How important is how you look to you?

[sayalittlerayer]

Body, hair, makeup, clothes, etc etc etc.
What's important to you and what's not important and why?
Approaching 45 and trying to suss out a balance and looking at reasons as to what makes me feel good/not so good, I think I dress quite youngish for my age. I like to look nice but realise a more mature, demure approach is on the horizon.

Ha. I always thought, when I was much younger, that I would dress more mature and demure as I got older. Well I'm 57 and I'm still waiting to reach that horizon. It's still young/trendy/sexy all the way for me.

More important than ever tbh, certainly not demure, a slight rock chick/ hippie vibe in decent fabrics.

I like Patti Hansens style. Don't show much flesh though so perhaps that is demure.

I’m 35 and feel a real shift since my birthday a few months ago. In all honesty I’m unhappy about the way I look and feel like I need to make a lot of major changes.

For me the most important things are weight, skin and hair. Unfortunately, I’m the biggest I’ve ever been (a size 12) and whilst I’m not fat by modern standards I certainly don’t feel myself anymore. The extra size is ageing me. At a size 8 I can wear anything. I do take care of my skin and think that’s the most important. My hair is very long and very curly and I think I need to make some major changes to it and make an effort to style it properly instead of putting it in a bun every day.

I also think I dress too old and too formally for my age.

I’ll never be an instagram selfie queen and I’m not interested in looking “basic”. Fake nails, hair, tan, teeth, lashes etc are not me at all and I don’t do all the highlighting and contouring. I like a classic look and I’m more of an Audrey Hepburn than a Kim K. I think for me, moving it towards more of a Parisian style - a bit more edgy than my usual would work.

It’s hard. I feel very in between!

Very. I will never let myself go unless I am too ill. And then I’ll probably pay someone to tart me up!

It's more important to me than it probably should be. I use up a lot of headspace worrying about what I look like. I'm in my 30's and still feel like I don't know what my style is. It transitions from rock chick to simple white t-shirt & floral skirt, depending on how I feel that day. I'm a bit Jekyll & Hyde with my dress sense.

I do know that I prefer more understated makeup nowadays. I use a BB cream rather than a foundation, bit of bronzer in the summer, mascara and a lip balm. In my early 20s I'd wear a full face of makeup every day. My body could do with shaping up after two DC but I lack motivation in this area. I enjoy food a lot and don't always have the willpower to make good food choices. So I would say how I look is important to me but I'm still figuring out what that look is.

Also it’s very important to me because I’m single and it’s hard being single in your 30s...no matter how much you’ve worked on your inner life and qualities men are visual creatures and I need to believe a guy could still fancy me!

When I was young it was very important and I was probably obsessed my looks because I got looked at a lot and got a lot of compliments about my appearance.

Now I'm 47 I don't care much at all. I wear makeup and colour my hair, but I don't spend much time, money or effort on it. I look average now. I much prefer not be gawped at, it's very liberating.

I have lots of medical problems. And live with a level of pain everyday. I wear what is comfortable. That’s it. To be honest though. Even before that I wasn’t a fashion person and would just wear what I like. I’m past the point of caring what people think about me anyway

It is for me. I like to look good. I have nice skin, nice hair, im good for my age and feel good too. Im not gonna let myself go.

I know many older women who look nice and care about themselves and i want to be that way.

A couple of things have happened to me lately which have really me rethink the way I look.

Firstly, I hit 65 and then I have been lucky to be invited to a destination wedding in a very stylish foreign city.

For the record, I am a very fit size 10, tallish with good skin (for my age!), but somehow I need to turn this jeans wearing country girl into a mature and stylish woman of the world. So, for the first time in years, I’m looking at clothes, thinking about my hair and make up and generally taking an interest in what i look like. And not before time. I’m more than overdue for an upgrade in the “presentation” department, and I have to admit that making a bit more effort generally has given me a boost.

From now on, what I look like will be higher on my priority list .... just need to find something affordable to wear for this wedding.

Very important - how I look really affects my mood. If I’m having a “bad day” I.e. hair not going right or looking too bloated then it really gets me down. It’s pathetic and wish I didn’t care as much!

Very important to me,I'm approaching 40 next year and I'm dreading the title tbh.I often get told I look younger than I am but the thought of having pronounced wrinkles horrifies me.I get botox on my forehead so I don't have any there.Itll catch me up I'm sure tho.

