To want to start complimenting women more? (Strangers)

[TvGirll]

I'm a woman (40), BTW, nothing sexual in it.

I just always see women who look so cool, or their hair looks amazing. I saw a woman in the coolest dress recently, it was like an spaceship print all over, with a beam picking up cows 😂 She just looked so cute.

I always want to say 'your hair looks amazing' but worry I'll look weird.

But yesterday a lady stopped me and said 'excuse me, your trousers are so cool! I love them, you look awesome today'

And it honestly made my whole year.

I think my new years resolution might be to try and compliment someone at least once a week because I was having a really bad day, feeling shit about myself and was honestly wondering if I was too old for my trousers and she just killed all those insecurities and really made me smile.

I'm a guy and I've done it with men and women. I wouldn't necessarily chase someone down to compliment them but if I find myself in someone's vicinity and something draws my attention, I'll highlight it.

I wouldn't compliment someone's general looks or body because it can easily be inappropriate but if someone's made a clear style choice that I think is really great, I've definitely been known to say something. No one's ever been offended and most will tell me where they got it or why they picked it. If someone's rocking a smell I like, I'm definitely asking what it is - man or woman.

Someone ran up behind me and my DP in the supermarket last month to tell us we both looked really cool and ran off again. It was really random but it put a spring in my step.

I do this all the time, it has always made me feel good on the receiving end and it always goes down well! I don't compliment men or it'll go the wrong way 😂
I feel we need to help each other repair the damage from men

I have curly hair which gets compliments from strangers from time to time. Always makes me feel good. I also hand out compliments quite a lot as I'm autistic and often just blurt out what I'm thinking. It's nice to see people smile when you tell them you love their nail art or tattoos :)

I think it's great, given that you're a woman.

A man complimenting a woman is on much shakier ground. I can imagine that it could sometimes be done successfully, but there's a good chance it could go wrong and come across as harassing, no matter how it is intended. So if you were male, I'd advise against complimenting strange women.

This is fair. It's only ever woman to woman in terms of receiving/giving compliments for me. Oh except for one occasion where a drag queen complimented my vintage dress 😅

I work on a till & am always complimenting women on their hair colour, jewellery etc. Certainly can’t remember ever having a negative response. I compliment men as well, not so much though & usually on their hat. Lately I’ve been wearing a sequinned Pudsey t shirt & so many people have said how much they like it. Feels good!

I do it but wouldn’t do it to a person who was literally just walking past, it’ll be someone I’m already having an interaction with, like a shop assistant or a stranger I’m passing the time of day with at a bus stop. It’s always been well-received.

I don’t ever receive compliments from randoms though. This is because I don’t look great 😂

I do this op. I don't run up to people and compliment them on anything but if I'm standing next to them or we smile and say hello as we pass each other I will say how lovely their trousers or top etc is.

I do it, in the supermarket at the self checkout recently I looked up at the woman next to me and blurted out "oh my god you look gorgeous - that dress is amazing" before I'd even considered it, it just came out before I'd even put my brain in gear. Fortunately she beamed and then turned to her husband who also nodded and smiled and said "I told you so!" Her reaction was pure joy, I felt good all day, and I hope she did too. I think it's a great idea to use that as a NY resolution as then you are actively looking for positivity. Great thread OP

I saw a woman on the train with her daughter, she was such an awesome mum, her manner was so lovely and they were playing loads of games like hangman on a piece of paper - it was almost like I'd taken a Time Machine to the 1990s. I really wanted to tell her how great she was but i chickened out. Agree it should be more normalised!!!

Definitely do next time! We had our two year old on a plane in the summer and were stuck on the ground for an hour as there was a problem with the connecting bridge. I apologised to the couple in front of us as two year old was getting antsy but at the end of the flight they turned round and complimented us on how well we interacted with him to keep him calm and said it was really nice to hear a pair of attentive parents.

It felt really good because from our perspective toddler was being a pain in the bum 😂

I entertained my toddler on a 9 hour flight. Didn't nap, refused screens. At the end of the flight a woman came over to say how brilliantly I had handled it and I still feel so good (smug perhaps!) About that nearly a decade later.

A random compliment (I rarely do this but sometimes do) if it's heartfelt (usually on clothing as it's my thing) can make someone's day and it makes my day if I receive it! Once getting off a train, at London Bridge, many years ago (early 00s?) I received a compliment on my fave MAC lipstick which was Rebel Rose (LE), a random woman told me 'you really suit that colour lipstick' as I was getting off the train. I'm not sure if she saw me applying it on the train as I did do that, to touch it up after I'd bought a takeout coffee.

I actually love and find I get way more compliments in cities/towns in USA (in the street) when I visit friends there, and in France, SW area where DP's have a holiday home. Not cat calling but just compliments or definitely complimentary looks.

I see the odd good looking man sometimes and give them a look (not leering!) but wouldn't compliment them on their clothes, too weird.