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It's nice that there's a study that confirms this, but it is pretty obvious that people do judge other people from the way they look. Clothes is only part of the mix. Skin color, gender, face shape, eye color, hair styling, general posture, micro movements, smell, sweatiness, etc. also alter the way people will categorize others.

And then once they speak, the way the voice sounds brings another massive layer of pre-conceived judgment. Add social background, education, occupation, sexual orientation, etc. In the end, all these elements will form an idea of who a person may be.

Then this image erodes as one gets to know the other person.

Not surprised at all to see so many engineer-y types here on HN dismissing the importance of clothing even the face of evidence. I used to be one, until I saw Kill La Kill.

Fact is, clothing has power. The ability to shape people’s perceptions of you is valuable, and it can mean the difference between a deal and dismissal.

It can also have the adverse effect: wearing mismatching colors or patterns or clothing of poor condition signals immediately to me that the wearer is either unconcerned with their appearance or unable to distinguish between attractive and unattractive aesthetics - a major red flag on my perception of their judgement.

If someone wearing clothing like that works in tech I’ll spend 30 seconds determining if they’re too much of a super-genius to be concerned with their appearance (and if they truly are then they should acquire an identical wardrobe, Jobs/Zuckerberg-style). Otherwise, I think to myself that if this person is so lacking in perception to not comprehend how hideous they look, then what other major blind spots do they have?

For those of us who did not see Kill la Kill, if it's not a major spoiler, could you let us know what was it in that show that changed your mind?
I'm smiling at the idea there's a lesson to be learned from Kill La Kill. It's an anime where there's special clothing invented that gives you superpowers. It's similar to saying you learned this lesson from the Spider-man villain, Venom, or watching Iron-man movies.

I guess the above poster sees it as a metaphor.

The story revolves around these things called “life fibers” which when sewn into clothing gives wearers superhuman abilities. That story opened my eyes to the power that clothing not only could have in the future with the aid of technology, but also the implicit power it has held for thousands of years.
Makes me think of the Stephen Castor incident yesterday, and his use of a reusable shopping bag to bring in documents to the impeachment hearing.
The clothing itself isn't really what I necessarily expected, if you look at the pictures themselves (https://osf.io/v2j43/). The "rich" clothing is just more like "formal" or "conservative" clothing, and the "poor" is more "casual". They seem to have tried to control for the formality aspect but I'm not sure they did so completely (for example, there's still blazers in the set with "formal" attire removed). I also suspect there's an age dimension involved as well, in that some of the clothing is much more likely to be worn by younger individuals than older individuals, or vice versa.

Of course this will be correlated with wealth, because dressier clothes are more expensive, and older individuals probably will have more wealth than when they were younger. However, the clothing isn't the spectrum I was expecting necessarily, and I'm not sure "rich" versus "poor" are the right labels.

Also, I can understand how most of the clothing came to be categorized the way it was, some of it is confusing to me. There's definitely items that I think would be classified in the other category. It would be nice to tailor this more to specific individuals more.

To be honest I'm a bit surprised this is getting this much attention because the social psychology literature is full of findings like this already.

It does seem to boil down to the idea that people in ties appear more competent than people not in ties.
I believe this, my wife replaced my raggedy coat and I can see the first impressions of people changed.
I can only confirm, since I started buying more expensive clothes (and hardware), people seem to have a better impression of me. (Both in professional and private life) It's kind of a waste though...
It's waste by definition. It's social signalling. It's sort of like blockchain proof of work, you show your commitment by displaying hard to fake wasted resources.
Social signalling isn't necessarily a waste, especially if you have a very high profile. When Justin Theroux shows up at an animal shelter and posts a photo of some dogs on Instagram, those dogs get adopted and it raises the profile of those animal shelters.
Is it a waste to make people have a better impression of you? Depends on your job I guess?
Interesting you bring up "hardware". What do you mean by that?
This is a great way to steer you towards are the most interesting of your acquitances: those whose impressions didn't change.
No-one is immune to beauty or respect, nor to feeling safe.

It bears rewards to respect people's senses and perception of the world, and to carry beauty with you. Beauty does not have to be grand or inflated, and there's no universal judgement; It doesn't have to be a pretty face in an expensive suit. Any form of expression or presence we carry with us can carry beauty and show respect, whether it is clothing or hygiene or handwriting or choice of words or depth of thought - anything. Anything can hold symmetry and consistency, can be suitably asymmetric and interesting - can hold beauty - and can show respect for other's continuous perception of the world and connection to it. And it make people feel safe. This can be a question of you being literally easy on the eyes, in other words your presentation in the world is energy-efficient to read and parse. But we must be careful to have this opt-in only, to be aware of our own bias, and practice non-judgement based on external appearance.

A raggedy coat can make some people subconsciously worry if you're OK. They have a slightly easier time in your presence if they don't have to filter out those worries. Especially if there's a dissonance with them knowing that you're perfectly fine.

And truly, for some the most beauty is found in people who present themselves as not caring about raggedy coats and for those their impressions probably won't change.

There are other sectors of the economy which steer people away from dressing up and if you dress “too nicely” people are suspicious of you and wonder what you’re all about.
If you ever want this feeling on steroids, get a German shepherd puppy and walk it around.
We got a puppy a while ago and holy crap, no kidding. If I were single, after that experience, I'd make sure never to walk anywhere without a puppy. Never had so many strangers strike up friendly, longish conversations out of nowhere.
The most rigorous, controlling aesthetic of all is the one where you claim to have none.
Thank God I am walking around with the most casual clothe possible and feeling good about it. I can't imagine being part of any "circle" where clothing is looked upon as a factor of who you truly are as a person. And by that, I mean deeper than personality or character.

