As another class of Ohio State students begin the final semester of their university education, a new group of Buckeyes will face the daunting task of taking responsibility for their own lives – and their own wardrobes. Their newfound freedoms will have their benefits, but those benefits will come at some cost.
There are a lot of things we all have to learn as we step away from childhood and work toward becoming well-rounded adults. Broken things will have to be repaired, annoying acquaintances will have to be tolerated and dinners consisting of more than microwaveable soup will have to be fixed.
On top of all that, and as much as you might hate it, if you’re going to be an adult you’re going to have to dress like one.
As an adult, choosing your wardrobe will no longer be all about personal taste, and it’s certainly not going to be all about comfort. As shocking as it might sound, most of us are not going to be able to wear sweatpants to our jobs for the rest of our lives. Successful businessmen, lawyers and politicians all wear suits for a reason.
Dressing well demands respect. It shows you respect yourself, which brings others to respect you as well. Who’s going to take you seriously if you can’t even buy a pair of properly fitting pants?
Even a lack of interest in fashion is no real excuse for dressing like a child. Just because you don’t personally care about what you put on in the morning doesn’t mean it’s not important. Not many adults are thrilled by mowing the grass or enthused by paying taxes, but that doesn’t stop them from going ahead and doing those things anyway.
Dressing for adulthood doesn’t necessarily mean dressing stylishly, but dressing responsibly and professionally. It shows maturity. You don’t need to be up on the latest trends, but you should at least know how to buy clothes that fit and how to dress appropriately for the occasion at hand.
If you’re attending a business meeting, you should be dressed for business. That means no sneakers and probably a tie. Don’t know how to tie one? Learn. If you can master college you can master a simple knot.
Just look at dressing yourself as another skill that you must learn. It doesn’t come naturally to everyone, but neither does cooking, nor math. You might not find it fun but, whether you like it or find it completely shallow, the clothes do make the man.
