There’s a hilarious scene in the movie “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” where the Lothario-like character, Jacob, played by Ryan Gosling, takes Cal, (Steve Carrell) clothes shopping. The scene opens with Jacob throwing Cal’s tatty sneakers, i.e., New Balance 407s, off the balcony of the shopping mall.
From there, Jacob takes Cal on a massive wardrobe makeover spending spree, using a credit card taken from his wallet with a Velcro seal, all intended to up Cal’s style and dating game. As we get further into the movie, we see the transformative power of the remade Cal beginning to attract, and have success with, an increasing number of women.
Yes, it’s a movie. If we all looked like Ryan Gosling, it probably wouldn’t make a whole hell of a lot of difference what we wore on a date. Chances are good the evening would end well, regardless of our wardrobe.
Mistakes to Avoid
Let’s face it: the vast majority of us are not Ryan Gosling in the looks department. If you’re not, do not despair! There are things you can do to mitigate your shortcomings. And by that, I mean a cumulation of smallish steps here and there that, collectively, can make you more handsome to women. If you’re a 5 out of 10, you can do a bunch of little things to buy you a couple extra points to get to a 7 out of 10.
Conversely, you can take the character of Jacob – or equivalent A-List, leading man movie star – who is already a 10 in the looks department to most women, and knock him down to a paltry 5 out of 10, or less, if he is making any lethal mistakes.
Let’s begin with those, because avoiding these mistakes is probably the best place to get started before you start spending money on a Cal-Style Makeover:
- Bad breath
- Bad skin / acne
- Missing front teeth. Badly discolored teeth.
- Poor hygiene and grooming
- Body odor
- Bushy, unkempt eyebrows, a unibrow, marmoset-like ear hair or protruding nose hair
- Wearing worn out or dirty clothes or shoes and/or poorly fitting clothes
- Unkempt hair
- Poor manners, crude behavior in public
- Poor physical condition / morbidly obese
- A filthy apartment, house, or automobile (can you say “hoarder?”)
- Still living with your parents (at a certain age, or unless your parents are infirm or elderly and need your assistance)
If you have even one of the deficiencies on the more egregious scale, your sexual market value (SMV) will suffer. If you’ve eliminated everything on the above list and you’re a well-groomed gentleman, you still have immutable characteristics you cannot change, like height, eye color, baldness, prematurely graying, etc., without some sort of major surgical or cosmetic intervention. Or maybe you’re just butt ugly. Unless you’re in that last category, you have the power to change things for the better.
Now that we’ve talked about some of the no no’s, the next step will be to get into what more we can do to up your style game and SMV score.
Ideas to boost your style
If you have a bad haircut, or are overdue for one, find a good hairstylist and pay the extra money for a decent haircut. If you’re not a rock star or tattoo artist, I’d recommend avoiding any non-age-appropriate styles like mullets, mohawks and man buns. That includes dying your hair blue or some other unnatural color.
If you’re bald or balding, go with a shorter haircut. If you shave your head, a beard or stubble can shift the visual weight off the top of your head down to your face. Think Jason Statham. I know the Duck Dynasty / ZZ Top-type beard styles are all the rage these days; but that’s only going to appeal to a small segment of women, and likely only under a certain age. Same goes for excessive tats’.
If you’re gray, you could opt for coloration. Up to you. Some women love a little S&P around the temples. If you do color, that’s probably best handled by a professional and you may also need to color your beard to match, if you have one, and want the curtains to match the rug.
If you’re short, wear shoes with a bit of a heel. That can elevate you another 1” or more. If you’re a guy just under the magic “six feet tall” (or taller) that most women like, the heels will get you there. And stand up straight! Bad posture and slumped shoulders can rob you of two inches of stature, easily.
If you have short legs, don’t wear a belt that is significantly lighter in color than the pants you are wearing, or it will visually cut you in half and accentuate the difference between your torso length and legs. Same thing goes with poorly hemmed pants that excessively pool around your shoes.
Lastly, wear a blazer. It will build up your shoulders and accentuate any V-taper you may have. It will also help hide any Buddha belly lurking above your belt. Although, that’s not the best long-term solution for that problem.
That it for now on style and grooming mistakes.
