First Impressions — Dressing Well and Accessorizing

by Martin Hrnjak

The saying goes — you should always leave the house dressed as if you’re about to meet the woman of your dreams.

I am sure many of you who read the blog and are becoming better and better at interacting with women are also looking to better yourselves in other supporting factors which help to achieve this goal of being better with women, such as, fashion.

First impressions matter, and they matter a lot — making a good one will definitely help you in scoring the date in the first place.

This is not to say that you need to be dressed according to what people define as “stylish”, if you don’t feel confident in what you’re wearing then that will be counter-intuitive. But on the flip side, many of us men never ventured out of our comfort zone revolving around loose pants and large-fitting T-shirts, perhaps a hoodie if it’s one of the chillier months.

So like the article just be yourself is bad advice, in the case of being a newcomer to the world of dressing well, you should definitely not be yourself — as your style matures and you begin to feel out what clothes and shoes and watches etc. suit you and your personality best this of course will become “be yourself”.

well dressed man

BUT, until then we are here to offer advice on how to accessorize — should you be interested in delving into accessories.

As the name suggests ‘accessories’ are just that, you definitely do not NEED them, and you can get away without wearing anything extra just fine.

However, accessories do have the power to make a somewhat boring outfit interesting, to reflect your personality, to be interesting conversation starters and to simply make you feel more confident “look good feel good” as cliché as it sounds definitely applies to being well dressed.

First of all, when it comes to accessories for men, the most common ones are as follows:

  • Watches
  • Wallets
  • Wedding bands
  • Glasses
  • Sunglasses
  • Rings
  • Earrings
  • Bracelets
  • Necklaces
  • (Bow) Ties
  • Tie clips
  • Pocket squares
  • Cufflinks

Out of these the last 4 can be considered formal wear and you won’t encounter them in casual every-day situations.

The rest range from ‘green’ which are widely accepted and worn by the majority of men, to ‘red’ which are items men are warier of delving into.

Each accessory definitely plays into how a woman might form her first impression of you — do you wear a digital watch or a diver? Do you have a Velcro wallet or a leather wallet... what color is it (how thick is it? To play of the age-old joke)?

Now if you’re wearing a wedding band that will probably be the strongest statement piece — and hopefully you’re reading this to keep the spark of romance alive between you and the missus, otherwise it might be worth looking into a good lawyer.

Kidding aside though everything about you will pepper the first impression of not just women you’re interested in, but the people you encounter on a day-to-day basis.

For those of you who are still rocking the Velcro wallet, or an old digital watch you got from the dollar store and really have no idea where to begin — a safe rule to follow is:

  • Black leather wallet
    - Black goes with everything, including fancy dress
  • Simple minimal watch (such as a Timex weekender)
    - Again, goes with everything
  • (if you wear glasses) a nice face complementing frame

You do not need anything besides those — for now just get used to the feeling of the new items.

For those of you who are past the basics and are looking to add a little more spark to your daily outfits, the best course of action would be a bracelet.

Bracelets, so long as they are not too over-the-top are pieces which can be interesting without being overly polarizing.

A bracelet on a man must look like it has been with him across many adventures, it must be a part of you which you’re so used to you don’t even notice — so when you get yourself a bracelet, the best course of action is to commit to it for a few weeks, and you’ll be wearing it with the same confidence you wear any other part of your body (which I hope is a lot of confidence).

Some simple rules to follow with bracelets:

  • Metal bracelets should not be stacked.
  • Rope, bead, natural material bracelets may be stacked if they are thin.
  • Thin natural bracelets can be worn on the same wrist as a watch.
  • One wrist only, adorning both wrists with bracelets might look tacky.

bracelet

An understated set of bracelets can look quite appealing.

Rope and leather bracelets are an excellent choice for something which you can wear with anything, and have an adventurous masculine look to them — this is also an excellent impression to leave on women.

Bracelets are subtle, yet display your careful thought into making your outfit stand out from the crowd, this shows attention to detail and is yet again, a positive impression.

A woman does not want to feel like she is going to be dating just another average cookie-cutter guy, and accessorizing is your foot in the door which allows you to state “I am my own man”.

Needless to say, if you have actually worn your bracelet (or any accessory) for a long time, it can be a helpful trigger for good stories you associate wearing it, and can help conversation flow on a first date.

I don’t want to sound like I am over-hyping the benefits of accessorizing and dressing well, but if you haven’t tried doing so yet, it might just be the key to having additional success in your dating life.

I wish you all good fortune, and hope I have inspired at least some to give accessorizing and changing the way they dress a try.

Keep at it.

*All items in pictures can be purchased at www.trendhim.co.uk

Some excellent resources:

About the Author: My name is Martin and I work for a small company which specializes in men’s accessories. I too have been in the situation many of you are, and I too can tell you it is possible to get out — just keep reading, researching and going out there.