I remember when my 85-year-old grandma would tell me to shower and put on my prettiest dress so that I could sit with her on the front porch of our house. I thought it was the biggest waste of time because I didn’t care if people thought I was a presentable person or not. All I cared about was Barbie dolls and ice cream cones.
Fashion designer Tom Ford said dressing well is a form of good manners. I believe it now. People’s opinions matter, especially professors’ opinions because they have the ability to give us jobs and incredible opportunities we wouldn’t find anywhere else.
Professors don’t come to class in yoga pants and Lululemon sweaters. The excuse may be that they “have their lives together,” but the reality is that students should try to dress more professionally for class regardless of whether it’s Monday or Friday.
President Barrack Obama does not go to his meetings wearing his pajamas. Marissa Mayer, CEO of Yahoo!, does not take on the world wearing joggers, sports bras and socks with sandals.
How we dress as students reflects who we are, so we should dress how we want to be addressed. Shower in the morning, wash that greasy hair, put on a little mascara and lose the hoodie. The more presentable we look, the better we will feel and the better our day will go. Get ready to take on life in a non-mediocre way.
I know we are college students and we cannot afford Chanel’s latest Haute Couture collection or even Old Navy’s sale section, but we all should own presentable blouses or shirts and at least one pair of jeans or pants.
We may live in a culture of laziness and we may or may not spend all our dining dollars buying coffee from Wanda’s to stay awake and not drown in homework, but we ought to try a little harder to be well-dressed, even when we are tired and have to use dry shampoo.
You don’t have to be the next Olivia Palermo or Valentino Garavani. Rather, switch the sweatpants to jeans, the socks and sandals to real shoes and leave the CBU t-shirts for pj’s.
I may have my leggings and Patagonia sweater days, but I do not wear that everyday. It’s OK to not have your life together all the time, but wear the nice shoes and have a “here I am!” attitude.
Professors may take you more seriously if you do.
