Get your game straight!

ON a flight home from South Africa the other day, the guy who was sitting next to me said something so profound I’ve been thinking about it all week.

He said for most men, an interest in fashion and being stylish in general develops as a way of impressing women.

That very few men are genuinely into fashion, for themselves.

Only later, he said, does being stylish become a lifestyle for most men such that it’s really not for anyone else except for themselves.

This, he said, is because men are constantly trying to match their woman’s game or that of the woman they intend to chat up.

You look at your woman and she’s on top of the situation, you just have to make sure your game is straight, he said.

Too many men want to blame the next guy for things a little more swag would solve.

If the woman you want has standards, you have to get to getting and make sure your wardrobe speaks volumes for you, on the positive of course.

Sometimes a pair of jeans and a T-shirt won’t cut it. There’ll come a time when you’ll have to wear a blazer, a good pair of pants and a classic shoe.

Women often find themselves feeling over-dressed because of a guy who just didn’t turn up.

If I’m going to be in a hot pair of heels, man, you’ve got to step up.

I can’t sacrifice my feet only for you to show up in a pair of jeans, sneakers and a graffiti T-shirt with “Ndebele maker” inscribed on it.

Of course there’ll come a time when a rendezvous is unplanned and you may not be appropriately dressed, at least be slaying in whatever you’re wearing.

Whether you’ve been at work or had a chilled day with your friends, something about you has to say you’re fashion conscious.

Your game always has to be on point, whatever the occasion.

Most people are actually surprised when you’re all dressed up they’ll even ask, “What’s the occasion?”

It shouldn’t be about there being an occasion for you to rock those threads right.

If anything, people should get tired of complementing you because looking good is your lifestyle.

They should know that you always turn up, whatever the occasion.

Don’t be the girl who has a date cancelled on her and says, “Why did I bother bathing”, like she was never going to take a bath anyway.

Ladies, be the woman a man will need some composure for.

He must think twice before talking to you.

He should check himself first before he has the guts to walk up to you.

You can’t be having any riff ruff viewing you as an easy target because you’re shabbily dressed.

This is not only synonymous with male, female relationships. In the corporate world too – you have to dress as you would like to be addressed.

You can’t show up to work or a business meeting in a pair of shorts and flip flops.

No one will take you seriously. They certainly wouldn’t trust you with their money!

You can’t go for dinner at an elite restaurant in pumps and a pair of jeans – are you part of a Ndombolo dance group performing afterwards?

There has to be some effort from your end.

Remember, clothes communicate a whole lot about you. Are your clothes sending the right messages?

If not, you need to get your game straight!

You know what they say about first impressions? They last long! And once you mess up a first impression for someone, it might take you years to get it right.

But this wouldn’t be a problem to begin with if you had your game straight from the onset.