a question for you. Have you ever been told, “It’s better to be prepared rather than unprepared.”? Here’s another question. Has anyone told you that you look great after taking the time to get ready? If you answered yes to one or both of these questions, then you might already have a slight idea about where I’m headed with this. Dressing to impress and dressing for success go hand and hand. Especially when you have a goal set in mind. Let’s look at the impact shall we?
Nature.com shared an article on human behavior that read, “Impressions of competence from faces predict important real-world outcomes, including electoral success and chief executive officer selection. Presumed competence is associated with social status. Here we show that subtle economic status cues in clothes affect perceived competence from faces. In nine studies, people rated the competence of faces presented in frontal headshots. Faces were shown with different upper-body clothing rated by independent judges as looking ‘richer’ or ‘poorer’, although not notably perceived as such when explicitly described. The same face when seen with ‘richer’ clothes was judged significantly more competent than with ‘poorer’ clothes.” (Oh, Shafir and Todorov, 2019) In other words, your clothes have a lot to say and tend to speak for you. The great news is that clothes can make you that much more impressionable. Why focus on this? I’ll tell you.
When someone mentions a lawyer, instantly people start to picture someone in business attire, like a suit. Mental imagery plays a big part in identifying people. So, for those who don’t know what people in your chosen field of work wear, you might want to find out. Reason being that, the knowledge can bring you one step closer to meeting your goal. Dress the part. The thing that people tend to forget is that first impressions cover more than just the words spoken. Many people might know the phrase, “speak it into existence.” --which refers to claiming an outcome verbally until it is achieved physically. Since your clothes can speak for you, why not have them scream that you are meant to meet your goal? To rephrase, why not just dress the part? If people already associate clothes with competence, why not have them associate your dream job with you as well?
They say to," Always dress to impress when going in for an interview." The thing is, there are so many people out there living the dream you want to achieve. You never know who you will run into. Why not always be prepared for that surprise meeting that lands you one step closer to your dream job? I’ll throw in an example. A culinary student just finished class for the day and is headed to a bus stop to head home for the day with full chef attire on. The bus stop just happens to be in front of a high-end restaurant that needs to find a chef. The manager might pass by this student on the way to work and ask if they have any interest in working. An on-the-spot interview is not unheard of. Now, I’m not saying you have to wear work outfits 24/7. A culinary student fully dressed in chef attire to go watch a basketball game is a little much. What I am saying though is that you never know when your time to shine will be. Each chance meeting can lead to something great. So why not make every encounter cater to your needs.
-- Stay Breezy, Breezers
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Citation:
Oh, D., Shafir, E. and Todorov, A., 2019. Economic status cues from clothes affect perceived competence from faces. Nature Human Behaviour, [online] 4(3), pp.287-293. Available at: <https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-019-0782-4> [Accessed 13 January 2021].
