The reason many guys end up at Road is not only to improve their overall wardrobe, but because they have no idea what to wear for an upcoming date. Obviously, Road can help you out in that department, but the folks over at eHarmony have some pretty good tips for guys.  Specifically there’s a Date Fashion for Men article that has some really good information.

But going beyond fashion, we thought it might be useful to provide some ideas for anyone out there who feels a bit lost when trying to figure out how to impress that special someone.  There are several points that one needs to be conscious of:

• Hygiene: Yes, women will notice if you don’t brush your teeth everyday.  Or if you don’t wear deodorant.  Or if you don’t shower.  Smelling good and staying clean is not only good for your health, but will give the impression that you have all of your ducks in a row, and that you have time to take care of the little things. Showing up to a date with greasy unwashed hair and odor pouring out of various parts of your body will not only give off the wrong message, but more than likely end in embarrassing failure. That being said, don’t try to cover up poor hygiene habits with abundant quantities of cologne or mouthwash.  Just one spray of cologne will give you that subtle smell that will help your cause. By overcompensating and dousing yourself, you’ll smell as repulsive as if you had gone au naturale.
• Mental Preparation: Going into a date, especially a first date, it’s important be thinking straight.  A nice, even keeled mind-state is optimal, but really being yourself is most important.  Try to be well rested and stress free.  Stress and lack of sleep can negatively impact your mood, and thus negatively impact your date’s impression of you.  Also, don’t be awkward.  There are things that you just should not say to people, like you play Dungeons and Dragons on a regular basis, or that you have a basement full of unopened action figures from your childhood. There is a time and place to reveal your weird little quirks, early on in the dating process probably is not a good time. Also be sure to keep the conversation going. Awkward silences are really, really bad. Going in, try to think of some questions or topics that might spark up conversation.  What kind of work do you do? is always a good one.
• Be Gentlemanly: Giant bouquets of flowers is probably overkill, but doing things like holding doors, footing the bill, and escorting them to the door can do wonders.  It might be good to try to practice in the days leading up to the date so that it’s natural habit once you are with your date.

That’s all for now. Hope it helped anyone feeling completely clueless.