Most times, the way people address us is a function of the way we appear and of course, the way we dress. Believe me, even if you have something to offer to others, there is something that should attract you to them and the major part of it is your appearance.
By looking at the way people appear, you can tell, to some extent, things about the person. For example; if you see people from the Northern part of Nigeria (the Hausas) and people from the Eastern part of Nigeria (the Igbos), you can easily different them because of their style of dressing and people will relate to them accordingly. In the same way, your appearance matters to how people relate with you.
I remember a few weeks back, I went for a social event. For that event, I was attired in "Hausa Jelabia" just like people from the Northern part of Nigeria even though I am not an Hausa. Amazingly enough, as I entered the event venue, the first person I had contact with started speaking Hausa to me. You see, they already assumed I am Hausa just because of my appearance.
This goes to prove that we only judge others based on what our senses can perceive. This why we should not take our appearance casually, so as not to create a wrong mental pictures of ourselves in people's minds. Imagine going to a job interview and dressing like a gangster, how do you want the interview panel to judge you? Obviously they will conclude you as being a gangster even though you may not be.
For every occasion, there is a particular appearance to put up, but it takes the maturity of the mind to be able to know when to put on which appearance. Humans are very limited in perception because we are not telepathic, so we are most likely to only depend on what our physical sense can perceive to judge people.
Having a nice appearance or good sense of dressing does not mean wrecking your pocket. Even a very cheap material can be worn rightly and it will appear good, while a costly material can be worn wrongly and it will appear bad. This is why the "how to" is more important than the "what to". Sometimes, it does not require much to look good.
When you have in mind that your appearance matters, you will be conscious of the way you appear. For example, the body perfume you wear can go a long way to make you more attractive to others. Note this:
Your appearance is how people will address you
Hi @samminator - this is so true. I work for lots of different companies across different industries. I went to a manufacturing company that was really old school. Their culture mandated I work a suit and tie. They would not accept my authority if I didn't look the part. After that, I went to a media company. They claimed I didn't understand their culture when I turned up in my suit and tie. I ended up wearing jeans to work. Different organisational cultures need to be understood and wearing the wrong thing means you sometimes won't fit in.
Thanks for buttressing the point with personal experience. Yes, organisations have their various dress codes which needs to be understood so that you won't be odd.
Thanks buddy