By Gloria MacDonald

There are seven things that a man needs to do to pass womens’ dating “test”. If he doesn’t successfully complete any of these criteria he’s committed a dating sin.

Sin #3 – The fashion sin – If the man isn’t dressed nicely – neat, clean, fashionably and appropriately attired – he’s toast.

Women and men alike tell us how important a well-groomed and attractive appearance is at a first meeting. The feedback we regularly get from both sexes is that they really appreciate it when a man or woman has made an effort to look their best for a first meeting. However, I’ve heard too many women say things like “I can tell everything I need to know about a man by his shoes.” Is that so? Well, what you can tell for sure is what your first impression of the man is, but beware of first impressions.

It’s interesting that we so often hear women say that they don’t want to be judged based only on a first impression. Yet these very women are judging the men they meet. Women want a man to get to know them before making any judgements about them. And they certainly don’t want to be judged on the way they look! In doing this, they are asking that a man suspend the normal human process of gathering sensory, nonverbal information on first contact. How he is supposed to do this is not quite clear, but that’s what they ideally want. Unfortunately, it’s impossible for either a man or a woman to stop this process. Impressions will be given and judgements will be made right from the very first contact with you. Your best defense is to make sure that those impressions are good ones. Your best defense, especially if you’re a woman looking for a man, is to refuse to allow yourself to draw a summary conclusion about a man based on his wardrobe and how he’s put it together. Remember from Sin #1, this is NOT a “date” for most men, this is strictly a meeting. He doesn’t know you, and he hasn’t yet decided if he’s interested in impressing you and asking you out on a date.

Do not go into this first meeting with the intention of determining if this is the man you’re going to spend the rest of your life with, and certainly don’t let his clothes make that decision for you.

Gloria MacDonald is a Matchmaker
and the founder and CEO of Perfect Partners®,
Le Personal Relationship Executive Search Firm,
a dating service for 40+ professionals.

Add this article to MoSexIndex