There you see the typical evils of flash mounted on the camera with those terrible hard shadows. When flash is use directly like this it's also very unnatural looking - in everyday life we're used to our light sources coming from above - not from between our eyes, unless we're potholing and wearing a helmet lamp.
Bouncing the flash fom the ceiling or an adjacent wall spreads and softens the light from the flash and gives a softer appearance, as well as diffusing those hard shadows. White clothes are best avoided with flash as it's almost certain to over-expose and detract from your main subject.
Better still though is to take these type of shots by available light near a window - overcast days are actually better for this than when there's sunlight streaming through the window, when everything gets too contrasty. Lovely soft natural light, you can't beat it!
Good effort Wez and I like your composition with the arm giving that strong diagonal line - do it again by natural light and you'll see a huge difference.