Why are all young girl suddenly good looking?

[PodcastFunFair]

I'm 40 in the 90s I was reasonably attractive by 90s standards.
I was a size 12 blond curly hair, outfit deom topshop and put on nice make up with some Charlie perfume.
I look at my nieces all identikit long smooth hair, make up perfectly put on with false eyelashes, tiny sized, super stylish all could be models from their insta accounts as could their mates is everyone better looking these days or better tools?
Do I need a make up tutorial from one of them so I'm not such an old dog 😂

@jamandmarmaladethesecondcoming

Totally, me and ironing were never a match made in heaven.

Last thing I ever ironed was my wedding dress - looong ago.

I'm a curly girl and proud. I don't think I'd much like to be a teen girl these days tbh. Much more freedom to be who you were and not a copy when it was the 90's - when my heroine was Neneh Cherry.

Not to say it was a all a bed of roses but being indentikit wasn't one of the things I worried overly about.

"More people are a bit curvy, or pear-shaped than are very thin and I think encouraging thinness gets unhealthy for a lot of people."

I disagree because I don't think that many people have a narrow waist compared to bust/hips naturally and if they don't it can't be attained. Being thin can be attained and is not unhealthy unless you're underweight or doing extreme diets.

"Obvs the specific fashionable shape now is not just a large bum, it's a very particular shape of bum, which most people do not have."

Yes, so I don't see how it's better than the 90s look.

Ok well, we disagree.

I don't think its ever healthy for any type of body shape to be in fashion or rated more highly than another. I think today's attitude of be as fat as you like, its beautiful, is as bad as the 90s obsession with being skinny. The problem for me being any link between weight ( a health matter) and beauty (a purely aesthetic one) There is an optimum weight range and body shape for female health, and women should be aware of that for their physical wellbeing. But this is entirely separate to the subjective notion of whether the woman is beautiful or not. Women can be obese and beautiful and severely underweight and beautiful, but neither is desirable for health.

That's very true 5128gap

I do see a difference though between an ideal that encourages skinniness, versus one that accepts obesity.

I always felt my legs were too chunky in the 1990s, as all the women in magazines had gazelle legs. Even when I got down to 56kg in my early 20s which was quite scary for me at 5'7" - the smallest sizes in most shops were still too big (my ideal weight for my frame which tends to the muscular/chonky-limbed side would be 60kg - 75kg and no less than a size 10) my legs were still muscly and I still wasn't thin in the same way as Kate Moss or Audrey Hepburn. At that point I realised fortunately how futile it was trying to follow body shape trends and I was fine just as I was, and would still be fine considerably heavier.

Hepburn was so slight because she didn't have enough to eat during her formative years as an adolsecent in Holland in WWII.

I'm sure she would have hated for anyone to make themselves miserable trying to emulate her frame.

Kate Moss on the other hand...

Yes, quite.

Love that post OP. I get shocked at the ald dog I sometimes see in the mirror 🤣. I think it has changes since then. I agree the whole social media that thing has put the pressure on and we have better 'tools' available now. The make up and hair products I had access to were crap. I didn't have straighteners as think they weren't even available in the 90s. My hair was a wild mess back then so may have helped. The make up and clothes choice felt less than what's available now. Mostly though, I feel that yes we cared about our appearance alot but we didn't have the pressure of this constant social media presence and cameras everywhere. I hope social media all implodes soon. I absolutely loathe it.

Like you op I was slim, not unattractive and fashionable in the 90’s, but I would have not held a candle to the glamour of today, my hair was too frizzy for starters! They have many more tools at their disposal than we had. Clothes and make up are a lot cheaper and I do think that young people have more disposable income than we did, as well as prioritising it differently-I liked clothes and wore a lot of make up but I liked going out on loads more so I had my rotation of outfits which I wore to death. Due to SM young people feel forced to have a new outfit for every night out. I find it very depressing that they dress up just to take photos to put on instagram, to get so dressed up and not even going out after to show of how nice I looked would have been unthinkable.

Online bullying is more than just commenting on pictures you imbecile, give them a break they're kids for Christ sake.

It's the TEETH that do it, I think. As long as we had something to chew with, that passed as fine for my generation.

Yes, that's very true @Alcemeg, although I reckon perfect teeth (or braces) add to the 'identikit' look favoured by a lot of girls.

