Style

Self-esteem has to come from within.

But we also should not underestimate the importance that the effect of our style has on others.

If we have a clean hair style, wash and comb our hair regularly,

Make sure to style yourself every morning as if you would go on a first date. Because if you are

1. If you are in a relationship, you should not slack only because you already "achieved" finding a partner. You have to invest in your relationship and put effort into retaining your partner, just as you put effort into your first dates.
2. If you are not in a relationship, you might meet your future spouse today.
3. You also want to make a good impression on your peers.

Buy some perfume and use it. It has a strong effect on others if you smell good. You are instantly perceived as higher status. And treated as such.

Don't spend more money on clothes than you have, but also don't buy cheap, ugly clothes. You can get good looking clothes for reasonable price. Buy these, and if they are worn up, buy new one.

Think of the effect on your psyche and self-esteem, if you leave your house with greasy hair, in sweatpants, eating a bag of potato chips in public, paired with drinking coke directly out of the bottle. You will be perceived as a loser, people will move away from you in the public transport system. And you will also feel like a loser.

On the other hand, if you dress up, put on nice shoes, some perfume, wax in your hair, pull on your favorite trousers and wear a shirt, put on a nice watch, and pair it with a coat, you will feel great, and people will also treat you differently. They see that you are something. Gottfried Kellers novella "Kleider machen Leute" (Clothes Make the Man) illustrates just that. If you dress differently, you are a different person. You are treated differently, but you also feel differently. You think differently. You behave differently. Just dressing nicer can change your personality.

This is probably the reason for school uniforms. In a capitalistic society with uneven wealth distribution, there will always be brands that some can afford and others can't. And be it just like Prada, Gucci, Hermes, Rolex, Breitling etc that only sell their stuff for more money and print their name on it, without even being better quality. You buy the brand. But these can be used by wealthier people to show of their wealth and signal their higher status over others. They will automatically be treated differently (teachers might give these "higher status" pupils better grades, girls will admire boys that own their own Ford Mustang instead of only a moped. Boys will admire the girls with the brand clothes and the immaculate hair, that are also part of the cheerleading team, instead of the quite girls from poor background in the worn up clothes.) And this will also impact the future chances of these kids.

But of course, you can dress nicely without spending a lot of money. There do exist good fashion brands that sell good looking clothes for reasonable price.