When I am asked what to pay attention to at the first date, my answer is always this: it is like a job interview because you may only get 1 hour to convince the other party that it is worth meeting again.

A typical mistake is wearing too casual or too formal clothes as the former gives nothing extra, while the latter may create a distance if the other party isn’t dressed just as elegantly. One must try to look good but stay within certain boundaries: the golden mean is the best strategy to follow. Women must also make sure that their they apply a bit of makeup not to look tired. In one of my cases Gábor, a 63-year-old retired physicist, an intelligent, smart and exciting person, lost his wife after 40 years of marriage. A couple of years later he met Hajnalka, a 57-year-old lady, who was pretty, intelligent and looked younger than her age. They decided to go on a date: they wanted to take a pleasant walk in a park on an autumn day. They were supposed to meet at 10:00 and Gábor called me at 10:30, saying that he thinks he had seen Hajnalka but she pretended she hadn’t recognised him. I asked Gábor about his outfit and he said he had chosen a ski suit because he used to wear that when he went on walks with his wife. Gábor is rather fat and he didn’t look appealing at all in that outfit – in the 40 years of not dating he forgot about having to choose something more manly-looking and attractive. Hajnalka also made a mistake: she didn’t take into consideration that Gábor hadn’t practiced courting for 40 years. She should have been more tolerant and if the first date otherwise worked out, they could have arranged to meet again at a more elegant place where most probably Gábour would turn up looking smarter – they could have continued getting to know each other.