to want to meet some fellow scruffs?

[IntergalacticHussy]

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?

[Meteorite]

And hello from another one who can't be doing with glamming up every day. Life's too short to spend each morning umming and aahing over scarves, jewellery and shades of eyeshadow. Jeans and T-shirt will do fine :)

[bangcrash]

You are right decapitated Legoman, its a fab celebration of the utilitarian, bobbled and wilted. My best friend is super glam and I think she looks great and I know she has fun. I am sad that the op felt she didn't fit, can't stand all those makeover shows that take a perfectly fine woman and make her look more blinging then sneak back to prove her failure when she has reverted to her own style whether it is too stuffy, tarty or alternative for on trend tastes.

I loathe the pressure on girls to groom and dress up and thank god that when I cared in the 80s all you needed was big hair and bright lipstick to be ready to party. I do think as we have got more groomed that we are judged more if we don't conform.

Who else loves walking boots? Sometimes I could almost be fancy until you reach the feet!

[NinkyNonker]

My walking shoes live in the car, but my Emu boots (like Uggs, sorry S&B) are a permanent feature.

[diddl]

"that is hardly bowing to external pressures and demonstrating my innate insecurity! "

I meant when women do it every day & wouldn´t dream of stepping out of the house otherwise.
(Apologies for not making that clear)

And as I also put, if you´re always at your best everyday, where´s the fun in dressing up/getting made up to go out?

[YankNCock]

Another clean-ish scruff here. Jeans and tshirts are my uniform, makeup is only for special occasions, hair is wash-and-go.

Another fellow scruff mum asked me yesterday whether I'd been to a certain soft play centre, and I told her 'Yes, but it's full of THOSE types who look like they spend lots of time getting ready'. She nodded knowingly.

[NinkyNonker]

Oh trust me, I am far from my best! If I'm only round the house, supermarket etc then I don't bother with make up. If I'm going to see friends, a group or into town then I will do minimal make up, just to lessen the scary effects of a perpetual lack of sleep! DH doesn't notice when I do however, so I obviously don't do a great job.

[bangcrash]

Early one morning my aunt got a call telling her to go to hospital as her dh had been in a bad crash. The first thing she did was go upstairs and do her hair and full boots lady make up. Then she went to hospital still in her designer jammies. Think she felt some external pressures.

[stealthsquiggle]

I don't have an issue with people who look all groomed and accessorised - I just want to know how they do it. There are occasions when I really want to look smart - but I will inevitably ladder tights / break a heel / lose an earring / smudge mascara across my face.

Case in point - parents thing tonight. Effortlessly respectable is what I am aiming for - I just know all the skinny fit SAHMs will achieve it, and I will be the odd-one-out fat scruffy WOHM

[projectbabyweight]

I'm even more of a scruff at heart than you'd think to see me.

Can just about manage makeup and nail varnish, but hate clothes. What I'd love is an identical twin who loved clothes shopping and would buy things for me

[MonaLotte]

I don't know what it is but no matter what I do I never seem to achieve that "groomed" look. I feel like an imposter when I try and look smart

It was fine when I was a student, but now I am about to hit 30, I feel like I suddenly need to look like a grown up!

[bintofbohemia]

I blame grunge. I was an impressionable teen in the early 90's and hugely influenced by the whole scruffy scene. It seems to have done something permanent to me, and actually, I'm quite pleased, I'd hate to be as obsessed with my appearance and shopping as my sister who is younger and influenced by much blingier times.

Did recently have a short haircut which makes me look slightly less scruffy. From the neck up, anyway...

[SnakeOnCrack]

Yeah I have NEVER been groomed either!

I wear makeup but in my style, it doesn't make me look glossy..

My hair is difficult to tame so a lot of the time I just shove it up in a clip or a bunch..

I wear jeans or dresses I make myself (bodged most of the time!) with moth eaten or worn out cardigans, half worn out shoes etc.. I just can't do groomed.

There's a girl at work who always looks stunning.. glossy, groomed, highly fashionable. I look at her and think.. HOW do you manage that? Sigh.

But I am happy with my slightly "eccentric" style! I am!

[flooziesusie]

It's not that I feel scruffy (although I am) it's that I feel 'not done'.

When a see someone who is basically wearing the same as me, jeans top and flips for eg; I just think they look better.

That says a lot more about my state of mind than my wardrobe.

oh, god. now I feel

[mustdash]

I feel I have come home.

[Calabria]

Old scruff bag here. Especially since a random dog decided to put its muddy feet on my trouser leg on the way to school.

[StickyGhost]

However long I take getting ready and whatever clothes I buy I still look 'casual' (aka scruffy). Maybe some people are just born glam or something?

[Vintagepommery]

I think I'm genetically scruffy too. I don't think my figure helps- I can never find trousers to fit so they're either too long or I take them up which looks a bit crap. And because I have narrow shoulder my bra straps are always hanging down, needing to be hoiked up. So even if i were to buy new smart clothes there's an inbuilt scruffyness.

[IndieNile]

Ive never mastered the well-groomed look, even when I wear brand-new clothes and my make-up is immaculate there seems to be something not right. Ive decided its because of my hair - even if Ive just come from the hairdressers it goes its own way within minutes, waving in all directions.<br /> Well-groomed people always seem to have thick, straight hair.<br /> To be honest Im not prepared to spend hours worrying about my appearance. My clothes are clean, I`m clean and what you see is what you get.

[bamboobutton]

i'm a scruff

usually wear jeans & t-shirt, hair in a bun or plait, converse or flip flops on my feet.

today i am wearing old yoga pants, with some very attractive orange zigzag stitching at the hems from a CBA attempt at hemming them, an old boden tunic with holes, my seen better days sheepskin moccasins and have my hair up like helga from 'Allo 'Allo.

i am packing up the house though, wouldn't pop down the shops like this.

[Rubyx]

i can't wear stuff which isn't ironed, or too creasy,, other than that i consider myself a lived in scruff too.

[lljkk]

Signing in.
Yesterday friend and I were comparing notes on how many weeks days we could go without washing trousers, stretching right up to the reasonable limits of marked, stretched & smelly. Only I think she's quite glam because she gasp dyes her hair regularly & even wears make up most days.

Right, I'm off. I have to go train for a triathlon (GULP!) and nobody cares how groomed I look for that.

[ladybutterfly1]

i think if everyone wore the same it would be a boring world it nice to look different not everyone can afford to buy new every wear you look in town everyones more or less dressed the same being an individual is good we dont all want to look like we walked of the only way is essex set.

[Iamjustthemilkmachine]

Can i join? I cut my own hair and actually look worse with make up than without. And i'm still in pjs...

[Lio]

I can't help noticing that we all seem quite happy about being scruffy. I never brush my hair and I don't care, I think I look nice. Having said that, once my jeans wear out completely at the crotch it's time to ask my sister for another pair of hand-me-downs