Growing up, my sister was the pretty one: slimmer on average, with nice, straight hair, better skin, a sense of style and much more knowledge of how to apply make-up well. Taking 2 hours to get ready in the morning definitely paid off for her.
I was the ugly duckling with frizzy hair, bad skin and no dress sense whatsoever. I was also unfortunate enough to have got spectacles AND braces at the same time. My teenage years were horrible and my immediate family constantly reminded me of how pretty my sister was compared to me, to the point where calling me fat and ugly in various disguises became a sport.
While my sister went out to socialise, I stayed in and concentrated on school work and my future career.
She was more successful than me until I moved out and went to university. Even though I had a few mighty fuck-ups in my life, things started to improve rapidly from then on.
Now she is very overweight, unhappy with her life (which shows in her face), has somehow lost all sense of how to use make-up to her advantage (caterpillar eyebrows, anyone?) and dresses practically rather than for beauty. Her heavy smoking habits show.
I, on the other hand, have blossomed. I'm far from perfect, but everything from my hair to my face has improved mightily with age, the braces have paid off, contacts are a life-saver and I have found some clothes to suit my frame. I'm the pretty one now.