He should have dropped her like a rock when she "advised" him not to wear his awesome comic book shirts. If a person doesn't love you for who you are, then you probably shouldn't be with them. I think this is the mistake that many people make (men and women). They meet somebody and put on a show for them, feeding them exactly what they want. They hide their true selves and this "works" for a time. Weeks become months and months become years but eventually playing that role becomes tiresome. You can't continually fake who you are. In time, people just slowly let their true self shine through and then the relationship deteriorates. Simply be yourself and if you that prevents you from getting the girl (or guy), no problem, eventually you will find someone that likes you for you and the two of you will be much happier for it. That is genuine compatibility. To thy own self be true.
I agree with you in principle, but not in implementation. If you have to hide your true self or change your true self, you should not be with someone. I don't consider clothing or my beard or lack thereof an expression of myself. I dress for comfort, or to denote respectability in a formal setting, or professionalism in a work setting. It's not an expression of me. I keep a beard when it's cold and I shave when it's hot. I have read dating guides that rely on evolutionary psychology that say if a man constantly yields to whatever his girlfriend or wife asks, she will eventually lose respect, but that's not intuitive. Intuitively, you should appreciate people doing what you ask. Family, school, the media, church all told me some variation of "happy wife, happy life. Do what she asks." If it's the man's fault to be ignorant of what he was never taught, then ignorance is a crime, so it's also the woman's fault to ask for the opposite of what she wanted. EDIT: I'm also not sure basing one's life on evolutionary psychology is a good idea.
Well to each their own. I may debate many things, but how people approach dating is up to them. On to better things!...