The Impact of Appearance

Face it. We all care about the way we look sometimes, and with the media constantly broadcasting what we should aim for (appearance wise), it’s not always an option to not brush your hair or wear some not-so-cute baggy and comfy clothes all the time because we want to show off anything good about ourselves whenever we get the chance… it’s human nature! Constantly comparing ourselves to others isn’t healthy in the least, but it isn’t something that we are going to stop anytime soon.

There are many reasons why we want to try and look our best. Sometimes it’s because we want to appear confident with our appearance if we are wearing something nice. When we feel that we look good, our confidence level boosts, which is also something we consider attractive (as long as you don’t come across arrogant or conceited). Another reason why we’d care about our appearance would be because we want others to have a good perception of us. We always say that what others think and say doesn’t matter and shouldn’t affect us, however, we always interact with people and more often than not, people’s idea of us is usually based off of the way we look (yeah, I know it sucks, but its the ugly truth). The most obvious to me, however, is because you want to impress others! Let it be your friends, crush, partner or just random people around you. It feels good to look good sometimes. But this does NOT mean that you have to crawl out of bed every day and dress up super fancy to impress people. We all know that it isn’t necessary to change ourselves to impress people we like because we shouldn’t waste our time for people who don’t like us for who we really are (corny, but true).

But things aren’t as simple as looking good all the time. People can be really cruel and judge nonstop whether or not you are “looking good”. I know it sucks, but we’ve all done it. It isn’t fun to be compared to others all the time, let it be you comparing yourself to models, actors or ordinary people, or others doing the same to you. For starters, it isn’t healthy and definitely affects anyone’s mental well being in a negative manner. No matter how we are being compared to anyone, let it be the way we dress (happens to me on several occasions), our outward appearance, even the way we smell, it does affect us in some way.

Let me tell you a little bit about me. People make remarks on the way I dress literally all the time. This is usually the case because I do not usually try to make my outfits look even half-decent and most of the time I’m wearing sweatpants with a baggy hoodie or my (very) loose leggings with an interesting top. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t try to look like a hobo, but for me, it’s comfort over cute. So, I’ve learned how to stop caring about the remarks about the way I dress, but I won’t lie, when people don’t like something about the way I actually look, it hurts. Just like it hurts everyone with insecurities (so 100% of Earth’s population). Focusing on the girls and guys who wear makeup now, I don’t understand why we say “no one needs makeup”, but if someone isn’t wearing makeup, imperfections are immediately pointed out, if makeup is put on, the person with it on gets judged and tends to be called “insecure”. It’s a lose-lose situation, sadly.

Overall, being confident and comfortable in your own skin is the most important thing; don’t let what others say get you down, even though it really does hurt sometimes. Keep your head up! Confidence is key.