It’s important to me - far too important. I waste too much time thinking about it. Not loads of time, but any time feels like a waste.
I like the way I look. I don’t obsess about being thinner or spend ages getting ready. I have five minute makeup down to a fine art.
But I wish it wasn’t important to me at all, because I don’t want my feelings of self worth to be in any way connected to the way I look. At the moment, they are.

Not very important. I prefer comfy and practical over stylish and trendy.

I don't dye my hair and am going grey. I don't wear makeup unless I am going out in the evening and then I prefer subtle.

It is important. But mainly because how I look (to myself) on the outside is how I feel inside.
I'm a gym goer and weight lifting is my passion. So I have a bum and chunky thighs/ham strings. Small waist, decent shoulders and flat chest lol.
I am only 5ft so being slightly muscular makes me feel capable and independent.
I have really good skin, my hair I just put in a pony tail.
I like to wear good cut jeans and t-shirts. But do love dressing up to go out.
Good shoes are important to me!

Also- having 2 DD's we talk about how we feel (eg strong, confident, happy etc) rather than how we look (in our household)

I would hate them to think looks are the be all and end all.
Also I hate people talking about diet and 'I'm fat' in front of them. I eat like a horse but stay active so that's fine.

Not at all.

I don’t style or dye my hair. Have never worn makeup.

I wear jeans and t shirts.

I don’t have a mirror, come to think of it! When I do catch sight of myself, I’m just surprised how more white hairs have appeared. My skin is marvellous, though I’ve no idea why.

Very. I'm basically just very vain. I'm struggling at the moment as I'm 4 months PP and my pre-pregnancy clothes just. don't. fit. Trousers are okay, but anything fitted on top isn't working for my anymore. I'm trying to give myself time - especially as I'm BFing - but I find it really hard! My hair's also going all thin and fluffy at the moment, which isn't helping. If I don't feel like I look okay, I don't feel good.

My weight, physique and clothes are important to me - I spend a fortune on a personal trainer and owned 228 dresses alone when I last counted (and have bought more since.)

I’m not at all fussed about makeup or hair. If I learned to do both properly I expect I’d like being in photos a whole lot better but have just never really priorities either: I wear a decent tinted moisturiser and a little bit of mascara and put my hair up in a messy up-so, all of which takes about five minutes.

I think it’s a shame that a lot of women seem to stop bothering as they get older. Maybe it’s because they no longer care, maybe it’s because of poor self esteem and feeling invisible to men so giving up. Who knows. Occasionally I see a really striking older woman - nothing fancy, just obviously spends time in the gym, chooses clothes carefully etc - and aspire to that.

God, yes, it is important. I’m not going gently into that good night!

I am 47 and happily married. Today I wore a nice fitted dress and heels to work and when I went out to get a sandwich at lunchtime I REJOICED (inwardly) whenever a man checked me out.

That is probably really shallow but I don’t care. I spend money on good clothes, I exercise and I make an effort with hair etc. I’ll still be doing that when I am 80!

I waste ZERO time thinking or worrying about it

I resent getting my highlights done as it's 3 hours in the hairdressers but it looks great and means I have to do nothing to my hair so I suck it up

Make up takes me 5 minutes to apply, I have very good skin and hardly any wrinkles so I'm really lucky

I'm far more concerned about health as I've got horrible arthritis so have had to take up proper managed exercise.

I now literally work and go to the gym. It's so boring and so necessary

It's important. I go out with out make up sometimes and with my hair a mess, but generally I like to look good and if I'm fit and healthy and taking good care of myself I FEEL much better than when I'm not.

I care quite a bit

I’m 45 and although I do care, I am more confident to have my own style and not blindly follow fashion. I’m a little quirky, possibly on the boho spectrum somewhere.

I’m also very slim and that matters to me too. I feel good slim

I wear makeup and ‘do’ my hair

It makes me feel like I’ve my own identity styling myself the way I want

I wear clothes that I like, that fit me. I make sure they're not covered in food stains. I wash, I brush my hair & clean my teeth.
I'm fatter than I'd like to be but have had some pain issues that haven't helped with exercise.
To be honest, I can't be bothered with make-up unless I'm going out.
I don't dress or put stuff on my face to please other people. And I don't care if people don't like how I look.