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 😂

There was tons of pressure in the 90s to look thin! I remember reading older sisters' copies of Looks and J17 and they were full of instructions on how to get the "waif look", with no criticism of it at all. Even "heroin chic". Every now and then there'd be a "love yourself as you are" piece but they rang incredibly hollow amid all the crash diets, exercise pieces and so on.

There seems to be a lot more body positivity around now and that's a good thing. Making us all feel fat and unattractive didn't stem the obesity issue. From what I recall, eating disorders were almost fashionable.

I feel a lot of it, is because of whats available today. Yes things like YouTube, but growing up there just wasn't hair styling options or products bar a hairdryer or gel. Make up was limited, no contouring or doing eyebrows, infact my generation was busy overplucking our brows. I have curly hair, and there wasn't the products to 'control' it like there is now.

Also, I work with people post surgery, 99% of them are cosmetic surgery. It is sad almost, for the very young ladies who put themselves through it, because it is a societal norm to look a certain way now. They do look amazing, but there's no way I'd do it. I'm content to be 'ugly'.

Beauty that relies on make up isn’t real.

@Ozanj

Beauty that relies on make up isn’t real.

I'll take it anyway!

Lots of comments here about teenage girls being overweight. It depends where you live I expect. My 15 year old dd is slim as are all her friends and their older sisters. They all do some form of exercise/fitness, certainly none are overweight.

DGD(12) asked for hair straighteners for Xmas, even sending me the link and advising to order that day as they were on special offer!

She has beautiful long thick chestnut hair with natural highlights, the Queens Rania and Letizia look - don't quite know why she needs such an implement but I'm assured they're a vital implement.

She's not allowed to wear make-up as such but on a trip to Liverpool she had me in the Morphe shop half a dozen times where she bought a few things - apparently Morphe is big on Youtube. What do I know!

I think they all look grim. I really do. Zero personality (not that they don't have one, but you can't see it through the layers.) Faces so caked with identikit make up you can't read their expressions. And they are all so thin I just think: oh, osteoporosis in your fifties!

I don't like the identikit look that young girls seems to have these days - straight hair, perfect make-up. What happened to individualism?

It’s money. The teens who look you describe have a lot of it (well, their parents give it to them) but the ones who don’t, don’t look like models. As a pp said above many struggle with weight and can’t afford anything but basic primark clothes.

IMO we are not doing middle class kids any favours either though. My nieces all look as you describe, all have had everything paid for by their parents, none have done part time work (which in fairness isnt always easy to find, Covid etc). They’re going to get quite the shock when they eventually get a job from which they need to pay rent, bills etc as well as their £££ costly beauty habits.

I see FB photos of friends' daughters posing for the camera and it all seems contrived. They all know to stand slightly sideways, look up at the camera, pout like a duck. They look groomed, but identikit. I far prefer looking at photos from the past, where people had more originality

Fashions change. In time, I'm sure the focus will be on individuality

Agree with a PP that a lot of this is driven by beauty industry. No money to be made out of teenagers who wash their faces in soap and water and own two pairs of jeans

INGREDIENTS: Kardashian Flour 80% (Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Niacin), Filtered Free Range Little Mix, Sugar (coating), Glittery-Buttery (12%) (More Sugar, Prosecco, Preservative: MAC products), Avocado extract, Costa Coffee (Glucose-Fructose Syrup, Sugar, Coffee), Acidity Regulators: Tik, Tok, Instagram; Preservative: Potassium Sorbate, Parabens; Flavouring): Raising Agents: White Dental Filter, Sparkles, Cat's Ears; Palm Oil, Suntan Oil.
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Is it me though, or do they all look ageless, and not in a good way? Took a photo of my DSD16 on Boxing Day, and she could have been 16, 25 or 35!

She spent Christmas Eve fake tanning, was juicy couture tracksuited up to the nines (shudder) and a full face of make up and eyelashes to eat her gammon and mash, and whilst flawless in a way, it was genuinely hard to age her!

They're not all good looking. They're well groomed with straight hair and contoured make up, revealing clothes etc. Look beyond that and you'll see a lot are pretty average looking. A girl with natural beauty stands out above all that.