This professional-level skill with make-up doesn’t come without practice, and is a lot of ongoing work and expense. There are only so many hours in the day, so how are these girls finding the time to develop their minds? Or is that a hopelessly outdated concern?

The look in question isn’t that popular in this particular area of London; a lot of the girls I see day to day (especially since Covid now I roam less widely) will be the DDs of very affluent, middle-class parents, labouring under high academic expectations at independent or the better state schools and they seem to lean towards a more natural or faintly alternative look (insofar as there is much of an alternative look these days). There seems to be a healthy range of body types (though less obesity than the national average) and the usual distribution of natural attractiveness. I don’t imagine the slightly older, educated, serious professional mothers are likely to be found filtered and pouting on social media either.

The younger mothers of similar socio-economic status are much more polished though, so it will be interesting to see the teens in a decade or so.

@SomethingOnce

This professional-level skill with make-up doesn’t come without practice, and is a lot of ongoing work and expense. There are only so many hours in the day, so how are these girls finding the time to develop their minds? Or is that a hopelessly outdated concern?

The look in question isn’t that popular in this particular area of London; a lot of the girls I see day to day (especially since Covid now I roam less widely) will be the DDs of very affluent, middle-class parents, labouring under high academic expectations at independent or the better state schools and they seem to lean towards a more natural or faintly alternative look (insofar as there is much of an alternative look these days). There seems to be a healthy range of body types (though less obesity than the national average) and the usual distribution of natural attractiveness. I don’t imagine the slightly older, educated, serious professional mothers are likely to be found filtered and pouting on social media either.

The younger mothers of similar socio-economic status are much more polished though, so it will be interesting to see the teens in a decade or so.

So, to summarise, you want us to know that you live in an affluent area where you don't see this sort of thing. Because obesity and having no aspirations beyond putting on make up is for those of a lower social economic status. Which is not you. Not at all. Noted.

How predictable.

That’s just what I see around me and it’s not exactly a staggeringly surprising observation.

And I am of a lower socio-economic status, thank you very much.

Yes the filters are crazy on SM. 40 isn't old hunny, l don't think I'd like to be a young person these days, way too much pressure to always look immaculate etc. Give me my 90's or actually 80's green eyeshadow and spikes mascara anyway lol. It was fun being young then. With regard to makeup tips there's some brilliant ones on YouTube if you have any real concerns. I have hyperpigmentation these days and got some great cover tips. All the best x

I think the fake lashes and loads of make up makes otherwise lovely looking people much less attractive but that's me showing my age

Omg Heather shimmer 😂my friend loved it I wasn’t so keen, I remember in 1994 I paid £7.99 for Revlon colourstay in a blue/ red colour that was so exp 😂

When I started secondary school the way many girls chose to show they were growing up was to get their long hair cut, Year 7 photos everyone pretty much had a long pony tail, later photos many had shorter or short hair. Hairdressing was probably more interesting!

Lots of reasons - I wont repeat them. I find it so sad that social media has created
pressures/standards that youngsters try and keep up with. Every shot looks like a whole morning has been put into it.

I cannot imagine that dressing up just to look good in a social media shot is in any way the same as going out in the same clothes knowing that you rock! Surely it's all quite empty?

Interesting thread
Dd and her friends are all very well groomed and good looking. Non of them have fillers or anything like that. They do have eyelash lifts and better skincare than we did at that age. They all use decent make up and less crap than I used to. Interestingly my friends and I lived off McDonald’s, greggs and white cider whereas these girls are very health conscious, eat very well and are in general more interested in well being

Also better orthodontics and ghds

I really hate all the filtered photos, who knows what's real and what's not so what is actually achievable?

I think it also maybe depends on where you live. I live in a London borough that's really diverse both culturally and socioeconomically. It's a bit of a "hipster" area too. Teenage girls around here seem to tend towards the grungy look, all the nineties baggy jeans, sweaters and big glasses. Hair comes in all shapes and sizes, partly because there are a lot of kids with African Caribbean heritage, but we don't seem to have many with that super long and straightened look. There is a lot of long hair but they seem to embrace the curls, quite a lot have chin length bobs that are a bit wavy / curly.
But, I certainly see the polished look in photos of my friends teens and family who live elsewhere. I really cringe when old friends of mine put photos on FB that have ridiculous filters on them, they're 50 FFS! But, I'm not adverse to a selfie myself so maybe I'm a massive hypocrite!