--- title: The Best Way to Dress When You Want to Influence Someone description: You have two options canonical: https://time.com/3815437/the-best-way-to-dress-when-you-want-to-influence-someone/ author: Eric Barker article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-16T04:01:22.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-03-31T08:21:01.723Z article:section: Ideas og:title: The Best Way to Dress When You Want to Influence Someone og:description: You have two options og:url: https://time.com/3815437/the-best-way-to-dress-when-you-want-to-influence-someone/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2f7123a6d60cdb1/6987ea550b72e3aed66e1648/455282001-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=750&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: clothes-hanging-closet og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Best Way to Dress When You Want to Influence Someone twitter:description: You have two options twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2f7123a6d60cdb1/6987ea550b72e3aed66e1648/455282001-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=750&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Best Way to Dress When You Want to Influence Someone by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Apr 16, 2015 4:01 AM UTC  Clothes hanging, close-up Clothes hanging, close-upGetty Images by [Eric Barker](https://time.com/author/eric-barker/) ## Eric Barker Apr 16, 2015 4:01 AM UTC Research shows you should either: 1) Dress [formally](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-clothes-make-the-man-can-you-really-dress) or, 2) Dress like they do: Via [The Charisma Myth: How Anyone Can Master the Art and Science of Personal Magnetism](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591844568/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=spacforrent-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1591844568): --- > “” --- **Join over 180,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email** [**here**](http://eepurl.com/o6uAD)**.** **_This piece originally appeared on_** [**_Barking Up the Wrong Tree_**](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/2012/06/whats-the-best-way-to-dress-when-you-want-to/)**_._** Related posts: [5 things your clothes are saying about you](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/5-things-your-clothes-are-saying-about-you) [Do “clothes make the man”? Can you really “dress for success”?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/do-clothes-make-the-man-can-you-really-dress) [Why are high heels sexy?](http://www.bakadesuyo.com/why-are-high-heels-sexy) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"OpinionNewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3815437/the-best-way-to-dress-when-you-want-to-influence-someone/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3815437/the-best-way-to-dress-when-you-want-to-influence-someone/"},"headline":"The Best Way to Dress When You Want to Influence Someone","datePublished":"2015-04-16T04:01:22.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-31T08:21:01.723Z","description":"You have two options","url":"https://time.com/3815437/the-best-way-to-dress-when-you-want-to-influence-someone/","keywords":["Psychology"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2f7123a6d60cdb1/6987ea550b72e3aed66e1648/455282001-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eric Barker","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eric-barker/"}],"articleSection":"Ideas","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf2f7123a6d60cdb1/6987ea550b72e3aed66e1648/455282001-copy.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"clothes-hanging-closet","caption":"clothes-hanging-closet","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/ideas/","name":"Ideas"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/psychology/","name":"Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3815437/the-best-way-to-dress-when-you-want-to-influence-someone/","name":"The Best Way to Dress When You Want to Influence Someone"}}]}] ```