Last updated on August 26th, 2026 at 05:57 pm
6 reasons why you should dress better
Why is appearance important?
Does what you wear matter?
Let’s begin this discussion by defining what appearance means in this context.
Appearance refers to the outward or visible aspect of a person.
It is the way you look, and it includes your hair, your clothes, your posture, and your nails.
Appearance in this context does not refer to beauty/facial beauty.
It is about how you choose to present yourself to the world regardless of the beautiful/ugly systems society has forced upon you.
It may seem superficial to talk about appearance, but it does not have to be that way.
A lot of people feel uncomfortable and refuse to recognise that looks matter.
But social science research shows that a person’s appearance has a meaningful impact on life experiences and opportunities.
So, is appearance important?
While appearance cannot say everything about someone, it is often very indicative.
Your appearance is an extension of all aspects of your life.
Let me present to you six reasons why you should care about how you look.
And why this conversation is beyond something superficial.
1. Judgements/ first impressions
How you present yourself matters.
Of course, your clothes do not determine your worth/value but people judge you based on your appearance.
It is reality.
People notice even if it seems like they do not.
You do it as well.
In reality, you only have one chance to make a first impression, and that first impression always lies in your appearance. And it lasts.
I recognise that those initial perceptions may change once you get to know someone better.
Therefore, judging a person by their external appearance may mislead your understanding of them.
However, external appearance determines whether you approach someone in the first place.
You evaluate people you know or strangers before you approach them.
Appearance and posture will be assessed consciously or unconsciously.
Your brain understands how crucial this information is to make decisions, in order to make the distinction between what is dangerous or safe, and what is desirable or not.
That said, a clean/pleasant look goes a long way to being positively assessed and approached by your peers.
2. Self-acceptance
You can find a sense of identity in your clothes.
Humans are multifaceted beings that are rarely static.
Style is not an exception.
You will change your hair, shoes, and clothes many times a year to reflect how you feel.
When you care about your appearance, you take your time to get to know your body and look.
You get to know what you like or dislike.
Caring about your appearance forces you to bravely face your insecurities and accept them.
This is what style is for.
You dress for no one but yourself and with only you in mind.
Fashion is self-expression, and when you use it well, it’s a great tool for self-acceptance.
Insecurities you are not aware of or choose to ignore will turn into weapons that will hurt you.
Embracing yourself in all aspects, including the physical, is the best path to self-acceptance.
Including how you look; if you can’t accept who you are, you are clueless.
3. Access to opportunities
Appearance is essential to achieve the success you are seeking.
Appearance helps you to communicate your ideas, because style is communication.
When you dress for success, it means that your outward appearance sends a message to your audience that you are trustworthy, professional, and presentable.
If this wasn’t true, you wouldn’t bother to dress up for job interviews or romantic dates.
It makes a difference.
It doesn’t mean that you need to wear formal clothes on all occasions.
But presenting yourself in a way that reflects your best traits and aligns with the image you want to convey gets you a step closer to where you want to be.
4. Reveals your mental state
How you present yourself reveals how you feel about yourself.
You communicate how you feel through many forms, and appearance is one of them.
It is well known that when you feel better, you take your time to look better.
In my personal experience, my style choices have always reflected my feelings.
I can tie the moments my appearance was the worst to moments of illness and demotivation.
When I felt bad, I looked worse.
Today, I make a point of dressing in my best outfits, even when I am not feeling good.
It increases my confidence for the day, but also because no one needs to see through my vulnerabilities.
According to Carolyn Mair, a behavioural psychologist and the author of “The Psychology of Fashion”, mood and clothing are interconnected.
Many people stop their grooming rituals during moments of emotional hardship, revealing how they feel through how they look, regardless of how well they claim to be.
Also, dressing how you want to feel is a way to embody the state of mind you seek and to shape other people’s perceptions of you positively.
Being deliberate about what you choose to wear is a great way to ensure you reflect yourself positively and enhance your self-confidence both in professional and social settings.
5. Societal expectations
Personal branding exists.
People recognize you for your characteristic or traits that make your style recognizable.
This leads people to create expectations on how you should look.
You have those expectations as well, think about it.
How is a fashion influencer is supposed to look, or how is a celebrity who makes millions is supposed to look.
You already have a fixed image that makes them different from other people.
You are subjected to these expectations as well.
These expectations are also tied to how successful you may be perceived and your personal achievements in life.
Someone who is always well dressed will be known for their sense of style, and the opposite is also true.
If someone who is always well dressed suddenly lacks in appearance, it brings speculation that something bad happened.
If someone who does not care much about appearance shows up very well dressed, people assume something great happened.
Although not always, this relation between success and appearance is usually true.
It gives a peek into your personal life.
6. Escape the stereotypes
Black women are scrutinised for their appearance from a young age.
From not being allowed to explore fashion or different hairstyles.
Not always because people are mean, but because those who have lived longer know how differently you get treated based on your appearance.
Discrimination, the enforcement of European standards of beauty as the norm and even the hyper-sexualisation of black bodies, manifest as microaggressions and discrimination.
It forces black women to be hyper-vigilant regarding appearance in professional and social settings.
Anxiety about which hairstyle to wear for a job interview, and the prohibition of natural hairstyles in company environments, are examples.
If you don’t look a certain way, a standardised way, you are perceived as unprofessional and unkept.
Fortunately, a lot of these stereotypes are slowly being broken today.
More than ever, black women proudly wear their natural hair and explore styles of fashion that seemed out of reach.
But a lot of work and unlearning still needs to be done.
It is still hard for us to present ourselves as we wish on all occasions.
There is no escaping visibility when you are black.
A black woman in the workplace is known to everyone in the office.
Her presence is powerful.
People stop to stare at her hair, makeup, and outfit.
It comes with its pros and cons.
The necessity to look three times better than her non-black counterparts to be perceived at the same standard remains.
As a black woman, appearance is very important because you cannot escape the stereotypes that are made for you.
But showing up as your real, authentic self has a ripple effect that will influence all the other black women around you to be themselves as well.
Are you convinced that appearance is important?
It is definitely more than a superficial topic.
It affects many areas of your life, and it entails so many topics like discrimination, mental health, and societal expectations.
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I have seen the results of dressing for my body shape.
Not only my style but also my confidence improved. I was no longer worried about how others would see me.
Instead, I understood that everyone is different and I could make the best of my features and use them in my favour to feel and look confident.
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Disclaimer: This article is informational only. All the pictures were created by The Princientist and cannot be used without the creator’s permission.
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