"Distinctive looks?"

[Mushroomketchup]

I had a haircut the other day. The hairdresser said to me "you have a lovely face. Are you a model"? Laughed out loud and told her she should have gone to Specsavers. But secretly obviously was dead chuffed.

Came home feeling all smug and told my husband. I said "my hairdresser asked if I was a model." He said "probably because of your distinctive looks."

Oh.

Distinctive?! What does that mean???

I know I was a twat for even mentioning it to him but AIBU for feeling a bit deflated 😭

I would say the actress who plays Evie in the couple next door is distinctive. She is really beautiful.

I think that's a positive thing! I would say it means striking, noticeable and somewhat timeless. Better than bland, eh?

We are in town last weekend and someone came up and greeted me by my full name. His voice was familiar though I struggled to place him. Bloody hell, realised it was someone I went to school with (I'm 49 and haven't lived in my home town for decades).

I remarked to my husband how it was surprising he'd recognised me straight away and from some distance. He said "oh well you have really distinctive features". I do have quite prominent facial features - big eyes, big nose and high cheekbones - so although my skin has aged (obviously) my facial "scaffolding" has pretty much stayed the same. I'm cool with that though I will try not to commit any crimes as I'd get caught easily with my distinctive phissog!I

I've just realised I've made my face sound like an anime character, it's not quite that distinctive! And I'm a solicitor so no plans to commit any crimes.

When I think of “distinctive” looking celebrities, I think of people like Winona Ryder, Tilda Swinton, Willem Dafoe, Anya Taylor-Joy, Renee Zellweger (old face) and Christina Ricci.

They all have distinctive features that they are identifiable for.

Distinctive looks (from Google!)

Something that has a special quality or feature which makes it easily recognizable and different from other things of the same type.

As pps have said, famous people with distinctive looks are ... Tilda Swinton, Erin O'Connor, Barbara Streisand, Kevin Bacon, William Defoe, Timothy Spall, Bette Midler, Cher, Benicio Del Toro, Owen Wilson, Jimmy Nail, Renee Zellwegger, Lady Gaga etc...

People with distinctive looks will be quite unique looking, and won't look like most others in their industry, and are often more successful because they don't look generic. Models with unique/distinctive faces are usually the most successful. (These days.)

I think it's quite a nice thing to be called, but some may be offended by it, as it could be understood as saying the person is not conventionally pretty.

It's like someone asking if someone likes a particular thing they have is OK/good/nice, and the person saying 'well, it's different...' It's not a compliment.

With what that person said @Mushroomketchup Context is important. I don't know how they meant it. Only they will know that. I am sure they meant it in a nice way though.

I would think of Linda Evangelista type looks when you say distinctive , she was/is really unusually beautiful .

Being "morbidly obese" (a rather vague description imo - I have a friend whose doctor says she is, but who doesn't look anything more than ordinarily overweight to me) isn't mutually exclusive with having distinctive looks, which usually refers to facial features.

You mention in a later post that the artist "picked on" your friend because she's obese - did you mean that or that he picked her out? Picked on means bullying, it sounds strange in this context.

My own long-ago experience as an art student was that by far the best and most interesting model in life drawing classes was an overweight woman. Drawing her was a delight, so much more interesting than the stick-thin models we also had. Could it be this artist feels the same way?

Compliments are wasted on some people.

@XenoBitch Did the man specifically say he picked her out because she was obese? Because it sounds more like you’re jealous that he picked her and not you. And because of that you’re just telling yourself presuming that it’s because she’s fat. That’s easier to believe than her having a more unique look than you.

Being obese doesn’t exclude someone from having distinctive features or from being attractive. Also, having distinctive features doesn’t automatically mean that someone is attractive, just that they have unique features that aren’t common/conventional.

He mentioned her having a round face. I was not jealous at all. I am really glad he did not ask me to pose for a sketch. That would be my worse nightmare!

Only your husband knows what he meant. I take distinctive to not be incompatible with attractive, think Uma Thurman. Not conventional looking, but attractive nevertheless. Most runway models are not 'beautiful' many are quite odd looking! But again not unattractive

I’d also hate being asked to do something like that as I’m very self conscious and have also been described as having ‘distinctive features’.

Your friend could still be distinctive looking with a round face though. They’re not mutually exclusive.

Thank you everyone for giving my head a wobble! Yes, I am insecure I've been called "striking" before but never "pretty". I have some of the features you've mentioned on here (strong bone structure, unusual nose). But as your examples have shown, that's not necessarily a bad thing!

Me and my husband are suffering from a lack of intimacy at the moment which is maybe why I read more into it than I should have done, and why I'm feeling a bit pathetic and insecure.

Thanks everyone for bolstering me. I am going to tell myself I look like Linda Evangelista from now on 😅

A round face doesnt mean she is overweight - just means her face shape, like it could be square or heart-shaped or whatever.
But either way, OP i still think "distinctive" is meanf as a complement.