I’ve heard that you want to “look like you are aware of your surroundings” and “look like you are ready to defend yourself”. Unless you are the only target they expect, they’ll probably wait for easier pickins.
I was walking at night in a somewhat seedy part of Seattle about a year ago dressed and noticed this young girl, about 20-25ish, keeping up with me, about a step back, no matter how I adjusted my speed.
I finally stopped, turned to her and asked me if she wanted to walk next to me until she gets to where she was going. She looked up and looked very relieved. Kinda made me feel important, too. :-)
I’m wondering if she learned that somewhere. To a casual observer, it appeared from the beginning that she might be “with me”. Pretty smart, actually.
“Dressed” = “ “
No, I don’t normally walk undressed. That word was part of a comment that I apparently only partly removed. :-(