Once at a meeting, I overheard a colleague say "I'd hate to pay her Nordstrom bill." Took me a while to figure out they were talking about me. Little did they know...
How did you shop to look so good on the cheap?
I was in outside sales, so I only saw the big bosses and most of my colleagues at semi-annual company meetings. I shopped sales/thrifts/consignment and saved my "new" clothes for these meetings. I never wore an outfit that I'd worn to a previous meeting. I made sure everything was perfectly clean and crisp. I scheduled haircuts right before the meetings and did my own manicures. I actually think it was being well groomed that created the impression of being expensively dressed. The effort really did pay off, but so did the fact that I was decently good at my job.
I want to add that the goal was never to one-up my colleagues. I was saving my ass off long before FIRE was a thing. At the time, my goal was to buy a house in my HCOLA. I never wanted to appear cheap, so I looked for ways to creatively spend less without deprivation. It worked so well, I've continued to do so long past FIRE. It's just habit now. Ironically, looking "wealthy" seems to have manifested into actually being wealthy, which totally cracks me up.
Yes I think being well groomed, and also knowing how to dress yourself could be a big help.
Generally, I'm not terribly good at dressing myself. However, I'm an engineer so it's not totally necessary. I've been fooled a bit, also, by trends. I do have some nice slacks that fit well and that I save for meetings. However as flattering as they are, apparently boot cut "isn't a thing anymore", and one of my (male) engineering coworkers made a comment. Eh, well.
I have friends who always look very "put together". I save that for a few times a year.
Oh, another funny this week. I got my haircut. I generally get it cut 2x a year, whenever it gets long enough that it starts to bug me at the gym. I only have 1 elastic band for my ponytail, and I cannot seem to find it right now (I put it somewhere safe on my road trip...ugh). Anyway, after a haircut it's a month or two before I can do the ponytail thing anyway.
Coworker dude "you got your hair cut!"
Me: Yep. Twice a year whether I need it or not.
CWD "Well, I understand. Women pay so much more than you probably get it done less frequently."
Me: I paid $25.
CWD: "Well, that's because you are an engineer".
I do love a fresh cut. It does look more professional (slightly longer than chin length bob with long layers. I have thin straight hair.) She almost talked me into blonde highlights. My hair is dark blond with quite an increasing amount of silver. Dishwater blonde?