A month or two ago a female friend of mine suggested that I get a make over of sorts, completely renew my wardrobe and get a new hair cut and in general make myself more visually appealing. I thought about it for a week, and then decided that my look, which I've had for the past 5 years or so wasn't particularily dear to me, nor was it working out for me. I didn't like myself, and I figured that there was nothing to lose in becoming more fashionable.

So we went shopping, got a new haircut complete with gel and all, bought some long-sleeved t-shirts to go under my extensive wardrobe of black t-shirts and a pair of faded jeans. After an hour, I couldn't have recognized myself given only a picture of the old me and the new me. I was hesitant on the first day of school, because I'm not usually the centre of attention and I figured that such a drastic change in my appearance was bound to attract a lot of snide remarks or pats on the back.

It did and it didn't. I got a few snide remarks, but most people took one look, was shocked that I had changed, and then accepted my choice to be part of the mainstream as the only real choice that could be made. After the first week, the thrill of change had worn off even on me and yet again didn't really care what others thought, but still spent some more time on making sure my clothes matched and my hair didn't look stupid.

However, this brought me something of a revelation that may sound obvious to everyone who hasn't "drastically" changed themselves in one go - looks actually mean very, very little. How you dress does not matter on any higher level than the first impression - you are, and will probably remain, the same as you were before, but now you'll be spending more time and more money trying to maintain or improve on how you look. Putting in zero effort into how you dress is not only more economical, but also less vain and means that you dress as you, not a fashion ideal.

At home I still wear the same old clothes I always did, but when with friends, or in the public eye in general, I dress as others expect me to in light of my new change. Will I change back to my old self because of this duality? Probably not, but the whole incident has brought me some more insight into how much crap fashion magazines are full of. New clothes do not and cannot change the person wearing them, and others will most likely not notice what you wear after the first time you wear it.

Dressing well is not equal to living well.

Sorry, no before and after pictures yet.