The First Impression

You walk into school wearing that new pair of shoes you’ve been waiting for weeks to come in the mail. The night before you had checked your porch twice maybe three times until the tan package sealed with an irritating amount of scotch tape arrived at your doorstep. You have already planned the outfit for the next day just to make it a little more special, and when the first person notices them the next day and gives you a compliment or their thoughts on the pick, you feel a little flare inside knowing someone else besides you appreciates your choice and opinion.

But what happens if you had the outfit, had the shoes, and even tried to show them off a little without being to obvious, but no one noticed. Does that mean they weren’t as nice as you thought they were or maybe you got the wrong color? Maybe you feel a little down but in the end it’s your opinion on them that matters, right?

Well, maybe not.

The reason you cared a little about the new shoes and the fact that someone noticing them is nice is centered on the impression you make on people, importantly your physical appearance and how you display yourself to the world around you. I find that one can tell a lot about a person by noticing what they wear, how they carry themselves, and what they like to shop for/purchase. Obviously the differences are clear between a man in an expensive business suit and a guy wearing baggy jeans and a hoodie on a skateboard but besides that, looking at what they wear and what reasons they might have for doing so can be extremely revealing.

The businessman is wearing the suit first and foremost to look elegant and important, because most likely in his line of work, this is the impression he wants to give off. However what we don’t account for is that fact that the suit itself is very useful in carrying pens, business cards, and keeping phones and wallets safely hidden. The suit itself can also be changed depending on the weather suitable for both cooler and warmer climates (to a certain degree). Now take the skater for example. The hoodie and jeans might be the style and brands he reps and that’s just generally the “skater look” but there’s more to it than that. The baggy jeans allow for mobility and comfort when doing tricks and the hoodie is also comfortable and something he can easily leave behind at a skate park by accident and not care about too much if its ripped or torn in the process of skating (if the jeans are torn it isn’t that great a deal either).

When we see a man in a suit or a skater in jeans we automatically assume something about them whether that be his status, class or general social placement when often we don’t consider why they might wear certain things for certain reasons. Of course the majority of men in expensive suits I can assume are more financially well off than the majority of skaters on the streets, but it is something interesting to think about.

(This is really just a collection of random thoughts and it may sound materialistic or superficial but I think beyond the slight exaggeration and storytelling, first impressions do matter a lot. Whether that’s the difference between a new pair of shoes at school or wearing a business vs. baggy jeans an a hoodie suit to an interview, that’s up to you to decide.)