To think that skinny doesn't equal pretty?

[MandyMcFly]

One of the prettiest most attractive women I know, is not super skinny, a size 14 she is. Lovely curves and a beautiful face.

A girl I know said about her today 'Yeah, she'd be lovely if she was skinny'

No, she's lovely the way she is. And whilst there are plenty of very slim women who are stunning, I dont think that you have to neccesarily be skinny.

Unfortunately it seems that in this society you have to be really thin to be considered beautiful and glamourous. I am a size 12, and spend so much time feeling worthless because I'm not as thin as I'd like to be, and that's not right is it. Im happy with every other aspect and that's enough for me!

So to all women who are not as small as maybe they want to be, you can still be just as beautiful, the most stunning woman I know is a size 14.

Yes, it's funny, my dh prefers fatter women, ( and I've been with him long enough to know that's true).... yet I want to be skinny.....it's pressure from other women I think...

YANBU. I saw a gorgeous girl yesterday with a tanned, slightly podgy belly showing under her cropped t-shirt. She was knockout. About a size 14 too.

But skinny can also be pretty. As long as someone isn't at the extreme end of the spectrum (emaciated or obese) then they can look fab.

"Ulrika Johnson and Penny Smith?! No contest.

Penny Smith looked about 10 times more attractive."

Couldn't disagree more, Ulrika is much better looking. You wouldn't look twice at Penny Smith if she walked past you on the street.

Agree that it's women who tend to think skinny is better. And women who make nasty comments about fatter women. Men are generally much more able to see the beauty in a woman of any size.

The prettiest women I know, I suspect would like to lose some weight, yet I would say they look lovely.

Oh and another one here who knows sizes are getting bigger.

When I was 20, I weighed seven stone and was 5'4.5" tall. I wore a size 10. No smaller sizes existed. (Size 8 was introduced when I was about 22, and by then I was about 7st 7 and couldn't fit into it.) Now, at 45, I am 9st 2 and I wear a size 10 on the bottom half. I can sometimes get into an 8. I wear a 12 on the top half, my bust measurement is 38". When I were a lass, 32" chest = 10, 34" = 12, 36" = 14, 38" = 18. I would have been in a size 18 top in 1970! Yet I am now considered slim in 2010.

someone semi decent looking and a cracking personality is more attractive than a model sized no mark anyway... i think as long as you're within boundaries of healthy weight and your face isn't unpleasant, if you're funny and have something to say for yourself, men AND women will be drawn towards you. sexiness is way more a state of mind.

I come from a petite family and am the largest of the lot (currently size 14, post baby, aiming for 12) I have a cousin roughly the same age who's also had a baby. She is skinnier, I'm prettier, but I will forever feel inferior to her and a couple of aunts who are also skinny and do the old looking up and down thing.

I just don't know how - and can't afford - to dress for my size. Therefore I always look like a bit of a bag lady whereas my cousin looks well dressed all the time. It's much easier to look presentable if you're a skinny minnie unfortunately.

Not so sure about Ulrikaka.

She has a sort of hardened/set look about her. The one that people who are working terribly hard to look a certain way seem to get.

Angelina has it now and Amanda Holden. It looks like they are preoccupied and sort of laquered. One false move and it'll all fall over - as though they are concentrating very hard on it all. Being thin like that looks uncomfortable.

I think the people who look comfortable in their own skin look lovely. They have an inner confidence no matter what their size. Or age come to that.

The trouble is so many of us dont have that inner confidence (me included) because it takes a massive amount of certainty in who you are in this day and age to shrug off the rubbish that is incessantly pushed at you from day one about what is 'perfect' and rise above it.

I don't know Tarty McFarty I think I can dress very well for a 12-14. I know my body type and what suits me (I am a pear shape). People have assumed I am a size 10 just because I will wear what suits me and feel confident in it. Unfortunately I am wearing a 16 at the moment as I have put on weight but I think I look fab at 12-14! I suppose because I feel confident I make choices to show off my good points and not cover up which always makes you look bigger and a bit drab. My friend is a size 16 and always looks good - in fact she is my most stylish friend as she wears great clothes, isn't afraid of colour or looking a bit sexy and likes herself :)

HI ,
A GOOD FRIEND OF MINE IS A GOOD SIZE 16-18 AND IS VERY ATTRACTIVE AND NEVER SHORT OF COMPLIMENTS ON A GIRLS NIGHT OUT!
ALLOT OF THIS IS ALSO DUE TO THE PERSON SHE IS.. HAPPY, FUN, OUTGOING, SMILEY AND COMES ACROSS AS CONFIDENT. SHE ALWAYS LOOKS SMART , TRENDY AND IS A GOOD FRIEND.
ME, I AM A SIZE 14 IN MOST SHOPS BUT LESS CONFIDENT ABOUT MY SIZE. ALTHOUGH IM 5FT8 ISH I HAVE THE BABY BELLY WHICH HAS GONE SOUTH AND HATE IT. I DO HIDE IT WELL IN CLOTHES AND FORTUNATELY HUBBY LOVES ME THE WAY I AM. SO ITS REALLY HOW I FEEL ABOUT MYSELF.
XX

I'd love to be like that nikki, but it just doesn't come naturally to me. That's what I mean when I say it'd be easier to be presentable if I were smaller. High street stuff is designed for smaller sizes so is always going to look good in a size 8/10. I need to be Gokked (but wouldn't have the balls!)

