Does dressing "well" take attention away from your apparent flaws?

[im_the_undead]

I'm starting to think it does, and also plays a big role on getting hit on. (At least from personal experience)

I went through this sort of strange metamorphosis. When I was a bit younger, middle school through high school,

I had a bangin' body. Nice skin, muscular, total athlete... I got much recognition for my body (mostly my butt), but I was

an awkward kid and didn't really know how to embrace my body. I have long curly hair, I always had it part down in the middle... I looked like Jesus Christ. I dressed funny, kind of goth, kind of........ ghetto... and plain. I'd have to show you. And I was just trying not to look like all the other hoochies.

These days, I know for a fact my body is NOT what it used to be, but I picked up a new hobby (shopping & styling) lol

& the looks I receive when I go out are endless, to the point where I feel extremely uncomfortable and hide because I feel like I'm getting raped visually. Sometimes I'm like "ayyyy " but more so I'm like " ahh ! D: SO creepy."

I know I'm not getting looks because I look crazy, lol my taste has evolved, and 99.8% of people gawking

are men, and gay guys often compliment my outfit... so I'd say I'm on point.

My observation lately has been "holy shikdfjkslf... they gawk and don't even care that I'm lanky, and don't seem to notice the

stretch marks, or knappy hair, or..... tired looking eyes, or giganto forehead, or these prominent cheek bones that my sisters say make me look anorexic...woah.... In YO FACE to all the people who made fun of me growing up."

 

My thing now.. is... do clothes really, kind of, TECHNICALLY, make a person?

For example, my brother once told me,

"your friend is pretty, but if she didn't dress so stupid she'd be much prettier. No decent guys are going to want to talk to a raggety hoochie momma." As mean as that sounds, he was completely on point on how the girl dressed, no joke at all. And he was right, she is pretty and looks prettier now when she chooses not to dress like a hoochie momma. lol

Anyway, I suppose that's why people put so much emphasis on buying nice things, expensive things,

sexy things, ect... because the way you dress really does make a person more or less attractive

than they are naturally. It's weird, but I guess it gives us "not very confident" people something to look forward to.

[jumper11]

People see the surface so of course if you dress well, the attention you get is different. If I wear some makeup and dress well compared to not bothering, it's like I am a different person.

 

Its just a surface thing. When you really get to know someone, its not as superficial.

[jumper11]

Also, depends on your face, etc. but even the tiniest bit of makeup can completely change how someone looks, same with clothes. Its just a first impression thing, wrong or right

[DoGGYtREAts]

The answer to your question is kind of 2 part;

 

YES it can, quite often, change most people's initial preception of you. So yeah, it can initially hide 'flaws' especially as it relates to attracting the opposite sex, even more so in younger years (hightened hormones urges, typically tho not always more superficial based attraction)

 

but as it relates to any kind of relationship, no it wont hide your 'flaws' in the long run. Ultimately you get to know eachother and those 'true colors' come out regardless of how you look on the surface.

[Capricorn3]

If one dresses to cover flaws, it must be remembered that those flaws will eventually be revealed in all their glory at one point or another.

[Kitz]

If one dresses to cover flaws, it must be remembered that those flaws will eventually be revealed in all their glory at one point or another.

 

Lol, so true

 

If dressing nicely didn't work so well, fashion wouldn't be a booming industry, those makeover shows wouldn't be so popular, and we'd all go about the day/night in our comfy PJs. I don't think clothes make the person though... More the other way around, I think. What items you choose to wear, how you style everything, it gives people an idea (hopefully the idea you're hoping to project) about your personality. Think of all the times you've seen a friend love something hideous. Why do they love it? I had a friend who loved to wear outrageously tacky things (her words) because she was pretty crazy and out there and wanted to look fun and cooky. Another friend loved her high waisted pants - she got them in France (apparently over there EVERYONE wears them) and was obsessed with all things French.

 

I'm going to take a guess also from what i've learnt in psychology - which sounds like an argument for 'clothes DO make the person,now that I think about it.

We stereotype people (even if you think you don't! Unfortunately, you do). It's evolved to be a way of saving time; through these 'first impressions' we know who is dangerous, who we're likely to be able to make friends with, who to respect (police officers). Whom would you be more afraid of if you passed in a dark alleyway, alone - the man in the suit or the man with scraggly hair and beard, dirty jacket, scuffed shoes, etc?

I think this may have something to do with why you get such looks when you go out. You're probably wearing nice clothes that people associate with celebrities or models or even just "hot chicks" wearing. So when they see these clothes, they get people's attention - as people on general like to look at attractive people and your clothes are sending the message "HEY, I'M A HOT CHICK." Not that that's anything bad. It's what we all strive for lol. (Why? I don't know.) Personally, I don't think I look that great, but when I put on the right clothes and makeup (and whip out the hair styling tools), I look like a different person. This also gives me a boost of confidence, and so I act more outgoing and enjoy myself more if I feel I look good. So perhaps clothes do make the person. But I think the person still makes the clothes because if you put someone in something they feel totally uncomfortable in, it's likely to show and make them look daggy, not cute. Damn, that was a hard question!

[tom1607307597]

I'd say clothes make a huge first impression. Like Kitz mentioned we form judgements about people we don't know based on their clothes or their look b/c we don't know anything else about them. They might get more look or dates if they dress well. That doesn't matter as much after you get to know them because personality will affect everything. It doesn't matter how much someone dresses up if people already associate them with a bad personality traits, and people won't care as much how they dress if they are well liked.

[revolt]

Judging a book by its cover isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it can provide us insight as to what's inside. There's obviously a difference between one who wraps themselves in designer clothing compared to someone who wears say, Old Navy. They may have different budgets, levels of taste, interests, ect. But do clothes make a person? No. I know many whom consume fashion conspicuously and while yes, they are physically and aesthetically attractive, but that means nothing in the grand scheme of things as we are all more than just our looks. Instead of focusing on how clothing may hide your flaws, see it as enhancing your positive attributes.

[tommytoxen]

Are you kidding me?

 

Look at the way I dress (dp). I've dressed like that for 16 years now, and never had trouble getting a girlfriend. Although it is quite annoying as I'm getting older the girls that hit on me seem to get younger.

[im_the_undead]

LMAOOOO! wow, i love your enthusiastic reply. thanks, very insightful

 

 

 

i personally feel funny wearing shorts/skirts/dresses/anything that reveals my legs.

my legs, to me, are hideous because spider veins and stretch marks are a hereditary thing among the women in my family -_-

so, when i do wear such things, i wear them for myself ... just suck it up, stop being a puss, and do it!

to my surprise, i get winks and what not...... i'm like, what the hell, do you NOT SEE THAT? i know you see that, don't play.

so then i'm like...........okay, cool, maybe it's no big deal after all.

but then when you have a conversation about stretch marks or spider veins or cellulite, idk anything, it's always a negative conversation (among men)