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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to want to meet some fellow scruffs?

271 replies

IntergalacticHussy · 27/09/2011 14:01

Maybe I'm just having a bad day, but lately i've started to feel like i'm the only person in the world who doesn't look like they've just stepped out of a catalogue

I mean, not that there's anything wrong with that, if it's what you want, but didn't there used to be other ways of looking?

I was going to this meetup, (i'm new round here) organised by the Other Place, and i'm afraid I just bottled it. Probably says more about my judgypants than anything else, but my heart sank when I saw everyone else turning up, perfectly groomed in brand-new looking clothes, immaculate and pushing buggies that looked like they'd been purchased yesterday. I just suddenly felt like i'd spend the whole time feeling apologetic and uncomfortable so i sort of skulked away feeling crap.

It's not that i look terrible (i hope), i just don't mind if my jeans are a bit faded, or i'm wearing a top I bought two years ago, or if dd's going around in a pushchair that's seen better days. I quite like having things with a bit of history to them; second hand stuff/ the odd vintage thing. I avoid ironing if i possibly can and think dd2 looks perfectly ok in dd1's slightly worn hand-me-downs, unless we're off to a wedding or something.

And please dont' think i'm just having a go at other mothers, it's bloody everyone; all dads under 45 seem to dress the same way, all teenagers have the same floppy, assymetric haircut... when i were a lass we had actual subcultures; grungers, skater-punks, indie-kids, goths, trendies...

i know it's ironic to be a non-conformist wishing she knew some other non-conformists, but i can't help wondering if anyone else feels the same?

OP posts:
pyjamasinbananas · 27/09/2011 14:05

Scruff here!! I live in jeans and plimsolls and quite frankly have better things to spend money on than outfits that will be destroyed by 2 toddlers Grin
And my kids wear asda and tesco clothes not Boden. In fact I should have called DS George to avoid ever having to put name labels in anything

Original poster
IntergalacticHussy · 27/09/2011 14:08

pity that's my FIL's name or i'd have that one earmarked for future arrivals too!

i'm a recent Asda convert (god, i can't believe how much money we've saved since we started shopping there!) and got both dd's winter coats there the other week. just in time for the indian summer Hmm

OP posts:
ripstheirthroatoutliveupstairs · 27/09/2011 14:13

I'm older than you, and wiser than you and probably scruffier than you. TBH, I can't be arsed with dressing up except for weddings and do's.
It has been good to move to England away from the designer wearing, manicured, pedicuared, waxed, blowdried and undoubtedly vajazzled women at DDs last school.
Her current one has a mixed bag, I am def one of the oldest mums and probably the least stylish. The women at this school do at least talk to you about things rather than whether NY fashion week was a must or a luxuary. It was a given that Paris and Milan would be attended. They were virtuallly next door.

LunaticFringe · 27/09/2011 14:14

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

pyjamasinbananas · 27/09/2011 14:14

Asda is brilliant!! Tesco have better clothes sales though! Hmmm must get a life at some point!

Original poster
IntergalacticHussy · 27/09/2011 14:15

god that sounds even worse than where i'm living! I take it you were somewhere on the continent then?

OP posts:
Chundle · 27/09/2011 14:18

Scruffypants that's me! I live in jeans and tshirt and trainers and I love it

PopcornMouse · 27/09/2011 14:20

Scruff here! My DH is a scruff too. He actually tries very hard to look smart for work and the like, but try as he might, he is and will always be a scruff. I call him my sexy yeti Blush

crazynanna · 27/09/2011 14:25

I look so scruffy,people throw change at me as I wait for my cab outside Tescos! Grin

Takes too bloody long getting dolled up,anyway.
If it smells ok,and there are no marks...I'm wearing it Wink

Zippylovesgeorge · 27/09/2011 14:26

Even if I was wearing something brand new - I'd still look scruffy.

I don't mind scruffy as long as stuff is clean - scruffy yes but dirty no.

Original poster
IntergalacticHussy · 27/09/2011 14:27

crazynanna - i agree, except sometimes if i'm in a rush and a babywipe won't remove everything dd2 has smeared on my top, i have been known to forgo the 'no mark's rule on the afternoon school run Blush

OP posts:
SpringHeeledJack · 27/09/2011 14:27

scruff here too

in fact my whole family are scruffs

I fear it is genetic

pyjamasinbananas · 27/09/2011 14:30

DP despairs of how scruffy we are. But yet still won't buy us new nicer clothes he approves off so being scruffy has become revenge Grin

Ormirian · 27/09/2011 14:30

I tend to agree that more people look groomed these days than they once did. It's as if everyone owns hair straighteners and put on full smack every time they go out. Nothing wrong with that as you say, but it tends to makes those of us who favour the 'natural look' feel like Stig of the Dump Grin

noyouhavehadawee · 27/09/2011 14:32

I am a scruff and proud - i am a clean scruff though and i think thats important. I live in my jeans and plims and am so pleased my jeans were trailing so much and worn threw holes at bottom that i just merely hacked off a good 4 inches and now they are perfectly freyed. I like to think people will look at me on the school run and realise they can save themselves minutes if nto hours bu just simply looking like a rag bag. It is liberating.

DreamsOfSteam · 27/09/2011 14:33

Im a scruff. No matter what I do Im a scruff to the core! I just don't 'get' how to be any other way! Grin

Original poster
IntergalacticHussy · 27/09/2011 14:34

pyjamas - ah, the old scruffy guilt trip Wink perhaps you could try a Homer Simpson-esque grocery bag tied round the waist with string?

OP posts:
Original poster
IntergalacticHussy · 27/09/2011 14:35
OP posts:
PetiteRaleuse · 27/09/2011 14:36

I'm a scruff. I live in running bottoms and flipflops. At work I upgrade to jeans and trainers.
Dressing up for a special event is a major source of stress to me.

weblette · 27/09/2011 14:36

Another scruff reporting for duty.

pyjamasinbananas · 27/09/2011 14:37

Tis very important to be clean scruff

wigglesrock · 27/09/2011 14:38

Another major scruff here Grin I have to get a photo taken later to update my driving license and husband is taking it into work to get verified, am in a tizz about what to wear apart from the babys' dinner!

Squitten · 27/09/2011 14:39

Another scruff here! I live in plain tops, jeans and trainers. This morning, I had no time to wash my hair before library group so was a bit greasy on top to boot. By the time we had done crafts in the library and had lunch, DS1 was covered in glitter, DS2 was covered in sandwich and his buggy needed to be hoovered when we got home!

You are not alone OP!

pearlym · 27/09/2011 14:40

i seem to have a sort of scruffy face, so even when really smart for work, my scruffy little face at the top of it spoils it a bit.

PersonalClown · 27/09/2011 14:40

Make room for me.
Jeans are a given. Usually t shirts.

Hair brushed and tied back (Can't be fucked with straighteners and all that bollocks).

The highlight of my day is choosing my shoes! Slightly grubby white Nikes today. One of my many pairs of Converse tomorrow.

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