@IsMaeOnTheAsmae

Also, where are these legions of tiny sized teenagers? Today’s teenagers are, on average, much fatter than their 1980s equivalents

And taller too! I use public transport a lot and I'm always shocked at how tall teenagers are now!

My babysitter is 15, she's taller and heavier than me, if you saw us from the back you would think she was the adult.

I don't agree that their all tinier now, it's all very fake. Everywhere I go im forever stunned how big they all are nowadays,

I often question what is being put in our food to make our children so tall!

I wonder if the perception seems thus because younger, therefore smaller and slimmer, girls are wearing more make up and more "adult" fashion.

The girls are certainly not all slim. There are so many huge youngsters these days, girls with legs and hips that are massive and boys that have bellies that are bigger than a barrel.

"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 "

You said it.... but is being a clone with false eyelashes, filters, tons of make up really good looking.....

Some people find different faces/quirks/beautiful rather than clones

if children are taller then they are going to be bigger.

A better diet equals taller.

Some of these comments are horrible.

There seems to be a lot more body positivity around now and that's a good thing. Making us all feel fat and unattractive didn't stem the obesity issue. From what I recall, eating disorders were almost fashionable.

I agree

@notanothertakeaway

I see FB photos of friends' daughters posing for the camera and it all seems contrived. They all know to stand slightly sideways, look up at the camera, pout like a duck. They look groomed, but identikit. I far prefer looking at photos from the past, where people had more originality

Fashions change. In time, I'm sure the focus will be on individuality

Agree with a PP that a lot of this is driven by beauty industry. No money to be made out of teenagers who wash their faces in soap and water and own two pairs of jeans

Totally. What's with the clone barbie look anyway. Where's the originality. Lots seem to have anxiety about their looks and use this make up and false bits mask to cover up.

You see people on social media and if you bumped into them look so different. When I had a spell on online dating the men that said have a picture that actually looks like you - no filters etc. I really don't think some of these people realise that they look very little like it in the flesh

What happened to individualism?

It's still there.

Agree 100% with the OP.

I was an 80s teenager and looking back at photos, most of us looked a bit shit: crap make up, crap frizzy hair, unflattering clothes. I fancied myself as a Goth in those days and had badly dyed, jet black frizzy hair and pale face powder with purple lipstick like Coco the Clown. I looked spectacularly shit; there is one photo I have of me that my kids all laugh at.

My DH's nieces are in their 20s and without make up, they are both what my old Gran would've called Plain Janes.

But dressed up, with their hair done and make up done, they look incredible, like catwalk models, literally like Claudia Schiffer or Cindy Crawford. It is truly amazing.

Even the men now look great, all coiffed hair, and muscled torsos and designer clothes.

Such pressure to look good though. I couldn't be bothered myself.

@NinaProudman2022

My DD almost 17 has totally rejected the fake tan, long straight hair, false everything, heavy make up, high maintenance uniform beauty treatments, revealingly clothing look.

Instead she wears absolutely no make whatsoever, has dark natural long un straightened, uncoloured or styled hair which she wears in a ponytail, baggy casual clothing (often mens tops/hoodies). I wish she would sometimes make more of an effort with her appearance but she won’t hear of it. She is tall and seems to have rejected what she calls ‘the chav’ look in favour of being herself. Her best friend has long ginger hair and she has also rejected the popular look.

Whilst the majority of girls might look more polished than we did or dd does (I was 17 in the early 80’s) the look now must be very costly, be very time consuming/high maintenance and they all look almost exactly the same with absolutely no individuality its hard to tell one from another. A FB friend recently posted some pictures at Christmas of a family get together and her DD looked almost exactly the same as her cousins and one of her male cousins girlfriends who all looked almost exactly the same.

Well done her for turning away from the YouTube etc prescribed way of looking. She is a wonderful individual who is able to think for herself. Stay away from the clones

My 14 year old has a mass of unruly dark brown curls, an hour glass size 12 figure and lives in combats and manga t-shirts. Her friends are all similar. I notice groups of girls in little pleated skirts, DMs or vans, ripped tights, band/manga t-shirts. I notice them because they look like DD. There have always been tribes.

I don't agree they are good looking. Many look like plastic dolls & that is ugly. Others look genuine & that is nice. Some are still fat, funny teeth, bad skin, etc.