7 Tips to Look Great on a Date

Scientific principles of dressing that leave nothing to chance

Monday, April 27, 2015, 10:57 am

You finally found the guts to ask out your crush, and she said yes. Now what are you going to wear? We polled the pros, combed the journals, and checked out the stats. The results? Eight scientific principles of dressing that leave nothing to chance.

Woo Her with Fragrance
"Women have a better sense of smell than men do, and it's even sharper in the middle of their menstrual cycle, when estrogen levels peak and women are more likely to be deciding whether a man's attractive, " says Helen Fisher, Ph.D., a professor of anthropology at Rutgers University and the author, most recently, of Why We Love. Wearing fragrant leather is one great way to get inside her head.


To encourage her animal instincts, wear the hide of a beast, and maintain it well. Preserving its oils releases natural fragrance.

Explore the Vertical
Women rate tall men as more sexually attractive than shorter guys, and tall men are more likely to find a mate. Proof: A British study of more than 10,000 people found that men 6 feet tall were more likely than average-height men (5'10 ") to be married and have children.

Wear pinstripes. Vertical lines enhance your height, and it's easier than standing on your toes.

Show Off Your Testosterone
"Women are looking for men with good genes so their children can have good genes, " says Devendra Singh, Ph.D., a professor of psychology at the University of Texas. One thing they're noticing, probably without realizing it, is a man's waist-to-hip ratio. In cross-cultural studies, women rate men with 0.8 to 0.95 ratios (almost a straight line) as most appealing. "Women are unconsciously performing these calculations—judging men on the basis of how body fat is distributed, " she says.

The ratio is an indicator of testosterone. Testosterone inhibits fat in the buttocks and waist but allows it in the upper body, explains Singh. So when a man has a large waist or butt, it indicates low testosterone, and a woman will consider him less attractive.

Don't leave home without a sport coat. It creates a visual line from your neck to your thighs, which conveys an appealing waist-to-hip ratio, according to Michael Cunningham, Ph.D., who studies attraction at the University of Louisville. Unless you regularly appear on the cover of this magazine, avoid anything cinched or tightly belted at the waist.

Give Good Face
Pure animal attraction is linked to your face and its symmetry. Sixty-five studies of 42 species have connected symmetry and sex appeal, according to the Penguin Atlas of Human Sexual Behavior. In addition, the better a man's symmetry, the more quickly he gets women into bed, the more sexual partners he has, and the more orgasms he causes in women partners, says the Atlas. You can't change your face (at least not without a scalpel), but you can frame it properly:

Wear a straight-point-collar dress shirt, with collar points 2 3/4 to 3 inches in length. This collar frames the face best and with the least margin of error for most men, regardless of face shape, says Alan Flusser, men's-fashion expert and author of Dressing the Man. When you're not wearing a tie, unbutton the top one or two buttons.

Project Strength
Broad shoulders connote strength and confidence—and 22 percent of women in a British study rated them as men's sexiest body part.

Wear a shirt with raglan sleeves (diagonal seams from the armpit to the neck). Ballplayers wear 'em, and they routinely reach third base.

Display Your True Colors
"Women have a better sense of color and a better color memory, " says Fisher. "They're more likely to notice when something doesn't match; more likely to notice what you're wearing. " Use different colors to convey different desirable personality traits and to evoke different feelings in your date.

Surrender to pink. "It's a color women gravitate toward, " says Lisa Herbert, an executive vice president at Pantone, a leading color-research firm. "It indicates intimacy and sensitivity. "

Not ready for pink? Meet her halfway with purple, which combines the masculinity and stability of blue with the softness of pink, says Herbert.

Encourage a crush: Wear orange. "It's very outgoing and high energy, " says Herbert. "For an active date, we would recommend wearing a really bright orange. "

Go Skin to Skin
Your first mission on a date (indeed, the key to all subsequent missions) is contact: Get her to touch you. "Touch is the mother of the senses, " says Fisher. "Not only are women more sensitive when they touch, but they're also more sensitive to being touched. "

It has to do with millions of years of nurturing behavior, explains Fisher. Women, as mothers and caretakers, have to identify health threats such as fever, swollen glands, and so on, by touch. Show a woman your soft side—she'll expose hers in return.

Apply moisturizer at least twice a day, and if you must cover skin, do it with touchable all-stars like cashmere, pima cotton, brushed corduroy, merino wool, and suede. When sex is on the line, definitely wear velvet.