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That's one of the lessons Ossining resident Carly Steif learned when she taped an episode of TLC's "What Not To Wear," airing Friday at 10 p.m.
Steif's friends nominated her feeling that her wardrobe was holding her back in life and love. According to Steif, she was wearing a lot of hoodies and shirts with cartoon characters.
"They thought I was not dressing appropriately for my age," Steif said.
The episode took five days to tape, and was filmed in Manhattan.
Steif has yet to see the episode, though she has watched the commercial airing on TLC. She plans to have her friends over Friday night to watch it.
"It's making me really nervous for the actual episode," Steif said. "You never know how you're going to be portrayed on TV. I've lost a decent amount of weight since I was on. It's weird to see myself when I was a lot heavier."
According to producers, Steif was in an online relationship with someone who "could be the man of her dreams," but Steif refused to meet him because of her looks. Unfortunately for Steif, the show didn't lead to happily ever after with him, but did lead to other positive changes in her life.
"I wasn't happy at the job I was at, there were a lot of issues," Steif said. "My new wardrobe gave me the courage to go out and get job interviews."
Steif said she loved every second of her experience and keeps in touch with producers and stylists over Facebook. And while reality TV has almost become an oxymoron, she said "What Not To Wear" Is pretty legitimate.
"They didn't tell me to say anything or make me do anything I didn't want to do," Steif said.
Steif now goes shopping with her more fashion conscious friends, as she looks for clothes that would fit with her Upper East Side job.
For being on the show, Steif got $5,000 worth of clothes, a free Kindle and a $500 gift certificate to Amazon.
"I got to spend $1,000 at a Doc Martin store," Steif said. "It was a weird experience. I got a $400 dress and a $500 bag. I would never buy this for myself. It was awesome."
And the two most important lessons Steif learned?
"It is not appropriate to wear hoodies all the time," Steif said. "And you need to dress accordingly in a business atmosphere."
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