Prettiness isn't dependent on size at all. I haven't particularly found that men prefer bigger/curvier women but I guess that's because I'm quite tiny, ergo the men I've been out with tend to prefer skinnier women! I prefer cuddly men, and I think six packs are weird.

Don't buy into the hype. Rise above it. I am a size 14 and happy. My sister is a size 8 and happy. Anyone that thinks size and beauty are linked is misguided.

Nigella is utterly gorgeous, and even larger as she is now I wld SO love to look like her.

One of the most beautiful women I have ever known was about a 16 or 18 I guess. She was slightly plump, statuesque. She looked liked Catherine Zeta Jones but with dark olive skin. Gorgeous, people would literally lose their ability to speak when she was there. She hated herself because she was not slim. Constantly dieted, just could not see her beauty. Such a waste.

I almost always been a size 14-16 (i'm 5ft 5) and I've hated my body for as long as I can remember, probably from around age 11.

When I had severe anxiety for a few years (2008 & 2009) I managed to get down to a small size 12 and I still thought I was far too fat compared to other women.

I am pregnant now and hate the way I look even more. I will never be skinny, I know that; I have to work super hard, just to get down to a 12, size 14 is natural for me. However, I know that sadly I will always hate the way I look, even though I can see how beautiful other women are at a size 14/16. My dp despairs of me as he thinks I look amazing, I just can't see what he does.

Generally most woman looke better thinner than fatter - with a few exceptions, usually those who have spectacularly voluptuous hourglass figures rather than short arses who carry their weight round their waist.

Sizing in UK has definitely changed and means nothing when I was 18 I wore a size 8/10 in Next. 15 years later I still wear a Next size 10 only I am almost 20lbs heavier - go figure.

I have always read than men go for the all important boob-wast-hip ration more than size anyway... Hence the nation's love of a certain female chef.. (that and she says things like "I just love licking my creamy mound"

there is a girl at my sons school who i often see walking around town ,i think she is a most beautiful creature ,but according to my son she is 'obese' and hideous . She is possibly a 16/18 but tall and has the most wonderful face ,very sophie dahl . My son pointed out his freinds new girlfriend to me as we were driving along and she is super skinny ,has that bleach blonde matted effect hair and you cant see her eyes for the black centipedes which have crawled onto her face and died . Apparently she is the epitome of beauty , i despair i really do

I'm a size 18 and I'm bloody gorgeous It is mostly about body confidence though. I've learnt after years of bullying about my size that I'm still attractive I put effort into my hair make up and clothing and yes I do feel damn sexy stood next to a size 8 but if they're confident and think they're sexy and I'm hideous so be it I know what I think of myself and I love myself

I'm naturally fairly skinny, and would love to be curvier/heavier. I totally agree that you have to choose between your face and your arse as you get older - I'd look substantially younger if my face wasn't so slim. I have so many friends with beautiful daughters, but those girls torture themselves trying to fit into what they perceive as gorgeous - size 8 clothes, too much makeup and over processed hair. Thankfully my dh loves me regardless, but there is no question that he would find me far more attractive a stone heavier!

Oh I know bumpsoon! Teenagers have no idea!
The 'prettiest' girl in the 6th form where I work has bleach blonde hair, is stick thin and puts her make up on with a trowel. The boys salivate over her. They barely notice the really beautiful girls, who are often very understated, or don't conform to the conventional standard. But then you just have to look at photos of supermodels when they were younger. Kate Moss looked like a ginger frizzy haired goof as a young girl, but is stunningly attractive(well,was before the smoking and drinking took their toll). I've found the same true in real life as well. Having recently had an old school reunion, the girls who were regarded as pretty when I was 16, generally looked quite bland and could pass for any middle aged woman in the street, whereas the real stunners now, were girls who barely got a look in back then. I'm a firm believer that most people have a 'time' when they reach their peak, and if you peak too early it's all downhill...

I think some woman look better with some weight and some woman look better if they lose a bit of weight.
I am usually a size 12 but have lost a lot of weight(through stress) and i am now a size 8.
I look absolutely terrible at a size 8 and attracted much more male attention when i was a size 12. I just look haggard now. However,there are some women who would look better at a size 8 than a size 12, it depends on your body frame.

SLIQ Good for you. Have a choccie biccie with me?

I'm currently at the bigger end of size twelve but was a 16-18 until a year ago. There is no doubt in my mind that I look better now than I did then. Clothes fit me properly for a starter. Having said that, even when I was bigger, I still made an effort with the make-up/hair/clothes and I don't think I looked bad, just not as good as I could.

I would kill to look like Nigella, though. I'd choose looking like her over Ulrika anyday. Ulrika looks like she's on the verge of going on the pull at a Yates's Wine Lodge, looking for "younger meat". Eugh.

Just coming to say 2 things.

1. Marilyn was not fat. The myth about her being a size 16 comes from a dress from Some Like It Hot that was auctioned a few years ago. She was pregnant at the time and later miscarried. And even then it was something like a 28inch waist - hardly huge. She was very slim. If she looks curvy in photos it's because she had boobs and because air-brushing wasn't done back then. Also women weren't as toned / didn't go down the gym as much.

1. My friend (size 12/14) recently made her own dress from a 1950s vogue pattern. She had to make the size 18/20...!