Here at Style Girlfriend, our all-female team makes it our mission to help men of all ages hit the reset button on their personal style. It’s easy to fall into a wardrobe rut that doesn’t make you look or feel your best. A sartorial security blanket, if you will.
Which is a shame! Because the power of dressing up is very, very real.
This is especially true in the era of the casual-ing workplace. You can get away with jeans five days a week in plenty of offices, but should you? Or maybe the better question is, should you want to?
For me two things are always true:
1) It is never as hard as I think it’s going to be to dress up more than I first intended, and…
2) I always feel better about myself when I make the effort.
Below, three thoughts on the power of dressing up:
1) You are what you wear
According to a study in The Wall Street Journal, “…In competitive, winner-take-all situations, wearing more formal attire can send others a signal ‘about you being successful and real confident in whatever you’re doing.’”
In a test where subjects were told to negotiate wearing either formal or casual clothes, those more casually dressed would “tend to back down more easily,” while the ones in formal attire would “become aware of the respect they are receiving and become more forceful as well.”
A funny place this tip matters most? When you’re sick.
The next time you feel sick (but not so sick you need to stay in bed), consider putting more effort into your outfit than usual. Why? A few reasons:
- It throws people off the scent.
Go a sartorial step above your normal attire to distract from your Vaporub-tinged trail. Co-workers will wonder if you’re gunning for the corner office, not if you might be contagious. Distract from your sneezing with a fancy handkerchief. Keep warm in the office’s chilly AC with a fine-gauge cashmere sweater. Wear (flannel-lined) chinos instead of your usual jeans. You want them looking at your clothes, not your nose.
- You’ll actually feel better.
Consider it the sartorial placebo effect. When you pass by your spiffy image in a reflective surface, you’ll stand a little taller thinking, “Who is that handsome devil?” not “I wish I was on the couch watching Duck Tales eating chicken noodle soup.” (At least, that was my sick day cure growing up.)
- Nobody wants to be around the sick guy.
If you value your social relationships, then take one for the team and put on a good face. When I was a kid, my dad came down with pneumonia right before we got on a plane to go see the Badgers play in the Rose Bowl. When we stepped off the plane in California, he looked like the picture of health (apart from being pale as a ghost in the west coast sun – but that was true for all us Wisconsin folk). For him, the power of Badger red helped him rally. Consider: What color, or suit cut, or favorite jeans will make you feel like a proper person today? Throw ‘em on.
Of course, if you’re really, really sick, stay home, throw on your shleppiest sweats and make yourself some soup. Reruns of Duck Tales have to be on some streaming platform, right?
The takeaway?
Appearance matters, and dressing well shows you respect yourself, and that others around you ought to do the same. It’s sort of like positive versus negative self-talk. If you keep telling yourself you’re a loser (or undateable, or unworthy, etc), you will see that manifested in your life by people..treating you badly, not dating you, etc.
Or, as The Atlantic puts it, “Putting on formal clothes makes us feel powerful, and that changes the basic way we see the world.”
2) Your style sweet spot is at the intersection of comfortable and appropriate
A million years ago (okay, ten), Gawker’s women-centric site Jezebel ran a piece on what to wear on a date. It was weirdly straightforward and earnest for Jezebel, with a weirdly straightforward and earnest piece of advice that is as good today as it was then:
Wear your magical clothing.
What makes a piece of clothing magical? According to the writer, something that “makes you feel good…and look awesome.” That’s an idea we can get behind at SG HQ.
Would that all of our closets contained nothing but magical clothing, but here’s the rub:
What you feel comfortable wearing isn’t always what makes you look best.
And vice versa, of course, but I’ll bet you a million bucks (moment) that you’ll feel better in something slightly uncomfortable so long as you look great and feel appropriate wearing it to wherever you’re headed.
An example: Do I feel good (and does my butt look awesome) in my favorite leggings? Absolutely. But would I feel good wearing those leggings to a client dinner? Or on a date?
No. Replace the leggings with your favorite grey sweatpants, or worn-in jeans, and you can see how this applies to your own wardrobe.
Looking good and feeling comfortable—not just in the clothes but where you’re wearing them—usually means clothing that’s on the at least slightly dressier side.
The takeaway:
Stock your closet with as much magical clothing as possible that you can wear to a new business pitch, and you’ll be golden.
3) A little effort goes a long way
“What about Mark Zuckerberg, Megan?” you may ask. “He wears hoodies every day and he’s doing fine.”
Sure, he’s also wildly confident, so much so he still thinks he has a shot at running for president. Confidence isn’t Zuck’s issue.
For us less-self-assured folk, anything we can do to push the odds in our favor is worth doing—including dressing up more often.
Why do you think women keep heels in a drawer at their desk? It’s for if the client happens to drop in for an unannounced meeting, or if they snag a hot happy hour date, and want to give themselves a quick boost. If they had more time, maybe they’d otherwise get that extra nudge of confidence from a good workout (endorphins make you happy!), or a good blowout.
In a pinch? Fashion will do.
The power of dressing up is that it gives you your own personal oomph, and it only takes as long as pulling on a pair of shoes—or dress pants (and leaving the denim on the floor).
Ready to add some confidence to your closet?
If we’ve convinced you of the power of dressing up, but you dread the thought of shopping for new clothes…why not let Team SG shop for you?
Let us rescue you from shopping fatigue and sartorial apathy. Sign up for the Wardrobe Report for 9 exclusive outfits sent straight to your inbox each month for less than a dollar an outfit. Looking for more personalized style support? Book a Wardrobe Reboot 1:1 video session and get a unique shopping plan created just for you.
