"Do not give people the opportunity to dismiss you or mistreat you by looking less than your best. That means everywhere, even to the grocery store," says writer Susan Fales-Hill in a Wall Street Journal article.
To Susan, it is second-nature, but to the rest of the general public, it is a topic that is hard to hit home. With so many Americans spending billions of dollars every year on fashion merchandise, why do so many people still have trouble looking put together on a daily basis? There seems to be a definite inconsistency here.
Living in a culture that tolerates pajama wearers at grocery stores leads us to believe that what we wear has no affect on other people. How we dress is a sure sign of respect for others, and ourselves. It can be difficult to regard our normal day to day activities as something to put effort into when it comes to dressing, but doing this can actually improve the way we perform those very activities.
A recent article from USA Today published a study conducted on college students taking their final exams. Results showed that those students who were dressed well to the exam actually performed better. Why you ask? Simply put, dressing well gives you confidence. What we choose to wear has a direct effect on how we perform our regular tasks.
Amy Fine, style correspondent for Vanity Fair, recently said, "I appear to be the only one in my Pilates studio who changes in and out of workout clothes. The other clients appear to wear theirs to and from the sessions. I just can't do that. There's a kind of decorum of the street I like to follow." In other words, our clothes should correlate with what we are doing. Why don't pajamas belong in grocery stores? Because we wear them in the privacy of our home. To sleep in. Period. There is a reason why we wear jeans to garden, running shorts to exercise, aprons to cook in. The point is, our clothes have functionality; they serve a specific purpose. When we deviate from this, it actually shows others that we have little regard for what's appropriate. Maintaining this "I don't care what others think" mentality is just an excuse for laziness, sloppiness, and disrespect for those who have to interact with us.
Many of my friends who work from home tell me that they prefer to get dressed as if they are actually going to an office. The benefits of doing this is that it makes them more efficient, they treat their work more professionally, and keeps them more focused. The truth is, when we feel confident that we look and feel our best, then that is exactly how we are going to treat our work. Doing this consistently every single day is where we will reap the benefits.
I remember an incident that happened to me recently at the college campus where I work. We had just gotten a new president, and I was waiting to make a grand first impression as soon as I had the chance. One day, I found myself walking in the same direction as this new president, and we were entirely alone. There was not another person in sight, and I knew that it was the perfect opportunity to approach him and hand him my business card. Except that as soon as I saw him coming my way, I fled in the other direction. I had chosen that particular day to dress in a long shirt and leggings - way too casual by every means - and was entirely too embarrassed to approach him. There went my shot at an amazing first impression.
The key then, is in being consistently put-together. Every day should be an occasion to look our best. Never allow ourselves a vacation from dressing presentable, even if it's for something as routine as a grocery run.
