DIYs to make people think you’re fancy

How to impress people who obviously don’t know you that well

By Brittney MacDonald, Life & Style Editor

Being a young adult is difficult. You’re caught between that youthful instinct to have fun, but you also want to appear as if you have your shit together so that others will take you seriously. The quickest way to accomplish both of these things is to make a great initial impression. I use the word initial here because first impressions are limited to the first time you see someone, while initial impressions can go on for years if you don’t feel it necessary to welcome that other person into the glorious inner circle that is your friendship. So the question then becomes, how do you give off that perfect initial impression?

Infuse your own alcohol.

This is probably one of the easiest things to do, yet it has a high yield rate of making others think you’re better than them. Which sounds mean, but when you show up at a party where you don’t know anyone besides the host, you want that. Besides, it’s a great ice breaker to explain the incredibly simple process.

The most basic infused alcohol you can do is tea-infused vodka, tequila, or gin. Simply pop four tea bags of your chosen assortment—I recommend using herbal teas or Earl Grey—into a two-six and let it sit at room temperature overnight. The next day, take the tea bags out and cart your large bottle of fancy alcohol with you to impress the common folk. Other variations can include hot peppers or edible flowers. Rose-infused gin may not be all that delicious, but it does sound posh as hell. Be warned though, hot peppers do tend to bleed their flavour quicker when exposed to alcohol, so only let them sit for about three to six hours depending on how spicy the pepper is.

Never wear sweatpants.

I understand that this is a lifestyle choice, but all’s fair in love and completely platonic commitments to comfortable pants. Millennials are notorious for wearing active wear as actual clothing. This includes sweatpants, work-out shorts, yoga pants, athletic leggings, and sports bras, to name a few. If you want to appear fancy, you can’t do this—at least not in any obvious way. Find athletic alternatives that are still comfy as hell, but don’t make you look like you just hopped out of the gym. Many lingerie stores are now trying to up their sports bra game by having bras that feature strappy details. This looks super awesome under your tanks, but also look classy as hell under blouses—and no one’s the wiser that you’re actually wearing a sports bra as opposed to actual undergarments.

As for the sweatpants thing, I try to make it a point not to wear sweatpants anywhere that I know people I will come into repeated, yet casual, contact with will be. This means class, work, the bank, a favourite store, etc. But if I’m just running errands or hanging out at home, hell yeah, I’ll rock those baggy puppies. This has fooled many a soul into thinking I have my shit together, when normally I’m a confused mess of a human being.

I suppose that old addendum is right: Dress for who you want to be, not for who you are.

Of course, I’m betting the dude or dudette that came up with that never had a 7 a.m. class, but we all must make sacrifices. Yours will be the sleep you lose in favour of actually picking out a decent outfit.

Become intimately familiar with the actual names of things.

This is a fairly simple one. Basically, you want to educate yourself and enlarge your vocabulary so that when you talk about something you sound like you know what you’re talking about. It’s not a broth, it’s a consommé; It’ not a collar bone area, it’s your décolletage. See how that works? This especially works out if things have really fancy technical names, or names that sound foreign. Try and absorb vocabulary related to your interests: This will make it easier for you to learn things, and then later converse about them in a way that sounds organic, and not like you’re forcing a conversation to sound smart. Never assume that the person you’re talking to won’t know what you’re talking about—if they don’t, they’ll ask, and if they don’t ask, then they’re obviously afraid of how fancy you are.