A. T. Stewart was one of the first great merchants to appreciate the tremendous influence upon customers, especially women customers, of good-looking, well-dressed young men clerks. He would not have a clerk in his employ who did not present an attractive appearance. He knew and appreciated the importance of putting up a good front as an asset. He did not care much for human diamonds in the rough. He preferred a cheaper stone, polished, to a pure gem, unpolished.
Every progressive merchant knows that a first unfavorable impression on a customer is a costly thing. He knows that soiled collar or cuffs, a frayed tie, unpolished shoes, uncared-for finger nails, grease spots on a suit, will not only make a bad impression, but will drive away trade.
Most large business houses make it a rule not to employ any one who looks shabby or careless, who does not at least try to make a good appearance, the best his means will permit, when he applies for a position.
Neatness of dress, cleanliness of person and the manner of the applicant are the first things an employer notices in a would-be employee. If his clothes are unbrushed, his trousers baggy, his shoes unblacked, his tie shabby, his hands soiled or his hair unkempt, the employer is prejudiced at once, and he does not look beneath this repellent exterior to see whether it conceals merit or not. He is a busy man and takes it for granted that if the youth has anything in him, if he is made of the material business men want in their employ, he will keep himself in a presentable condition. At all events, he does not want to have such an unattractive looking person about his premises.
You may say that an employer ought to be a reader of real merit, real character, and that it is not fair to estimate an applicant for a position by such superficial things as the clothes he wears. You may also say that a customer should not allow himself to be prejudiced against a man, or the house he represents, because he is not a fine dresser. But that doesn’t help matters or alter facts. We go through life tagged all over, labeled with other people’s estimate of us, and it is pretty difficult to get away from that, even if it is unjust.
Say what we will, our position in life, our success, our place in the business or professional world, or in society, depends very much upon what other people think of us, and our clothes, at first especially, while we are making our way in the world, play an important part in their judgment of us. They have a great deal to do with locating us.
In a way our lives are largely influenced by other people’s opinion of us, and we should not be indifferent to it. This does not mean that we cannot be independent and exercise our own will, but that we cannot afford to create a bad impression. Suppose, for example, you are a young business man and that every bank official in your town is so prejudiced against you that they will not give you credit. You need it very much, but while the fact that you know you are absolutely honest and absolutely reliable gives you great inward satisfaction, it does not give you the needed money. The prejudice of the bank officials may be unfounded, but it acts powerfully against you.
You may know perfectly well that you would make a better mayor for your town than anybody else in it, but if the majority of the voters are prejudiced against you, no matter how worthy of their confidence, you will not be elected. Whatever your business or profession the impression you create will make a tremendous difference in the degree of your success.
“Every man has a letter of credit written on his face.” We are our own best advertisements, and if we appear to disadvantage in any particular we are rated accordingly.
You cannot estimate the influence of your personal appearance upon your future. Other things equal, it is the young man who dresses well, puts up a good front, who gets the order or position, though often he may have less ability than the one who is careless in his personal appearance. Most business men regard a neat, attractive appearance as evidence of good mental qualities. We express ourselves first of all in our bodies. A young man who is slovenly in appearance and who neglects his bath will, as a rule, neglect his mind.