Know the right kind of clothes to wear for your date.

Should you wear pearls, no pearls, gold-strands or Indie jewelry? What about a micro-mini skirt, or leggings, or skinny-legged jeans? Feel like wearing your favorite baseball cap or rocking the spiked hairdo? Can’t decide if you should wear the four button suit or the opera tuxedo?

Whether male or female, the stress of finding what to wear on a date can take up more time than just getting ready for the date. To make sure you’re appropriately dressed AND in style, here are a few quick and fast rules to follow that may get you to a second date. Who knows?

Ask your date where you guys are going. That may be a no-brainer, but the place you decide to go will tell you what to wear on a date if you’re unsure. You don’t want to show up at the bowling alley in a tea-length dress and heels (do you?) and be uncomfortable the whole time.

The place that you go also determines how casual you can and/or should be. It’s perfectly fine to wear skimpy shorts or swimwear on a boat outing, but not so good to wear to take a salsa dancing class. If you or your date are a little unsure on the attire, you can also call the place and ask what to wear on a date to their establishment. What is or is not acceptable? They’ll be glad to help you.

Restaurants are also a questionable toss. Five-star restaurants may need you to spiff up a little more than the burger joints, even if they DO add a gourmet flair to their ambiance. ‘Tis better to ask.

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2. Use Good Judgement

All dates are impressionable, but first dates are very impressionable. So, you want to be sure to leave a lasting but tasteful one. Keep everything tastefully covered, yet fashionable. For guys, this means while a muscle shirt may be fine to wear to the Dodgers baseball game, it may not be so appropriate to wear when going to see a live theatrical play.                                                                

Also, while the Miley Cyrus look may be great for your neighborhood tween-ager, it may not be so good for you as a college woman. Imagine going out with date to do the club scene rocking the leggings and the Converse All-Stars. Not good! Also not good? A “mature” couple going out with the guy sporting the skin-tight skinny-legged jeans look. Take advice from friends or family too when trying to decide what to wear on a date. One cue is if your friends take one look at you with a question mark on their faces. It’s probably not going to work, so take…it…off!

3. Overdress…a Little

It’s perfectly fine to overdress a little when you’re not sure of what to wear on a date. This is especially true if it’s to a place you’ve never been before or with a person you’ve never been with. It’s much easier to take items off than it is to add clothes to your look. 

This includes wearing a sports jacket with your khaki’s or jeans. In a casual setting, if you need to remove the jacket you can and still fit in with the atmosphere. You can also remove pearls, if they’re too dressy or hosiery if it’s too much as well. Always overdress though with additional accessories or light clothing, as they’re easier to remove and adjust.

What date places would over-dressing be alright? This includes meeting new people (the date’s parent’s, friends, co-workers), church dates (wedding receptions, baptisms) or community affairs (live plays, concerts). While most occasions will be pretty obvious on how to dress, there are still going to be times when you’re unsure of what the social culture or climate dictates.

Hint: Ladies, keep an extra pair of dressy flat shoes in your car for those just-in-case dates. You never know if you will need to go casual at a moment’s notice!

Spend a little time before you go on your date determining what to wear and what’s appropriate. Don’t spend so much time on what you wear that you forget to have fun! Just use these quick tips, kick back, relax and enjoy being with that special person.