First impressions

The clothes we wear tend to play a big role in the way we are judged by others. It is not just our behaviour, but also our dress sense that people think is enough for them to form an opinion about us. Whether we like it or not, this is a fact and something that will continue to happen even if we possess distaste for judgments being formed in this manner.

We may not be giving much thought to our clothes when we are deciding what to wear but for some stranger who you are about to meet, it will be one of the main things affecting their behaviour towards you, as well as their opinion about you.

However unsavoury we might find this, sometimes we have no choice but to choose our clothes carefully because even though we may not intend on sending a certain message, people will make all kinds of assumptions about us without any other evidence than our clothing. Though most of us would not want to be judged by our appearance, it is how society works and that can’t be changed. First impressions always matter; people don’t exactly take out the time to understand your personality and instead make decisions based on the way you are dressed or the way you behave.

The judgments made are not exactly accurate, and they are merely assumptions. The fact, however, is that only after judging somebody’s external appearance and vibe do people decide whether they want to actually get to know the person. This is instinctive and since looks can be deceiving, a lot of people try and keep an open mind when meeting new people, but they don’t have much to go by.

Therefore, this not something to immediately get defensive about, which is why it is important that people spend a little more time deciding the way they choose to dress. We would still be dressing for ourselves and not just trying to impress others, as leaving a good first impression can be our way of succeeding and thus, good for us.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2015.