Or are ALL children/ teens better looking these days?

[UnreasonabIe]

I'm 44, in my day my friends, and certainly me, weren't as good looking as every young person I come across now. Does anyone else notice this? Is this evolution? Is it looking through some kind of older person lens? Looking back at old photos of us doesn't change my mind either.
I'm going to think my daughter is the most beautiful person inside and out and wouldn't give two hoots regardless, however all her friends, boys and girls, seem the same..... I noticed it on the last day of school as all the children were coming out and commented to a fellow Mum about it who agreed.

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon?

No I disagree. I think it's just that children are developing earlier, so they look more grown up. Also there's better products to physically look better, e.g. fake tan, spot cream, supplements, hair straighteners.

2 major points are, they are not better looking. Look at the crowd on love island (embarrassed to suggest it) but all the girls without the dressing room hour just look like the bog average face. All the boys seem to have more muscle showing than the boys in my day but that has to be kept up, most don't. Charisma carries everything and fewer seem to have it these days

No. One of my DD's is decidedly average, the other is prettier because but neither are classically good looking, curly hair, freckles etc. most of their friends I would say are average too

When I was a kid in the 70s being a little bit grubby, having slightly unkempt hair and scuffed shoes was pretty normal. Even wearing the same clothes for several days in a row was socially acceptable.

kids nowadays are generally better groomed though I’m not sure that always translates to better looking

I think younger kids tend to have better hair cuts now, so that probably makes a difference. You don’t see many kids with fringes their mums Hacked off with kitchen scissors any more. apart from that there’s pretty ones and funny looking ones just as there always has been.

Think teens are much better at making themselves look nice from a younger age. My teens have way more style than I ever had.

I wonder if more interracial mixing is a factor?

I suspect this is why females in my line of the family have only got an inch taller in the past century and slipped further and further below the average of their generation. GGM was born early 1910s (child in WW1), GM was a pre-war baby and had rationing from being a toddler to teenager, my early 60s mother had a skimpy diet due to poverty and went on to be a teenage mum. I was born over 1lb lighter than usual for my family (we tend to be born around a consistent gestation). I've had my babies later and have been better nourished. Both my babies were 2lb heavier than I was at the same gestation. My DCs aren't huge but they're not outliers like I was although I have introduced some taller genes in DH.

My DCs are in the light end of healthy and the leanest in their classes, no one is undernourished in terms of calorie intake inhibiting growth in their schools (this will still be an issue in areas of higher poverty levels but a smaller scale than previous generations)

There’s just more that can be done to help, fast fashion, better make up, braces, spot treatments, fake tan etc. It’s all more affordable and accessible these days, there’s a huge amount of choice because of online shopping. Today’s fashion is more geared towards classic beauty looks as well - long swooshy hair, ‘fake natural’ make up, sun kissed skin - rather than the dream matte mousse and blue eyeshadow disasters when i was younger.

Enjoyed that!

I think kids feel under far more pressure now with regards to their looks.

Superficially “better looking” kids might seem like a thing to celebrate, but if it means kids being less carefree, more concerned with surface appearances, more stressed about how they measure up to people on social media as well as their peers, it all feels a bit sad.

I think it's partly that we weren't used to cameras and there was no instant feedback on how you looked in a photo so most of the old pics we have we're all doing stupid grins. Teens these days know how to smile nicely in photos. There is also more stuff around to help you look nice - better fitted clothes for one - when I was young you couldn't buy a women's fit t-shirt, you just wore the standard men's ones. GPs take acne more seriously too, dentists offer to fix teeth that aren't all that bad, and it's normal to shower once a day.

I made a concious effort to help my dds look their best. Of course they are beautiful anyway but I could give help with for example styling their thick hair & choosing nice clothes.

I grew up with a dm who wasn't interested in fashion & left my dsis & I to it. As a result we had short, really thick hair & dreadful clothes, help with orthodontics wasn't a thing then either. We both said we'd help our dc as much as we could. It's a shallow world & how you look does matter.

I think there's a lot of parents doing their best to help at the age your dd is.

Better groomed without a doubt- we had 'children's' clothes and hairstyles for a long time.

