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Why do you take care of your appearance?
Shanadeus
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I do it because I enjoy looking at myself when looking good. I suppose that this might be interpreted as a form of narcissism but there's just something about knowing that you look good that I think gives everyone a form of satisfaction and/or pleasure.
I really don't care what other people think of me and would only keep up my appearance for social and economic reasons (try getting a job looking as a bum) if I didn't personally enjoy looking good but this is probably not the case for everyone.
TL;DR: We're so pretty.
I really don't care what other people think of me and would only keep up my appearance for social and economic reasons (try getting a job looking as a bum) if I didn't personally enjoy looking good but this is probably not the case for everyone.
TL;DR: We're so pretty.
Shanadeus on
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But to say "I don't care what people think of me" shows that you DO care what people think of you, or at least you care what people think about you thinking about other people thinking about you and so your comment is meant to disclaim your lack of apathy as apathy when it really isn't apathy at all.
Aside from that, I'm still wearing plaid flannel pretending it's 1992.
The things I actually want to wear aren't appropriate for the environment I'm in. What I want to wear is business suit but with a black T-Shirt that has a big, white anarchy symbol on it.
Or this T-Shirt: http://tinyurl.com/6zkr4uf
Basically I want to be a bit shocking, kinda trolling and a conversation piece.
But I'm not brave enough to do that. So I just wear shirts and wear easy things that are age/gender/work appropriate.
Rigorous Scholarship
"Orkses never lose a battle. If we win we win, if we die we die fightin so it don't count. If we runs for it we don't die neither, cos we can come back for annuver go, see!".
More broadly, I just feel better after a haircut and a good shave. Staying clean improves my self-image and getting more fit does the same, both of which in a general sense make me happier.
Also, on a purely aesthetic level, looking good makes me feel good. I'm certainly no Greek god of uber-manly proportions, but I try to workout 5-6 times a week and eat correctly. Nothing wrong with that as long as you don't become vain and conceited about it. Then you're just an asshole.
That's why we all do it.
This for me too.
Also because being fat seems like it would be pretty awful.
Not necessarily. To me, part of "taking care of my appearance" has to do with being in relatively good physical condition. Without that, I wouldn't be able to do some of the things I love to do (martial arts, play Ultimate frisbee, run, etc).
There's also the part where even one's concept of "I look good" comes from social cues. Even if you dress specifically to look different from the social norms, you're still adjusting your appearance based on social cues.
Which is fine, and all. We are social animals, and it's expected that we would want to draw a certain kind of attention from our peers. It's just that if you put any thought at all into how you dress (short of going strictly for comfort), you don't really get to say "I'm only doing it for me!"
I just recently started changing my outlook. I work at loosing the weight and hitting the gym because I feel damn good doing it. It's just another goal I am for, and I feel productive when I'm working out. Ironically enough I'm still single with close to 100lbs lost so I'm pretty sure looking better doesn't automatically get you women now.
The first judgment a person makes on you is based on appearance alone. Whether you think it's superficial or not, it's true. When you see someone you make a judgment call based on how they present themselves, their body language, all that jazz.
Also, you can rock most social situations with a little bit of confidence. You dress like a pimp you act like a pimp etc
I also want to look good for the ladies.
Rigorous Scholarship
We're only on the first page. Wait on it.
I'll try as hard as I can.
I think the outrage was more that "suit and tie" somehow makes me a better worker than "nice jeans and a polo." I look nice in both. I work just fine in both. And if I'm not going to a meeting I don't really need to impress anybody.
Unless people were arguing for rolling out of bed, throwing on yesterday's t-shirt, and working that way I don't really get why some jobs mandate a dress code above "clean and not inappropriate for the workplace." Nobody is going to show up in track pants and a wife beater, and those of us that are more comfortable in jeans, sneakers, and a decent shirt aren't ostracized for it.
If my choices for an employee were a clean guy in jeans and a slob in a suit I'm hiring the clean guy. Wearing a suit doesn't magically make you professional and wearing jeans doesn't automatically make you a child. Professionalism is just as much about how you carry yourself as other things.
Well it is classist.
And a fair number of the posters in the previous thread considered it okay to discriminate on choice of suit, but not on say obesity. Whereas the latter projects far more about the individual (it's not a coherent position).
This pretty much sums up my stance. Plus I dress somewhat better than most people in my daily life because it gives me more confidence.
I think most of the controversy came from the individuals who seemed appalled that social norms exist.
Maybe people were appalled that enough people weren't questioning these particular social norms for one reason or another?
Not following societal norms in terms of appearance and grooming says a lot about a person, frankly. Either they're completely clueless of how people interact in a group, or they don't care. Neither possibility says good things about you.
Rigorous Scholarship
Societal norms are all well and good, but some of them are outdated. I interviewed for my job in a suit like a good little boy because that's how interviews work. Both of the guys who interviewed me wore jeans. I wore jeans to work from then on and programmed happily and productively. I still showered and shaved and everything else. I conduct myself professionally. Wearing wool pants instead of denim doesn't magically imbue professionalism on a person. And many workplaces are changing because we are starting to recognize that.
In fact, if I had to guess, I'd say people are probably more productive when they're comfortable and happy. I know I am. Luckily, I'm probably going to start doing my job from home this summer. That would make me even happier.
Not just probably, people are more productive when they're comfortable and happy. That's why employers are looking for people with social competence and other seemingly nonsense qualities - because your workers won't be as productive if their cubicle neighbour is a total dickwad.
I'm pretty sure that it wasn't a "dressing for work" thread, but rather a "if you wear cat ears in public, you are a terrible non-human flesh thing" thread where "dressing for work" was a minor subject that popped up once in awhile.
In other words, the large amount of dissent in that thread stemmed from putting forth the attitude that it was okay to ridicule and treat people deviating from social as inferior, in general public (not work) settings. And in fact, everyone agreed that it would be retarded to interview for a job or come to work wearing cat ears. So...no.
Damnit.
I can't wait to see this thread tomorrow.
From here on in, this is all your fault.
And as an actual answer; because of what the other people have said so far; watching my weight in terms of minimizing or preventing future (or current) health issues, and dressing/grooming for the ladies. Though given my general attire, primarily to a subset of the ladies.
I have seen a new prevalence of cat ear hoods/hats this winter, worn by people that don't even know what the word "anime" means. I was kind of befuddled.
Good news is, I get to wear what are basically pajamas with boots to work which is fantastic. Glad the Navy finally caught on to the idea that forcing people to iron creases in to a working uniform is dumb.
Even if they are outdated you still need to abide by them for cases like an interview. Sure you can complain about them but as an individual you aren't going to change them. So you can't exactly be surprised that going against them on purpose causes negative effects on you.