Sweating the details: why first impressions matter

It’s time to hang up the tights — and the sweats.

Despite their popularity among students, many professionals consider yoga pants and sweat pants a hindrance to academic and occupational achievement. Numerous studies have weighed in on the “dress well, test well” belief, researching how what someone wears can affect their academic performance. The results show that there may be something more to that mantra than students realize.

One study, conducted by Karen Pine, professor of fashion psychology at the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, found test takers who wore Superman T-shirts were more confident and tested better than those who wore swimsuits — clothing that was obviously out of place. Though the two types of dress represent two ends of a dress dichotomy that is more symbolic than realistic, her findings suggest that dress choice in general influences one’s confidence — and performance — in work environments.

This conclusion sounded plausable to Nicole Coleman, a professor of business administration at Pitt who conducts research in consumer psychology.

“When your dress is orderly, your thinking is more orderly,” Coleman said. “When you dress up for something, like an interview or date, you dress up to impress them, but it influences your own behavior as well.”

Another of Pine’s studies looked at how dress affects first impressions, stating that “first impressions are formed rapidly and are often highly accurate. After seeing a face for just one second, people make judgments about another’s personal and occupational attributes.”

This study blurred out subjects’ faces so participants could only analyze dress style for a maximum of five seconds. Pine found even minor adjustments to the subjects’ dress choices — in this case, a fitted suit over an “off-the-peg” one — impacted participants’ first impressions of them. The results showed the man in the fitted suit scored higher in both confidence and trustworthyness than the man wearing the regular suit.

As a result, the study concluded that we shouldn’t underestimate our clothing choices when judging how others will perceive us.

According to Coleman, making a good first impression is more important than looking comfortable if you are seeking an office job after graduation or working toward a promotion.

“Any job you currently have is a path to the next job,” Coleman said. “You want to make sure the impression people have of you is a favorable one. You’ll never go wrong by being slightly dressed up, but you can go wrong the other way.”

With the research stacked against them in professional settings, sweat pants remain seemingly ubiquitous around campus. After all, how could you convince students to wear anything else after an all-nighter spent at Hillman, especially during finals week?

“As college students, we work hard and juggle a lot during the school year,” said Bridget Deely, a Pitt student and contributor to fashion blog, CollegeFashionista. “Sometimes wearing sweat pants shows that someone is stressed out or exhausted to the point where they don’t feel like putting any more effort [into getting dressed] than necessary.”

In defense of loungewear, Coleman said  she understands dressing up for class isn’t always possible.

“In general, faculty understands that our students are balancing so many different roles as a student, so we’re much more flexible with what’s appropriate,” she said.

Unlike sweatpants, Stasia Lopez, a career consultant with the Office of Career Development and Placement Assistance at Pitt, said yoga pants can blur the line between office and loungewear.

“Yoga pants are going to be a little tougher [to categorize] because they make luxury yoga pants like Alexander Wang, Michael Kors and even cashmere leggings by Donna Karan that even top executives have admitted to wearing and loving,” Lopez said.

But Lopez said one must be cautious with yoga pants, because of the occasional “see-through” or tight nature of the pants.

To Deely, yoga pants do trump sweat pants when trying not to look like a bed rat, but like the spandex material composing the legwear, it’s a stretch to say they make a great look.

“Yoga pants are like the attractive second cousin of sweat pants,” Deely said. “They are definitely more appropriate to wear in public settings. But at the same time, they are still something you wear to feel comfy or work out, which means I wouldn’t necessarily choose them as my go-to for class.”