It may sound like a worn cliché, but there is a ring of truth to the saying that any aspiring professional should always “dress for success.”
You may be wondering why if “clothes don’t make the man,” but in reality, they do! At least on all outward appearances.
If you want to gain recognition within your profession and you have no interest in spending the rest of your life in a dead-end job, isn’t it time you thought about what it means to dress for success?
If you are teetering on the edge of indecision, here are at least 5 reasons why you should dress for success.
Why Dress for Success
1. First Impressions Really Do Matter!
There is no denying the fact that first impressions really do matter.
Take a few moments to think about your ride to work this morning.
Remember the people you saw along the way. How many people did you automatically consider to be vagrants or street people because they were dressed in tattered jeans and sported an unkempt head of hair done up in wayward dreads?
On the other hand, you saw a woman catching a taxi carrying a Saint Laurent Bag that cost more than most people earn in a month.
Which would you consider to be someone you could trust to do business with? While that ‘street bum’ may be a best-selling recording artist worth billions, that wasn’t your first impression, was it?
2. Boosting Self-Confidence
Next on the list of reasons why it’s important to dress for success is all about how you feel about yourself.
How many times can you remember showing up to an evening affair and felt out of place because you were dressed all wrong?
Perhaps you were over-dressed, or under-dressed but the feeling is always the same. You wanted to crawl into the darkest corner and hide until the event was over.
Walking into the room dressed fashionably can boost your self-confidence by many levels.
How much more confident would you be walking into a business meeting carrying a luxury bag, for example, than one you purchased for a few dollars at the local bazaar?
If clothes don’t matter, why do you always feel better about yourself when you are dressed in luxurious and trendy fashions of the day?
3. Irrefutable Science-Backed Evidence
Way back in the 1950s, a study was conducted and published by Lefkowitz, Blake, and Mouton which concluded that there is actual scientific evidence that dressing for success is effective.
In the experiment, the group first had one man dressed in casual clothing, pants, and a work shirt to be exact. They had him cross the street against traffic.
The same man then went out dressed to the hilt in a designer business suit and did the same thing. You cannot imagine the results!
More than 3.5 times the people followed him when dressed in a suit as did others when he was dressed in work duds. That’s a 350% difference based on irrefutable scientific evidence.
4. Gaining the Competitive Edge
Not only can you gain a competitive edge at your place of employment when dressed for success but think about all those clients you meet on a daily basis.
Surely the man or woman dressed in the designer clothes will be deemed a professional while the ones with a laissez-faire approach to fashion will be written off as inconsequential.
As illustrated above, the man with the suit was trusted while the one dressed in work garb was all but ignored. The man in the suit was recognized as someone who could be trusted to get the job done, and in this case, it was crossing the street safely.
In reality, he was no safer than when he was in work apparel and it clearly showed by the outcome.
5. A Positive Approach to Life
It isn’t easy to approach each day with a positive frame of mind if you are not dressed suitably for any given occasion. The same holds true of the fashions you choose.
Not only will luxury brands help you to look your best, but they can help you feel your best as well.
When dressed in something you aren’t proud of, you want to slink off into some dark corner. However, in the latest fashions from leading design houses, it’s easy to walk into a room with cool confidence and a positive approach in literally any given situation.
It has been said that you are what you eat, but many experts go one step further. In fact, most people feel that they “are what they wear”.
And if you sport a trendy designer wardrobe and dress for success, it’s easy to stay positive about yourself and the life you are living.
In the End, It’s All About Respect
When all is said and done, the biggest reason to dress for success is all about respect.
Those who dress in the height of fashion are more likely to gain the respect they desire in life. After all, who but someone successful could wear luxury brands?
Not only will you get the respect of those you encounter but you will have a greater level of self-respect as well. If you are working towards success, dress the part and you will get the respect you deserve.