How can good looking children have not particularly good looking parents?

[smyshna]

Genuine question, just curious if anyone else has noticed this.

DH is very conventionally attractive. His two sisters are also very pretty and both modelled when they were younger. DH has been scouted too but wasn’t interested.

His parents are lovely people, but neither is what you’d call conventionally attractive. Even looking at photos of them when they were younger, you wouldn’t say either was particularly good looking.

I know genetics is a lottery but it seems quite remarkable that all three children turned out good looking. They’re all genetically related. Has anyone else come across this?

Wéê tree ⁶this has probably been pointed out further down, but only just seen this post. The OP is talking about adult 'children'' of less than attractive parents, the fact that you didn't gather this from the original post is also possibly quite disturbing 🤔

Really is just luck of the genetic draw I guess, I used to know 2 sisters a few years apart say 12 & 14 same parents, the older one was what I guess society would consider beautiful, perfect features, cheek bones/ nose profile ect , stunning figures The younger one, whilst it was obvious they were sisters, with similar features just wasn't! She would be again what I guess sadly society would class as unattractive. I could never work it out how they could be so similar, yet so different, the big eyes that the older sister had, looked more like bulging on the younger, lips were full on both, one just seemed to look perfect, whilst the other looked like a allergic reaction 😞 always felt for tbh as they were both lovely girls themselves in personality and every other way.

There's the throwback element. My husband is the spit of his Great Grandfather.
Two good looking parents doesn't amount to much if the rest of the family is a bit of a mixed bag. My mother was the best looking of the females in her family. My father was good looking, had an attractive sister and mother. My sister takes after his side more, so got all the looks. I follow my Mum's side more, and frankly, got the worst of the family plain gene. My mum was a bit of an outlier herself in her attractiveness.
Bugger all to do with nutrition, to be honest, my mum's family were all healthy, hearty country children (Grandad was a farmer), just not good looking. Dad's family were poor as church mice, smokers, drinkers and lived in an industrial town...

Maybe the grandparents were amazing lookers and it skipped the parents.
I look like my mum, my brother looks like my dad, but the older 2 look my grandparents and great grandparents…
Theres a picture of my mum as a child and she’s an absolute double of a little girl who would actually be her mums cousin. As in identical!!
my daughter looks like my brother, my sisters son looks like me, my brother who is nothing like my mum - his daughter looks like me and our mum…. It’s definitely weird how genetics work. We’ve done our DNA on ancestry and I’ve found a cousin 5X removed… we met up and we have so much in common it was just weird!

Also to add… my dad is tiny (5ft 8) but his great great grandfather was 6ft 4 which back then was almost unheard of…. Dad had a 6ft 4 son and my daughter is 5ft 10.
DNA is fascinating!

I've known sisters--one drove dead gorgeous and one very, very plain. It's genetic variation, it's environment, it attitdue.

DH and I are average looking. I’m short and have fair (well grey now in reality), straight hair. DD (aged 27) is stunning. Tall, slim, dark curly hair. I have had many a shocked look/double take when I’ve introduced her as my daughter so it’s not just me thinking it!

It’s called genetic recombination.

To add to the point about it being luck of the draw - I also personally think that staying attractive as you age is a lot about keeping in shape/keeping yourself slim and toned - and also things like suncream/taking care of your skin.

The majority of people in the UK are overweight and gain more weight as they age. So if your kids are young, slim and the parents are older, overweight and haven't looked after their skin so sun damaged etc... The kids are probably gonna look a lot more good looking even if they have similar features to the parents.

I think Lady Louise looks like Queen Mary.

Not interested in the RF but great for a bit of gene watching.

I think most people look good when they're younger anyway, if you saw a photo of their parents at the same age they would probably be attractive

I don’t think this is always the case. Some people “grow into themselves” or grow into their features. I think Hugh Laurie was much more attractive as a middle aged man than he was as a younger man! There are others too. Demi Moore was a bit ordinary looking imo as a young woman (I know there must be tons of people that would disagree with that, but that’s how I always saw her) but now I think she’s a fair way above average for her age.

It depends on the type. Like others have said “boyish” men (or I suppose girlish women?) are going to have their heyday early on, but it’s not a rule for everyone. Also, I think women in particular put more effort into their appearance once the shiny-ness of youth wears off, and then they actually might look better, like more put together etc.