I think one of the most overlooked areas when it comes to improving your mate value is fashion. The first thing most men will work on is probably exercise and getting muscle. However, when you ask many women what is the first thing they will notice about a guy, they will say it's his shoes.
Style and fashion matter. It’s important to many areas of life: dating, sales, business, presentation, grooming, etiquette, and so on. Yes, you have a few tech billionaires who wear what they want, but most of the population care about looking presentable (and sexy).
If you believe me, you’re way ahead of my young self. For decades, I disregarded fashion because I thought it was what was on the inside that counted and getting good grades was all that mattered. Obviously, that backfired for years in my dating and professional life.
The truth is that your outer world is a reflection of your inner world. If your room, hair and outfit is a mess, your mental health and effectiveness as a human being are likely a mess too. There are exceptions, but studies have proven that women are quite effective at judging us in this way.
Here is a video I made a while back with some fashion tips. Hopefully this will help some of you on your journey to improving your dating lives:
Overall, I think you're right, I think fashion is important, with a few caveats though.
I highlighted the bits I agreed with or related to the most.
I definitely overlooked fashion as a kid, I didn't really think about it that much, or thought there was much I could do about it because it seemed expensive. Like you, I disregarded fashion because I also thought it was what was on the inside that counted, that's what I kept hearing. And I also thought getting good grades was all that mattered too, that was another thing I grew up hearing as well. I now feel like these ideas weren't entirely wrong, but at the same time they weren't really a complete or accurate picture of how life or people really work. It pretty much assumes that people will act in an ideal, moral and utilitarian way, but most of the time, they don't.
I even went as far as to consider fashion "shallow", "superficial", "immature", being a follower of peer pressure and marketing trends, being made a sucker by the companies into paying for overpriced clothes just for the brand.
I now see that my views back then pretty much completely ignored or discounted not only fashion, but the entire social side of life, focusing only on academic/intellectual pursuits, or on things I liked for myself. I thought I couldn't do the social side because I wasn't born with the right mind/personality to do it since I didn't feel good at it naturally/instinctively, or that it was again shallow/superficial/immature, wasn't important and only grades/career/money mattered, or that socializing was a game that was set up to favor cold, arrogant, immoral people I didn't like, and that it was a game I was set up to lose, so I didn't like it and assumed moral superiority over it by refusing to play, thinking I was "smarter" and more "right" by refusing to be their sucker and conform to their game just so I could lose at it and confirm that the people I didn't like were "better" than me and I was naturally, rightfully, inherently inferior. This isn't so much just about fashion as it is about what I was thinking in general. Fashion was literally just the surface of what I was thinking and feeling at the time.
In time I changed my mind though. I came to see that, like you said, fashion is important, it does make a statement about yourself whether you want to or not, so you might as well take control of what that statement will be, and to make it something that serves you instead of hurts you. I totally agree with what you said,
"The truth is that your outer world is a reflection of your inner world".
Back then the statement was making was that I was clueless. Also that my interests weren't clearly defined. My entire inner world was a mess, undefined, or influenced by pessimism about myself, "there's nothing I can do about it", "I wasn't born the right kind of person for this and that", "I just have to wait". I had interests, but they were mostly fandoms, which were regarded as childish, so I didn't express myself out of not wanting to be a target for ridicule. I just wore whatever, and tried to fly under the radar.
What I did see as "fashion", seemed to be "buy expensive stuff to show you can spend more than others". Not only was I unable to do it as I wasn't really on the same level as a lot of other people in my town, but it was also a turnoff, I thought it was wrong to think like that. That's the thing, I don't think there's anything wrong anymore, with wanting to spend more on your look if you want to. But I also don't think fashion just has to mean "spend as much as possible to indicate status". What I do think you should indicate, is the authentic you, your real interests - especially your active interests, the things you actually do with your life - outdoorsy activities, bands you like, etc. I think that what you wear, should reflect what you're really about. I don't think you'll get too far with women by wearing someone else's uniform, so to speak. I had a few "dudebro" clothes back then, because I thought it was the thing to do at the time. But it didn't land me a cheerleader, because I was never going to be that guy inside or out, no matter what I was wearing. In a sense, the statement of "it's what's on the inside that counts" is right. But, it helps you be more interesting to others, and feel more comfortable in your own skin, to express what's inside, outwardly.
All in all I agree, fashion expresses outwardly, what we feel about ourselves inside - and for that matter what we feel about life and the world. But, I think it's important to dress in a way that accurately represents your true interests and personality - which is often the basis for our connection with others - rather than just trying to use fashion to flex.