In the eyes of Others... Who are these Others? What makes us so different?

It's important to dress the part when you want to achieve something working with others. Put on the mask and try to become that role.

It's also important to not get attached to the image that comes back as projection from others.

Dressing casually in all situations and all groups is a sign that you are fixated to some self-image, exactly the same way as always being Dapper Dan is. You will self-select yourself into a some group and role in it without knowing it. The role you are most comfortable in is not what you really are. It's just where you are most comfortable. Challenging that may be stressful.

There is no role that is 'real you'. What you 'really are', or finding your 'true self' is pop psychology. Being comfortable and constantly adjusting to situations and roles is the best we can do.

Swapping out a button-down shirt and khakis--assuming that's what you tended to wear in a business context a few years ago--for jeans and a more casual shirt to better look the part at a developer conference is every bit the same as putting on a suit for a different context.
This is very interesting. I have in the last year or so given up on ties or even tucking in my shirt. For me it there was a point where the discomfort of business attire wasn't worth the fun of playing that role. I liked it, on occasion, but the difference in comfort levels is enough that it distracts me if I am trying to do technical work.
While I agree with you, and I too actively avoid people or institutions where these sorts of status games have taken hold, it's important to understand how privileged it is to be able to opt out. Some people in precarious financial or social situations have to navigate this world to live, and understanding these biases is helpful to them. Obviously in the ideal world we would combat these biases or at least their ability to affect other people's wellbeing, but we're quite far from that world at the moment.
> Some people in precarious financial or social situations have to navigate this world to live, and understanding these biases is helpful to them.

I'm reminded of low income people I've known who struggled to save for a suit to wear to a job interview for yet another low paying job at a factory. Privilege indeed.

For their woes they get an extra 0 at the end of their payslip.

I am not really too concerned with those type of people.

It shows that people subconsciously believe that better dressed people are more competent.
Well at least they pretend to have their marbles together to have a clean outfit.

I think it not thoroughly conscious choice how we dress, but a mix of how we see ourselves and how we want to be seen by others.

It's nice that you feel good, but that's not what this was about. Namely, how others perceive you.
I think the point of this study is that it wasnt predicated on the subjects. The results of the study are not that rich people judge people by their clothes, but that people judge people by their clothes.
You may not be quite as different as you think. Nerds often "wear" trendy frameworks and laptop stickers while patting themselves on the back for not caring about designer labels. In clothing and couture at least the superficiality is up front.
See also: $120+ hoodies, certain hiking & climbing wear. You can spot the tech folks pretty easily and with reasonably high confidence if you know what to look for. There's a uniform, a look, and that's even the ones who don't make it easy by wearing tech company or nerdy legible t-shirts.
Clothing signals who you are, period. There is a difference when you wear a suit or a hawaii shirt or a "Fuck Trump" t-shirt.

Why don't you think it's a factor of who you are? That thin fabric over your body completes a person. It's one of the no-brainer way for self expression.

And people do judge you by your clothes whether they admit or not.

People outside of HN and similar circles usually get impressed with shiny things. "Regular people", most often in business situations, or with business minded people. I run my own businesses and deal with a lot of this sort of situations, but also with some family and acquaintances, normal folks.

Like it or not, I've most likely been referred and/or gotten deals through due to my Omega Speedmaster, my Burberry winter coat, hade made expensive leather shoes, etc. That sort of clothes and accessories. Because it makes me look successful in the eyes of Others, and people wants to be friends and partners with other successful people.

Shiny things/expensive clothings/etc = Seen as I must be competent to earn that sort of cash.

My friends couldn't care less about what I wear, but they understand why I do it.

> Because it makes me look successful in the eyes of Others

This is going pop psychology pretty fast but do you think an explanation could be that it's you who believe that? "I have this expensive watch now 'cause I'm successful" and what others are picking up is your confidence that stems from this belief.

I totally agree that people want to do business with confident/successful people but I believe that you could have the same aura which would get the same results with a nice anonymous $50 watch spending all your money on other expensive things that you don't wear/display on your body.

> Like it or not, I've most likely been referred and/or gotten deals through due to my Omega Speedmaster, my Burberry winter coat, hade made expensive leather shoes

I hate to break it to you (or maybe you will consider it a good thing), but no one took the time to notice those minute details about you. Store bought leather shoes that are well-polished look virtually identical to handmade. Unless you hold your watch up to people their faces, few are gonna spot its an Omega, let alone that the make is a Speedmaster (cheers btw, I love the moonwatches).

People will spot that you take care of your appearance and try to go for a sophisticated style, but beyond that few will notice the minutia.

Hell, I can do you one better: one time when I was at my parents for an extended stay I decided to buzz most of my hair off whilst they were shopping. I had pretty long hair. When they came back I had a conversation for a full minute before my dad suddenly said 'wait.. what the hell did you do with your hair?!'

The HN demographic(s) just has a different set of shiny things used for signaling value. I'd make a joke about hoodies and flip flops but I think that's a little out dated.

That said, I think you're over-estimating the signal difference between "being well dressed" and "wearing half a grand". The returns per dollar greatly diminish.

This is because we are only steps removed from a feudal society
Isn't the reverse true in HN circles? Where looking like Stallman implies competency?
Or signaling that i can afford to not care about clothing
Eh, I don't think this is true anymore. Folks that I see walking out of the other FANG offices look cookie cutter. Allbirds, iPhone 11 Pro, nice Patagonia quarter zip...
now i can pretend i am hiding something with my shitty dress code
Most everyone can look "rich" with cheap imported knockoffs of expensive clothing.

But peoples' choice of whether to dress "rich" or "poor" provides information about them.