How to be the Perfect Teenager

3.5 - You dress for yourself.

"We baby boomers know how to dress with self-confidence. If our clothes are right, we feel like we can do anything.

What's the secret to being confident? Some people believe it's having a positive mental attitude, while others claim it's being wealthy."

But according to one researcher, the answer may in fact lie in what we're wearing.

Professor Karen Pine from the University of Hertfordshire said that specific clothing - including even superhero T-shirts - can make people more confident in all sorts of situations. 'Now research shows what we wear affects us too.

'Putting on different clothes creates different thoughts and mental processes.'

'My book aims to make people more aware of this, to understand how changing their clothes can change their mood and their thought.' 

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When I read this research, I bounced literally up and down- because for me, it has been like a war won against my grandad who always firmly puts forward that "Girls of Today" are too savvy, with all that lipstick and literally nude clothes meant to only lure boys. I had always disagreed with him. I mean even I like to dress up at times- but I'm no where doing that to try to seduce someone or to try win X's heart.

And believe me my usual dressing code is technically a uniform- no I'm not talking that of school but rather that which I wear on a daily basis:

Too be honest, outside school and on a daily basis- it's always simple white T-shirts, a pair of dark blue jeans and white sneakers that I wear. This is what I call my second uniform besides the one I wear to school. Because of my distaste for shopping and this personal white uniform I endorse comfortably my mom believes I have a sexual identity crisis. :$

Some words about Seduction:

It is commonly known that, on average, guys are more easily visually stimulated than women.

Physically beauty is a powerful force. A force which surprisingly is not restricted to sex, seduction or impressing people!

"Men's temptation is to lust after women, and women's temptation is to want to/let themselves be lusted after."

I never used to be a make up conscious or jewellery/accesories obssessed kind of person before high school. Mom never used to adorn herself much apart from mere lipstick and hair brushing! But then in 2010, YouTube paved it's way into my life and there I was discovering tonnes and tonnes of things about the integral part of the American Teenage Girls' lives- Dressing up to put forward Confidence!

By then end of 2011, my craze for nail polish had taken birth. Adding to the fact that I was to fetter my sworn passion for painting to those times nail polish came as the only source of having fun with colours! And maquillage was a escape route to play with colours as well!

But I remember in 2012- Beauty Gurus were all I ate. One thing that has definitely not changed till date is my anti-accessory mission. I never wear necklaces, bracelets, watches, rings or carry ladies purses! Earrings are things I entertain from time to time- but I swap for the conspicuous ones very rarely. Mostly because I feel too overdressed.

Actually, my Dad has had a pretty huge influence in my dressing codes with his perpetual: "Dress not to impress!" All I did was to add, "but to Express!"

What clothing says about someone?

Think about the following words and how a person who has these qualities might dress:

Bold

Sexual

Lazy

Athletic

Rebellious

Suicidal

Each one of these phrases brings up a distinct picture in your mind. How will you treat each one of these "dressers?" Think about how you might be treated by the way you look. In almost every situation, the way you dress, the more influential you can be in the world around you.

Dressing to impress is not necessarily about putting a tux and a top hat on either.

We tend to think that dressing up is about:

Wealth. You can obviously quickly assess how wealthy someone is by looking at their clothes. Are they wearing brand name clothing?

Effort. Are they wearing the same clothes everyday? Are they not bothering to comb/gel their hair?

Physical attributes. Glasses tell you someone has poor eyesight or maybe is trying to look hip or smart. How can you utilize this?Someone covered in tattoos indicates a few things: they consider themselves artsy and counter-culture.

There are several reasons that someone gets a tattoo. 1. The tattoo means something important to them 2. They want to mark their independence.

Being stylish

How fashionable are their clothes? If they are hip and trendy you have someone who is more social and who watches modern programs. The less trendy or acceptable the clothes become, the more you are seeing someone who spends a little too much time alone or in a small clique.

Jewelry

When trying to dress to impress, jewelry probably tells the most about someone. The most obvious thing you can tell from jewelry is whether someone is married or engaged. If her girl wears a locket it probably contains someone close to her. A charm bracelet represents many people who are important to them.

Role models

It may sometimes be obvious who or what someone has modeled themselves on and from this you can tell what kinds of things they enjoy. To a lesser extent we are all subtly influence by what we enjoy watching on TV. Try to think who or what the person looks like. As you can see, from just a quick glance at someone you can tell if they're married or with a partner, whether they're living with their mother, how sociable they are, how confident they are, how lazy, how wealthy, how secure in their class...

What we often disregard is that clothes and get-ups may mean a different world in itself:

Recent activities and hobbies

If you spot mud on someone's shoe you know they've recently been to a field or in their garden. Have they spilled some food on their top? Now you know what it is they like to eat. Are they ingredients? Now you know they cook. Sweat stains might give a way someone is nervous or maybe just got done with some physical activities.

Confidence (my personal favourite!)

You can tell a bit about confidence from clothes. Are they trying to blend in or draw attention to themselves? A bright pink t-shirt may mean they aren't afraid to stand out in a crowd. It may also mean they are insecure however and that they dress to impress because they need attention.

A girl's dress sense on a night out can tell you about how she sees herself. If she seems more covered than the other girls, then she is obviously less confident in her appearance than they are."

"In like manner also, that women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with shamefaced and sobriety; not with embroidered hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly array; But (which becometh women professing godliness) with good works." (1 Timothy 2:9-10)