She arrived dressed to impress. When she saw her first date in a muscle shirt and basketball shorts — she quietly left before he spotted her

Fashion may not be directly correlated to romance, but it does determine the initial spark. One woman, Whitney (@whitthemua), took a phantom exit from a date after realizing he showed up in gym clothes. Right from the beginning, the massive mismatch in effort and expectations left her feeling undervalued, so she took a U-turn and returned home even before meeting him. Her May 2025 video, in which she shared this incident, has garnered more than 1.6 million views.

Dress to impress 

Whitney, a Texas-based content creator, mentioned that although the relationship was not something serious, the way her date showed up for drinks and dinner was off-putting. She said it was “common sense” that since they were going to a restaurant, they needed to look presentable. On the evening of their date, she spotted him before he spotted her, and what she saw in him made her retract her footsteps immediately. Instead of being dressed for a date, he appeared in gym attire with white high socks, a muscle shirt, basketball shorts, and slides. The woman confronted him on the phone and announced that she was going back home. He called her three times, but she didn’t answer.

He 'chose' not to dress up

Later, when the man blamed Whitney for being rude, she bluntly told him that his attire made her feel that she wasn’t respected. This wasn’t the scenario when she met him on an earlier date. On that date, he showed up wearing a nice polo shirt and ripped jeans, as she described in a second video. So she approached TikTok viewers to ask whether she overreacted or if it was right on her part to feel this way. “I am not in the business of telling a grown man how to dress in public,” she asserted.

Dressing up is attractive

In 2011, Men’s Wearhouse's nationwide "Well-Dressed Men" survey revealed that nine in 10 Americans (91%) and nearly 78% of women think that dressing up wisely is one of the most attractive things men can do to impress their date. Nearly two-thirds (64%) said women are more likely to marry a well-dressed man than one who isn’t jazzed up. 85% of women reported that a man who dresses well feels sexier than a man with a lot of money.

Those are house clothes

Viewers reassured Whitney that it wasn’t her fault that she felt disrespected and repulsed by her date. @riannadannese commented, “I feel you, because why don’t you care about impressing me?” @trelz98 remarked about the man’s clothes, saying, “That’s like basically pajamas.”

You can follow Whitney (@whitthemua) on TikTok for lifestyle content and personal storytimes. 

More on Scoop Upworthy

Young Americans are 47% less inclined to date—but the reason has nothing to do with 'love.'

Woman’s Hinge date said he was 36 and divorced, but a $25 background check found no record. Then his wife commented on her post

Woman walks out on a Bumble date after man calls her 'fake' for wearing contact lenses—and honestly, we are on her side