Anyone want to come and mourn the reality vs expectation of new purchases with me?

Colonel Gaddafi - priceless

Oops, that should have read Carole King..not Carly Simon!

Wanted to look on trend for my school photo...
EXPECTATION...lovely flowing gentle curls like Carly Simon...
REALITY.... looked like Nellie's twin from Little HouseOnThePrairie

Many years ago, I saw a beautiful pair of stilettos from a nice shop. They were a classic line and always available so i saved for over 6 months and then saw them reduced in a seasonal sale!! Yes! I got them home and they were stunning! We went out for a meal that night. I teamed them with my black dress - they were perfect. As i walked to the bus stop, i had to keep stopping because they were slipping off 😳😡😢 I never wore them again.

Trying on a long jacket thinking I looked the bees knees and my Dad remarking that I looked like Groucho Marx.
My mum, the hairdresser, insisting on giving 10 year old me a perm. Sadly this was the outcome.

@ifIwerenotanandroid
Thank goodness for your quick thinking

Sadly, no photos exist of it before or after I rescued it. I was desperate: I had it done late afternoon & was going to a party that night!

@ifIwerenotanandroid
Hahahalol...sorry...just picturing your lovely do

As this thread's still going, have this one...

In 1978, I wanted to look like one of the TOTP dance group. She had shoulder-length dark, curly hair. I had long, dark, straight hair. So I got a cut & a perm. When I came out of the salon, I had a fixed, bouffant style which made me look like I was on my way to participate in 'Come Dancing' rather then TOTP. It was made all the more peculiar as I was wearing jeans & a big Aran jumper when I obviously should've worn high heels, 48 layers of eye-wateringly neon net & 10 million sequins which I'd sewn on by hand.

I thought it was a disaster & virtually ran home. I couldn't make it look normal, so I washed it & combed it out, thinking I couldn't make it any worse. Hey presto! I got a beatiful style which I loved until it grew out. I still didn't look like the TOTP dancer, but hey-ho.

I just woke my husband up laughing at these 😂😂😂

Having come of age in the 80's I also have too many to count but at least I was young and thin so probably (mostly) got away with it.

My most recent one was I got my hair cut short a couple of years ago but it didn't suit me in middle age as much as it had when I was younger. To try and offset the butch look while I grew it out I wore a bit more makeup and 'statement ' earrings.
On a night out once with my brother and sister I wore my favourite leopard print coat and whilst at the bar saw my reflection and Pat Butcher staring back at me.
I said as much when I got back to our table and although they protested they laughed a bit too heartily for my liking.
I've not worn that coat since.

Got a BaByliss big hair, expecting bountiful waves and got a big pile of frizz.

Looking at you, mumsnet 😐

I bought what I thought were sort of cherry red slight plasticised trousers that I reckoned would look a bit like leather with a nice slim fit.

They were brown and made me feel like a binman. I kept them for painting in the end.

So so funny. I wanted a short tousled meg Ryan haircut. Except my hair is ginger, fine and straight.

I came out looking like ziggy stardust!

I'm crying laughing at this thread. So many brilliant descriptions!

looked all Bet Lynch and try-hard

When I was 13 i bought a cool zigzag clingy top from next. Really cool and hippy vibe I thought...got home and liz McDonald was wearing it on corrie

Sorry wrong thread! 😂

TMI but I got one of those metal blackhead extraction tools to help with my new skincare routine....Being prone to them on my nose.

Anyway after much research and excitement over my dreams of amazing skin I gave it a bash.

Woke up the next morning to see Gonzo staring back at me....took about a week to calm down. Never again.

Purchased a Tony & Guy deep barrel waver to recreate 'beachy waves' on my long hair.

Once finished my husband said I looked like Marge Simpson when she has her her down.

Fantasy - thinking brown cord trousers with front pleats, would give a country vibe.

Reality - I looked like Worzel Gummidge 😡 😂 😂 😂

Cropped skinny jeggings, lovely I thought, perfect for warmer weather.
On the model: slender, casual, cool
On me: like the Incredible Hulk was bursting out of his trousers and they were suddenly too short for his tree trunk legs. Oh woe.
And the terrible haircut I got last year. I wanted it short, but I have less than perfect features so not a 'pixie' cut.
What I got: She literally cut it all off. And I mean literally. I had no more than half an inch of hair all over my head. She'd cut it really badly over my ears which was really obvious and I felt like I'd been scalped. I went home and burst into tears. I'm a middle aged woman and I cannot carry off the androgynous look. I felt horribly butch and hid until it grew to a decent length.

These are all brilliant

I thought I would try billowy shirt and waistcoat combo on my 5.4 not slim frame. Expectation: arty free spirit type beauty a la Sarah from Labyrinth.
Reality: Bilbo Baggins.

Beautiful mid length green silk jacket with huge buttons and nipped in waist.
In shop: effortless swishy elegance
Reality: Sergeant Pepper