The fashion variable

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For a male who is seeking a female, is there any particular advice any NT women could give on styles of dress that are appealing or unappealing?

I have no idea what NTs think about fashion, and mostly haven't cared, so I dress the way I like to look.

as it is now, I wear black jeans(not baggy, but not extremely tight either), black boots, either a black t-shirt or underarmor(I love the compression from underarmor), and a black, slightly old and ratty trench coat(I like the weight), and long black satin gloves. I have black hair about mid back length, usually in a braid, I'm clean shaven, have a fairly dark(for a Caucasian) complexion, and eyes that change color through green/blue/brown. I'm 5'9" and about 155 lbs, and athletic(a runner), and I tend to sit at the back of rooms quietly (I'm 22, btw). I occasionally wear a chain for a belt.

How will women perceive my appearance? scary? How could I tailor my appearance to give different impressions? is my appearance totally wrong for getting the attention of women?

Well, what I am visualizing is a little scary. Is the style a bit goth-like? Sorry if I am way off. I am not good at visualizing things, LOL. Wearing all black with a trench coat doesn't exactly beg women to come over and chat. I would imagine you don't look very "approachable." Im sure some women would like the look, but I doubt the majority would.

There is nothing wrong with dressing that way-- but nothing wrong with wearing colors other than black too

I don't care about fashion much. Jeans and T-shirts or long sleeved shirts can look fine, just make sure they are clean and not "ratty." This probably isn't much help, but it's my opinion

Why don't you post a picture of yourself in your regular outfit? You can always blur or cut out your face if you don't want to be recognised. It may help women visualise what you're trying to describe.

Unqualified advice:

Think of a famous guy who is attractive to women
who you would like to be in a masquerade (or a Halloween costume) if you can.
If you believe that your true self is close to how you perceive that famous person,
then try to adopt his style in this sort of way. You can be yourself and like him too.

I do not follow my own advice since I haven't wore a costume since childhood and
I do not have a famous role model. Feel free to flunk-mark this advice if it flunks.
IIRC this advice is from 1988, from an NT to myself, in College.

I think that this might be a way to use fashion to communicate who you are.

I found some pictures, but am not allowed to post links due to not having been here long enough. I've been lurking without registering for awhile until I ran into a topic I particularly had something to say about.

I'm not exactly sure what goth-like entails, but I think it is vaguely, yes.

You would have to know enough about an attractive famous person who you
think is like your self, whom you could change your appearance to look
more like, to use that advice. Otherwise it is useless advice. Just pretending to
be any famous person may be as hard as pretending to be NT, and it is probably
a very creepy thing to do. The point is to adopt the style of a famous person
who looks and acts similar to your true personality --- AND is also known for being
attractive to women.

I suppose an alternative is to get a "fashion makeover". That, which I have never
done, I think involves buying or borrowing the services of a fashion expert to
design an attractive style for you specifically to adopt as your own style.

Remember the obvious fact that fashion is always going out of style, which is
why it might be better to emulate a famous person than always be getting
makeovers. Honestly, I don't know what I am talking about. Just stating
observations from my point of view and I'm not qualified to advise you
on this topic.

You do sound totally goth. So goth girls would probably dig you.

If you are attracted to other types of girls besides the gothic kind, then trying dressing in the style of the boys those kinds of girls go out with. Seriously, just look at their boyfriends and observe their clothing and hairstyles. Do they wear skinny hipster jeans and Chuck Taylors? Or preppy shirts and pants from Abercrombie and Fitch? Use your AS powers of attention to detail to figure it out.

Chuck Taylors are also referred to as Converse All-Stars. They are the favored footwear of a subculture known as "hipsters".

I think you're probably wrong about there not being any goths in Arkansas--they are everywhere, and seem to be particularly spawned by the suburban Bible Belt. In fact, I did a quick Google for "arkansas goth" and got a dating site for goths in Arkansas on the very first page of hits.

Well, if you value your look, but want to be more approachable you can alter it pretty minimally and have that go a long way. Feel free to listen or disregard as you see fit, because I'm more than willing to admit that some women go for things I will never understand. But, in my (never) humble opinion:

1. Swap the black jeans for regular blue jeans. Monochromatic can be intidimating in any color, but all black is pretty intense. It probably seems to others like you WANT to look scary.

2. Ditch the satin gloves. I don't know if some companies actually make satin gloves for men or if you are actually wearing women's gloves. Either way, it's going to LOOK like you're wearing women's gloves. That kind of cross-gender signal is going to confuse people as to what gender you're actually looking for in a partner.

3. You said your hair is medium length and usually braided, but more important, is your hair clean/neat? Unless they have dredlocks, men have to work harder at their long hair than women do, because women can make messy long hair work. On a man, it just makes him look like a slob. I don't know why this is, but trust me.

4. Lose the chain belt. In addition to vague connotations of violence, the chain has the added effect of making a person look immature. Chain belts are what 14-year-old boys wear because they think it looks cool. And since at 22, I'm going to assume you're not in the market for 14-year-old girls, you'll do better without it.

5. As far as the trenchcoat...I'd say it's a question of how you wear it...Do you take it off when you go indoors (i.e., do you wear it like a coat?) or do you leave it on as part of your ensemble? If you're wearing the coat like it's another shirt, try letting it be a coat and taking it off when you go inside. Worn 24/7, people will start to think you have a rifle under it.