In a fascinating experiment, college age boys in America were asked to look at photographs and videos of men and rate them as reliable, intelligent and whether or not they would choose the men as friends.

Consistently they rated the males in the most casual clothing as less intelligent and less reliable, and the men in the most formal clothing as being people they wouldn’t choose as friends. In the middle, the men in semi-casual clothing were considered to be the most reliable, intelligent and likely to be chosen as friends.

What made the survey so fascinating was that the youths taking part were generally wearing clothing as casual, or more casual than, the people they considered to be less reliable and less intelligent. Young men wearing shorts and vests were saying that they wouldn’t give jobs to other young men in jog pants and T-shirts!

This perception gap, as it is called, matters a lot in a recession, because clothing and appearance become much more important, psychologically. It’s been proven, time and again, that when money is tight, judgements are made on the appearance of a person, before they even speak. This means that a first impression may be based simply on what you wear and on that basis, somebody looking at you may decide how much you value yourself, what kind of work you do, your level of education, income and social status and your reliability, purely by your clothes.

And if people dress too formally it’s just as bad – they are seen as humourless, possibly judgemental, up-tight and unimaginative.

So how do you get it right?

White is always a step more formal than any other colour, so if you’re wearing jeans, wear a white shirt with them and you immediately look more intelligent, so the survey said. Polo-shirts are also more formal than T-shirts, T-shirts are more formal than vests, so when in doubt, chose one item of clothing to change, and make it one level more formal so that people rate you ‘up’ not ‘down’ for intelligence and reliability.

Similarly, shorts are the most casual clothing, on an ascending scale, jog pants are less formal than jeans, which are less formal than chinos which are less formal than dress trousers. So if you aren’t sure, team a T-shirt with chinos or jog-pants with a polo-shirt to balance the casual and less casual elements of your clothing.