Does it really matter how I dress

Right, wrong, or indifferent - people do judge you based on the way you look.

Princeton University published a study reporting that most people make a first impression of you within 7 seconds of meeting you and 55% of that first impression is your physical appearance. They also found that people can make accurate judgements of one another in only 1/10th of a second.

This study may be hard to believe because it goes against what we are telling each other in society right now. If you go up to your co-worker and ask, "Hey - are you judging me for wearing leggings and sneakers every day to work?" I guarantee you that they will respond with, "NO! Of course not!" That is just simply untrue. Whether people want to admit it or not, we are judgmental creatures. Not because we are mean or rude people but because it is an ancestral trait. Especially as women, historically, we have had to judge people and our surroundings constantly to make sure we are safe.

Now that we are all on the same page - we are judgmental - what do we do about it? The obvious answer is to improve our physical appearance so the first 55% of our first impression we have nailed down. 55% is over halfway – that is huge! Improving your physical appearance doesn't have anything to do with whether you are conventionally attractive or not. Improving your physical appearance is as easy as getting up, brushing our hair, and putting on a great outfit. There is the age-old wisdom, "getting up, cleaning up, and showing up is 90% of the work." That is absolutely true!

In any room you go in, how you are perceived is either limiting or enhancing what you have to say. If you are well dressed and ready for the day, what you have to say has more conviction than if you were just to roll in at the last minute, a total mess in sweatpants. When you look serious, people will take you seriously. This is also because a great outfit is a stellar confidence booster!

When you have on a great outfit, boost your confidence, and are being perceived seriously, it allows you to be authentically yourself. If you were looking a mess in a board meeting and making jokes, people may think you're dumb or don’t care. If you're in that same meeting making jokes dressed nicely, people may think you're so good at your job that you don't have to take it too seriously, and it will just read as your personality instead of not taking it seriously. How you’re dressing is always going to be the easiest way to have your personality perceived and perceived correctly if Princeton is right (I'm sure they are). 

This may be the wake up call you needed to start dressing better because I'll be the person to tell you straight up. Yes, people are judging you. Yes, your physical appearance does matter. Yes, you can improve your perception by just putting on something other than athleisure.

In my opinion, you should always be equally dressed to the best dressed person in a room (except at weddings). If you are going to a board meeting with suits, be in a suit. If you're going out with the girls, don't be the girl in leggings. If you’re going on a date with someone you really like, express that with your actions and by looking nice.

Even though it may seem superficial, boosting your own self-confidence, improving your self-esteem, being taken more seriously, showing that you care about yourself, expressing your authentic personality, and improving your perception is about as a deep as it gets for the soul.

Don't dress better for others. It’s not for them. Sure, we can make better first impressions, but that is so small compared to what we can do for our own soul. So, dress better for yourself.

You are worth the time and effort it takes.