PERSONAL APPEARANCE ON A DATE

The way you look on a date is important. In a nationwide poll of thousands of teen-agers, Dr. Christensen found that when both boys and girls listed what they considered important in making or accepting dates, “pride in personal appearance and manners” ranked third. This doesn’t mean that a girl has to be a beauty queen or that a boy must be handsome. It does mean that both sexes expect a date to make an acceptable appearance and behave in a socially acceptable manner.

Dress Appropriately

There is a fashion etiquette as well as a movie or eating etiquette. Dressing to suit the occasion is part of fashion know-how. You will feel silly in high heels at the basketball game if the other girls are wearing saddle shoes. Your date may resent having to help you up and down the stands continually so that you don’t fall. To a sports event you should wear casual clothes, just as to most parties you should wear dressy clothes.

When your date invites you out, he may give you some indication of the type of dress which would be appropriate. If he doesn’t, it’s perfectly acceptable to ask a boy if this is to be a casual sweater-and-skirt affair, a dress-up or a really gala formal affair. If he tells you what he’s wearing it may give you some indication of what outfit you should choose. Girls going to the same event frequently clear with each other on what they will wear.

Boys, too, need to dress appropriately. You will look and feel out of place if the other boys are in sport shirts and you are wearing your best suit. You might be embarrassed if you show up for a party in Levi’s and find your date wearing a fancy dress. The best thing is to check with your date aheadof time about clothes. Find out what is expected of you, and let her know what is expected of her.

Neatness Does It

Regardless of what you wear, you want to be well groomed. A handsome suit will be wasted if your nails are dirty and your hair uncombed. A girl may manage to look attractive in an old skirt and blouse because she’s neat and well groomed. But even the most beautiful girl looks unattractive if she’s grimy.

When young people all over the country talk about what they consider important in a date, cleanliness and neatness rank high. Girls are not as interested in fellows who show up for dates with dirty T-shirts or uncombed hair. No boy wants to escort a girl who is sloppy. Recently the young men on one college campus openly revolted against the trend among certain coeds to appear unkempt. They protested that they wanted girls to look feminine. Certainly this isn’t too much to expect of a date.

ENJOYING A DATE

You and your date have mutually decided where you are going. You have taken care to be dressed appropriately. You have taken pains to be clean and neat. But even these precautions don’t insure success on a date. A date is wholly satisfying only when each person is considerate of the other. Dating is not fun if either of you:

• flirts conspicuously with others
• brags about previous conquests
• gossips about other dates
• clings too closely to members of your own sex
• avoids participation in the activities
• makes an issue over minor mishaps