It is more important, however, for a disappearee to dress so as not to attract attention than it is for him to dress for disguise. A person who was a carpenter in his old identity and switches to masonry work should not go around dressed in three-piece suits in his off hours to disguise himself. Rather, he should attempt to blend in with his surroundings as best as possible. There are other ways to alter the appearance without changing the way one dresses.
One of the surest ways to avoid recognition is to wear glasses, especially sunglasses, if you did not wear them previously. Many people look very similar if one judges them by height, weight and hair coloring. So many times someone will only recognize you at the moment they make eye contact. Clear eyeglasses are an excellent disguise for the person that never wore glasses. And while sunglasses may seem inappropriate for many occasions, a person who always wears tinted glasses or sunglasses will not stand out once people are used to them.
Some other simple methods for disguising the appearance are changing hair color and hair style, removing any jewelry that you customarily wear, wearing different colored clothing than you might normally wear, growing or shaving facial hair, and getting dentures if you've needed them for a while anyway.
A drastic weight change affects the appearance in several ways. A man who was a consistent forty pounds or more overweight in his original existence will drastically change his gait, general appearance, features and the very shape of his face simply by knocking off the spare tire. And it isn't that hard to do--I've done it myself. Several times.
The congenitally skinny people have a different weight problem, for which I know of no solution. I know several thin people who could eat everything on the menu of an Italian restaurant three times a day and not gain anything but heartburn for their efforts. These kind of people will have to find some other way to disguise themselves.
One is also recognized by the general appearance of the head and face, which is different than being recognized by your features. It is this facet of identification that enables one to recognize a friend seen dimly through the side window of his car as he drives by in the rain.
Changing the length of hair is a good way to alter the shape of the head. Your disappearance may be the occasion for a crew cut or even a Yul Brynner cue-ball bob. Eyeglasses change the shape of the head while they hide the eyes. Beards and mustaches change the shape of the face, though they may not be appropriate in certain communities or professions. Taking up smoking cigarettes or a pipe will have the effect of changing your facial appearance, particularly in profile.
It is probably more difficult to permanently change your voice than any other aspect of your identity. A person's friends can usually recognize him by voice alone. If one speaks with an accent or in a dialect it is best to get rid of it pronto and learn "standard" American English. Of course, this is easier said than done. But if a man is clever enough and determined enough to change his identity, the task of changing his language should not be beyond his reach.
A great many of our language habits are a product of the environment we find ourselves in. It is very important that the identity changer adjust his speech to fit in with his surroundings. A white collar executive who turns to the building trades in his new life better learn to cuss a good streak, and learn it quickly. Four-syllable words are seldom uttered on Alaskan fishing vessels. Highbrow language will make you stand out like a sore thumb in a blue collar existence. If you are making a big change in status, it is best to keep quiet for awhile anyway until you learn the ropes. Fortunately, it is a lot easier to fall into the vocabulary of your class than it is to change an accent or dialect.
It really isn't that practical to change one's features, which is often accomplished through plastic surgery. And if you make changes of your hair, facial hair, eyes (by wearing glasses or switching to contacts) you will also alter your features well enough to disguise yourself in most instances.
One exception would be scars or other glaring marks of identification. In many cases scars and other marks can be disguised with makeup or facial hair, and often as not the people who have them have been disguising them for years already. I met one disappearee who claimed to have had a spectacular set of buck teeth, so bad that, as he put it, he could "eat corn on the cob through a picket fence." The first thing he did when he vanished was have a dentist replace his protruding front teeth with a bridge, and it changed his appearance from night to day.
Hair dye for a man is often more trouble than it's worth. A dye job has to be continuously touched up or it becomes painfully obvious and a distraction to boot. The possible exception is for a man whose hair is bright orange because their aren't many people with naturally orange hair. A phone contact I made who was in this situation said he felt a cue-ball haircut was the best way to deal with it. He would rather run an electric razor over his head now and then than to always be monkeying around with a chemistry set. A hair dye job on a man will be talked about to no end if it is noticed, and talk is one thing the disappearee wants to avoid.
Location is a seldom appreciated method of personal identification, and it plays into the hands of the vanisher. One often fails
