It didn't matter. Girls would stare when I walk around. That's never happened to me before lifting. Of course that boosts my confidence which exudes even more confidence.
You know the joke where people teach you how to be attractive and the first thing you need is "be handsome"? It's similar to lifting weights. You only get the confidence after people find you attractive.
You could just dress well, colorful or freaky (essentially dress with more confidence) and get stared at as well if that's what boosts your confidence.
My only point really is that they/whoever needs to find something that boosts THEIR confidence and not blindly follow things that worked for someone else in their specific situation.
There's nothing arbitrary about doing exercise to deal with depression, it's about as effective as therapy or pharmacological treatment, the same cannot be said about dressing well.
Yes. For some, according to the studies I've seen it's no magic cure that works for everyone, just as I said.
Plus there is an obvious issue of people putting their self esteem focus on something else they have little actual control about. That's not a sustainable solution on its own.