To ask what makes someone seem ‘classy’?

[Classynotme]

Not rich but the calm, serene and classy vibe that some people just give off?

To me it’s about being slow, polite and considered if that makes sense, never rushed. Plus looking well put together.

I’m always rushing and speaking too fast and seem harassed but I’d LOVE classier!

If you re-read my comment I said it was said her comment about the sunglasses was ‘sad’. If you look at the reaction of the poster to these comments it’s clear she feels ridiculed. The poster who said it was sad, made no effort as other posters did to offer any advice or sympathy at all.

Apart from that I agree with most of what you’ve said.

I think if people tell you you are classy, then you are not! The kind of people I might say"ohhh looking classy today" to, are the kind of people that want to be classy (so this is a compliment for them), not the kind of people who actually are classy! You would never say to an actually classy person - "you are classy" because they wouldn't want the comment or find the term classy a compliment.

A smart tote bag? Wearing cream / white?

All but one of these defines someone as ‘classy’. By your definition, someone can only be considered ‘classy’ if they have money. The actual meaning of classy has clearly gone right over your head.

‘Classy’ is just such a cringy word

Totally this.

Quite! In order to have 'class', you have to have been born with straight, silky hair. No hope otherwise! Good to know. Very insightful thread.

Saw this thread the other day but didn't have time to post.

Good posture and deportment
Well-cut hair with natural colour
Quiet, low and pleasant voice
Subtle make-up or none at all
Natural skin colour even if pale (fake tan is REALLY tacky )
Skirts and dresses below the knee and clothes that don't reveal too much flesh
Slim
Absolutely no tattoos or piercings except maybe discreet stud earings

You can't look it, you can only demonstrate it. By being considerate, approachable, polite but not gossipy, being encouraging and supportive, reliable not being dragged into politicking or side taking.

This is a bit of a bad thread. If you're saying 'Ohh, looking classy' to someone who, in your eyes, lacks finesse, and finesse is equated to breeding in your eyes, then you are really being patronising to them. If 'classy' is a naff word - don't 'pretend' and act out that you mean that person is admirable and inspires you, when you are really sopping them with what you think plebs like them would say to each other.

Black ladies extremely often look poised and refined because they tend to have good carriage and bearing, maybe, thanks to good muscle tone - especially in comparison with white ladies, and when both have passed the age of forty, yet we learn, on this thread, that silky hair is a must to look classy - I disagree on that one, not least cos I haven't got silky hair and I can sometimes look classy/ elegant.

Didn’t realise this thread was a factual research search piece for the BMJ.

Oh dear, there’s always one.

Immature bullying is now called ‘challenging classism’? Classy.

Easier to define non-classy:

Swearing, drunkeness, tattoos, revealing clothes, smoking, shouting, face caked in make-up, bleached hair, showing off.....

Goodness.

One would think that being so openly judgemental was rather unclassy.

Eh? I read these threads and am so baffled!

It's fascinating what strange ideas people come up with.

Carriage, bearing, finesse, sopping etc?

So weird.

Silky hair??? 🤣🤯

Tou do realise that you are talking about people who spend a lot of time outside? They often wear wellies, and are not remotely bothered about whether their hair is silky. It is windswept and tangled and they do not care.

Not only that but there are racial connotations to saying silky hair.

What would they be? I've always thought of silky hair as straight and shiny, and a quick Google seems to suggest this is the common usage (see pic below).

Do you mean racist towards white people?

Disregard my post above, have seen the context now.

Black ladies extremely often look poised and refined because they tend to have good carriage and bearing, maybe, thanks to good muscle tone - especially in comparison with white ladies, and when both have passed the age of forty.

The above is a bit of a gross generalisation, even if intended as a compliment. Also untrue as statistically almost 80% of black women are overweight.

To me being ‘classy’ is just behaving the way you would in an interview; dress well, try to appear calm, steer the conversation onto your hobbies to try seem somewhat intelligent, avoid anything controversial so that you don’t sour the employer etc.

It’s more of a skillset than a personality trait (and I’m sure it’s a very useful one to have in wealthy circles where socialising is less about friendship and more about making connections.)

The epitome of elegance or classiness is Doria Ragland, Meghan Markle's mother. First off, due to yoga work outs, she walks as if her legs move from the hip and the torso remains rigid and erect. She glides, and turns her toe out - discreetly. She can drape a shawl over her front without fastening it with a pin, because she is so serene and controlled in her movement, that the drape sits on her shoulders.
.The hair swept back from the forehead is a look which only truly elegant people can really carry off, and there needs to be a sense of intellectual vigour housed in that imperious forehead, for the look to work.
In that photo of the royal grandparents admiring little Archie ( or was it his doll equivalent - if security had been a fear for Harry and he'd wanted a double) Doria's countenance speaks the fact that she has thoughts travelling across her mind, and she isn't just reacting in a cheesy grimace. She is a thinker who, the photo suggests, is truly inspecting the child, as she leans forward to admire, appreciate and appraise. Outer classiness can only emanate from mental finesse and what the Victorians called 'nicety', and Doria is thoughtful and gestates sincere thoughts, we can deduce. Doria was also very beautiful when young , and........

.....as Maupassant ( I think,)tells us in that short take about 'The Necklace ' women have no class, as their beauty is their class.
He is very correct, no doubt. Great beauties, such as the footballer's wife, Danielle Lloyd, or the model, Marie Helvin, don't need to be rich or poor or finished or the beneficiary of private schooling, their beauty transcends all that and gives them distinction and perfection.

TrueHertz

I wonder if that 80% statistic is the BMI scale getting it wrong again.

My view is affected by the fact that, for weeks, I've been visiting a relative in a hospital where the great majority of the nurses are black and, maybe due to walking those long corridors and being on their feet a lot on the ward, they all looked poised and elegant, physically fit and well-proportioned in size and in weight.

Pale is classy? So that rules out rather alot of the population - some of these ideas are utter tosh

‘Pale’ ‘Silky hair that can withstand severe winds’

You get the picture…