I agree about dressing well and always staying ready. Welcome back!

I have been dressing better and have noticed a difference, a nice difference, in how I am treated by strangers.

DRESS TO IMPRESS

Very true, Mr. Powers. Once a male friend - not a boyfriend or even potential one - rang the bell around noon one Saturday to ask if I wanted to go grab lunch. He was wearing sandals with unmanicured toenails, bermuda shorts splotched with paint, and an unbuttoned shirt that had been washed so many times you could see right through the weave. It was so badly worn out that he might as well have been shirtless. I knew full well he had a good job and plenty of clean, decent clothes in far better shape. Though I hadn't even had breakfast and had nothing left to eat in the fridge, I turned him down because it would have been far too embarrassing to be seen with him. I couldn't believe he left his house looking like that. And that wasn't even a dating situation! it showed no respect for himself or anyone else. Also, back in the day, even if a man worked a dirty job like diesel mechanics, he nonetheless wore clean, collared, buttoned shirts and pressed slacks, even if they were destroyed by the end of the shift. And they - or their wives - knew just what to do to get them them clean again. My grandfather, a house painter, used to heat water in a big pot on the stove to clean his work clothes. His grandkids thought he was cooking soup until he smiled and used the spoon he had been stirring with to lift the clothes out of the water.

Im Christian Church Goer and You have showed me alot by the grace of God that he has given you wisdom and understanding in mens fashion. May God Bless You more

You're very eloquent Bob! I'm a young guy, and I dress up not because I have to, but because I WANT TO, and this is a key difference. Nowadays with all the trends towards casualness, people who dress up in sports coat and dress shoes are pretty much seen as "rebels," which is interesting because in the past (when dress code was much more formal), it was precisely because people were tired of all the mainstream satorial rules their fathers had followed that they decided to be different and started wearing round-collar shirts & jeans. Now we are the rebels! And I love displaying this kind of "rebellious" persona and love explaining the thinking behind it when others comment on my attire, because I genuinely think there's something worth perserving about the old-school way of dressing well. Of course people can wear whatever they want, but I think we as a society have at least been underappreciating the (instrumental and intrinsic) value of classic menswear.

To add to this, dressing slightly better than usual gives you more confidence. I find that when I even just simply tuck in my shirt and step out in freshly shined shoes, I have a pep to my step. I feel better about my day, and look forward to even Monday mornings. Edit: wearing more formal, "clean" attire forces you to me more mindful of surroundings, sit and walk with good posture, and not hunch over. I've noticed this as I've transitioned to finally wearing my loafers and oxfords regularly, and noticed I don't slouch as much. Many thanks Mr. Powers!

PREACH IT!!! Valuable Content!!!

Good to have you back Bob!

I started college in 1962. When you went to the Saturday football game you wore a coat and tie. That changed by the mid sixties.

I totally agree with this

I think here in New York in Manhattan is the last place where people wear suits, ties, dress shoes, watches and cologne. There’s cobblers and tailors all over, including the “Leather Spa” company. Grand Central still shines shoes, and lots of luxury mom and pops traditional places.

Good to see you, missed your posts.

Absolutely agree! The power of attire is there, and it's very powerful. Believe it.

Hi Bob! Great U R back! I mostly think like U as I get older. When I saw the trailer 4 the next video, I almost fell out of my chair. I thought 2 myself, "What the hack happened 2 Bob using casual sneakers?? But then again, Y not as long as they come with REAL leather, right? Anyway, hope 2 see more of the usual content every now and then! Cheers!

Robert is Coolest! Please make more videos like this! Thank you!

Great video great points! I’m starting a business and I agree with every word that you spoke!!

Different than previous videos so far, you covered a difficult topic. The video is great. 😊

i just got an internship with the Pennsylvania House of Representatives office and during my interview i noticed not even in government nowadays people dress in business attire or business casual. It was tshirts and denim. I was honestly surprised how the office dress code was. I start on Tuesday and am torn whether i should even go with business casual.

Looking good Bob.

I agree with everything that you've said and I think that many young people would be better off with your advice than whatever they're getting from social media and their cohort. It seems to me that dressing well is an example of what evolutionary psychologists call honest signaling. When we unconsciously judge each other, either as potential mates or business partners, we need a way to ascertain their competence and class. Things like relatively expensive clothing, attention to detail, conformity to higher standards are good proxy indicators for competence and class because they require more financial resources or proper upbringing to be observed. Thus, in books by economists like Robert Frank, dressing well is considered an honest signal of wealth, success, and class because it can't easily be faked. I have to say that, as a university student studying economics (I'm very often the top of the class, Santa Clara University, not ivy-league but not in the bottom half of schools) and as someone whose main hobby is reading books about economics (among other social psychology, anthropology, types of subjects), my first instinct is to think about opportunity cost. While it's affordable in terms of financial resources to buy nice clothes and to have them tailored to dress well, in terms of time and mental effort, I don't think it's always worth it to focus on details that only a very small proportion of people would notice, such as mirror shining shoes. But I guess that depends on context and how much people notice. The opportunity cost is that the amount of effort and attention that it takes to monitor things like that might be better used doing other things, assuming the other things are productive, efficient uses of time and mental effort. I've watched many of your videos before but have been on a several-year long avoidance of youtube, because I feel that it's too good of a distraction from reading and also that it tends to promote popular opinions and values that books would have more nuance and credibility as a source of information. However, I'm glad that you've made these videos and hope that as long as you find it enjoyable and worthwhile to you, that you continue to explore making them.

I agree with you, but unfortunately this only works when the majority of people dress professionally. We’ve reached a tipping point where the majority of people now do business in T-shirts and hoodies. This then makes people in suits the outliers, and in some respects looking “odd”. We can wish it was different, our values tell us it shouldn’t be so, but I believe we’ve reached the point of no return. Shame, I have so many dollars tied up in a wardrobe and shoes.

Constructive feedback. Get to the point quicker :) Good video overall. Love the message

Thank you! I live in Mid-Michigan, and the concept of dressing is "another country" for about 99% of the people here.

Here in SoCal, the male t.v. newscasters and reporters are slacking off on the shoes. They're now wearing those strange shoe hybrids. A cross between dress shoes and casual sneakers. Looks bad to me especially when wearing them with a suit.

Totally agree with you. The salesman and doctor you spoke of were unprofessional. Sadly though, this doctor may be better than some better dressed doctors. The $1500 up charge threat was a deal breaker. Oh, one other thing, I remember when I was a kid in the 1960's while living in New Orleans, when my mother would take my siblings and I clothes shopping, everyone was dressed to the nines. I went to New Orleans to shop at Allen Edmonds and Brooks Brothers a few years ago, and I witnessed what you observed in mass, even some in what could have been their pajamas. Sad.

Great photo of the congregation, I would happily hang that on my wall!

Being well dressed is a choice instead of demanding that others accept you for the way you are, that is spoilt. Interestingly, when you adhere to a standard, even when you make that million or more you have become so comfortable with that standard of attire that you become uncomfortable dressing down in all but the most casual of circumstances. At 56 I still only own 2 t-shirts and I only wear them under a sweater in winter. If it does not have a collar or buttons it's not going on. I own nothing made of anything made of anything other than Merino Wool, Cotton or Leather, no man made fibres. So I guess I am a weirdo.

what microphone are you using?

I feel if you were to interview me, I would get the job/sale with only 2 strikes at most.. My shell park avenues would dazzle you (as well).

Dress for the occasion

Your videos are entertaining, BUT please stop repeatedly asking “does that make sense?”.