Also, people used to graduate from childrens' to adults' styles. I don't totally agree with the video- teenagers with teen age fashion used to graduate into adulthood and old style fashions when they married. Women started wearing housecoats and had their hair cut, etc.

A friend's mum still thinks adult women should have their hair properly cropped. Long (past the ears) hair is for teenagers, we're all 'mutton dressed as lamb' to her!

My hair is waist length now. Not sure where that fits in!

What I've noticed the last 15 years is a homogeneity in looks- the straightened hair, heavy brows and careful make up makes girls look the same. Probably that is me aging out of fashion though- I imagine the mums of the 60s girls thought the same about the mini skirts and pale lips!

My next door neighbours are teens, one of them looks like Nick from Heartbreaker and there's an endless parade of girls chatting to him outside the gate (we live near the school).

Growing up in the 1990s we had to rely on Sugar and J17 for fashion and beauty advice, now there's so many resources and places to get advice as well as to buy good products. I think skincare has come a long way in a few years, it use to be cleanse, tone, moisturise and now it's all AHA, SPF and tret. I think diets are generally better and it's ok to exercise now, I don't remember ever reading anything about fitness growing up.

But just like we laugh at the hair and make up from the 80s, in 30 years time we will be laughing at the eyebrows by crayola phenomenon that is still ongoing. We will wonder why they all have something wrong with their lips from pouting etc..........

No, I don’t necessarily agree. I don’t think the current typical teenage girl look is that attractive, although I agree with the better eating, orthodontics etc improving the overall appearance of youngsters.

In the breeding of animals there's a concept of 'hybrid vigour' where mixed breed animals are fitter (less health issues) than pure bred animals. However this effect is mainly because breeds of dogs or cattle etc are so inbred which is not true for human populations (except royalty, thinking about the Hapsburg jaw).

I do think culturally we tend to consider mixed race people as being more attractive but I don't know if they are actually more symmetrical (which is all that beauty is).

Possibly depends where you live. I was watching a documentary the other day featuring teens from a disadvantaged area (in England). I was struck by how unhealthy most of them looked.

Oh my goodness this is so apt.

my husband and I started rewatching Sopranos and I was shocked to find out that I am the same age as Edie Falco in Series 1 as she looks quite mature. And my husband is older than James Gandolfini (obviously the first series still!)

There is only a generation between us (we’re 30s) but the difference is staggering!

loving this thread! And that video….

I'm sure some of them are pretty but with the thick makeup, slug brows and false eyelashes it's hard to tell!

There's certainly a lot of significantly overweight teenagers round here too.

I remember growing up in the 80s a lot of kids in my school were fairly ugly. Awful NHS milk bottle bottom glasses and shit clothes made them look even worse. A lot of my friends had awful skin as teenagers and I felt lucky to have beautiful skin and hair.
I guess it's just down to luck as I have a photo of my uncle from the early 40s and he was a stunning child. My mum, however, looked like the grinch.

It's probably also people changing their attitudes to things. There's no way my parents would have forked out for me to have any sort of beauty treatment, beauty products including cleansers etc weren't purchased for kids and I grew up poor so anything other than toothpaste and soap just couldn't be afforded. You also don't often see kids dressed badly in cast offs that don't fit and very old clothes - that makes a difference to how much you notice certain kids.

Thanks for the getting older link. I really enjoyed it.

My DD who’s almost 10 already has an interest in skincare. She asks me what products to use and in what order, and I research and get her products that will be suitable for her young skin. Nothing too strong, but it’s great she’s interested in establishing a good routine that will see her through her life. At that age I didn’t have a clue and DM didn’t give a shit, and I ended up with greasy spotty skin that seriously affected my self-esteem.

I remember my granny and then my mother saying it when I was a teenager and I thought they were mad!
Now I’m doing the same.
There is something timeless and beautiful about a youthful look, whether they’re conventionally beautiful or not.
That said, we tended to cover up while today's teens flaunt what they’ve got!

Kids are MUCH better at make up because there are millions of tutorial videos. We leaned by making massive mistakes 🤡