How to pull off the 'posh girl scruffy look'

[watchforthesnail]

i work in a very naice store, i see so many of these girls/ women a day. You know the look, all underdressed, but also looking very expensive/classy but not over done.

Is it alook that only money can achieve? ( i have none) where would i start?

I think ive got the hair down ( ish) but have no clue on the make up either.

[cafecito]

I tend to look like this accidentally most of the time (but am darker, not blonde) I wouldn't try to look like it, it comes from having pared down stuff and just throwing it together. I think it comes from me not actually paying any attention to fashion and not wearing anything trendy. I think the closest to a trend would be this look with an added colour on a scarf or necklace or something. I have always looked like this though. I think many would just think I am scruffy

if you wanted to emulate it, I think the key is to really not care very much, while still being well groomed in terms of eyebrows, nails, skin, teeth.

[cafecito]

for summer, nice sandals are a must as are some plimsolls
neat well kept nails
long hair
shortish skirts
some longer skirts
vintagey t shirts / plain white t shirts
skinnies
sundresses are good
seen a lot of people in shorts

makeup, maybe gel nails, mascara and perhaps a tiny bit of smudgey eyeliner

youth and height are advantageous

vintage unbranded bags are good

shops, I don't know, maybe a mixture of american apparel, anthropologie, urban outfitters, jack wills, oxfam, matches

[kaosak]

Ooooh I don't agree, I think they care and try vair much!

[lurkingaround]

I agree kaosak. I think it takes a lot of work and thought.

[ExitPursuedByABear]

Snort

[watchforthesnail]

toast - have to disagree, sorry. Dont think its a 'new' thing, people have been buying fashion magazines since forever. Its also certainly, for me, not about trying to appear 'wealthy' I have no money, im not ashamed of that and im not wanting to appear something im not.

For me its just about finding a stye that is me. I was a teenager in the 90's too. I was all indie, from my louise werner haircut to my brown cord jarvis coat. I got married and became ' identi-kit woman at next' since i was living abroad, and if you didnt have clothes from there you were some kind of outcast. It wasnt me. When i got divorced i felt a bit lost, so i went back to what i knew, and thats been fine for the last 5 years or so, however ive recently realised that how i dress is not reflecting how i now am. And it might be negatively effecting my life, in that it gives the wrong impression of me.
Im never going to want to pull of the towie look, and i dont care about labels, too much effort isnt going to work either. And yes while i might be short and dumpy, i think i can still emulate this style, which i really like and isnt too far from where i currently am. Im not trying to be a carbon copy and im sure most people on this thread arent, its just about getting a few pointers and a bit of inspiration.

The no eyeliner, well it was ok, i quite liked it until lunch time and then i looked like i was wearing no eyemake up all. Might have been the lights at work, because i came home and took a picture and it looked ok - ish. I think its just going to take some getting used to. I did get a few compliments on my hair though, which i did more toussled that usual.

[watchforthesnail]

oh and traveto - yeah, give it a go. Its very weird. My face looks different, yesterdays attempt was better that the first pic i put up, so i think its going to take a while to get right. I do need to go into town and get some eyeshadows really, this was just on a whim so im not properly organised ( story of my life) Do a with eyeliner and without eyeliner pic :)

[watchforthesnail]

i also dont think its about trying to look flawless, if anything its the opposite of that look. I am too lazy to look flawless. I have too many flaws to look flawless.
:)
( hence the posh girl scruffy..... looking flawless would come under the heading ' posh girl posh')

[SuperStrength]

I think I belong to the same tribe as toasted and theother
The none aspirational dressing of the 90s gave girls like me lots of freedom with a slice of rebellion (my parents hated my sensible boots).

I can't understand why anyone in their 20s would want to ape the Middletons...it's all a bit stepford wives & uttely boring. They dress like the 60 year old women I see having lunch in John Lewis.
If that's aspirational then I give up on the youth of today. Where's the idealism, where's the fight? I don't want sappy clones I want to see kids who help us older ones remember what's really important.

Anyway...sorry to go off on a tangent, I was just a little excited that there were others in the same boat

Back to the posh girl theme...for as many good examples of this there are many, many more bad examples. It's a bit mean but we refer to them as the 'fat Saskias'. Expensively dressed, great hair, overweight & prominant in any southern university town.

[DesperateHousewife21]

Glad this look is in as its my fav.
The only jeans I have are skinny, my fav style tops are oversized/ slouchy or a blousr but not fitted.

Hair is boob length but often is either up in messy bun or half up half down because im growing my fringe out and it's at an awkward length.

Big brown real leather bag (love love love) big sunnies and minimal jewellery. One bracelet/ long necklace.

Clean, flat shoes- don't need to be expensive as long as they're not scruffy.

Good shops- Zara, French Connection, Mango, All Saints and Reiss/ Toast.

[MrsHoarder]

super have you considered that the women in their 20s rebelled to not look like the scruffy women who were in their 30s when they were young?

[InMyShreddies]

Love this thread. It's also about the whole French look too, non?

I remember as a teenager looking wistfully at girls from the local private school who wore scarves over their hair with bits poking out like it was totally unintentional and just flung on. I looked scruffy too but not in a good way ie not posh.

And now I often think it's about not wearing things that look 'new' or overly planned and matching. I got a fab Jack Wills Breton from Ebay that is great thick cotton but looks a bit faded - perfect, instant posh scruff credentials

I do wear the same simple delicate silver jewellery every day as I feel too try-hard in statement pieces. I do gravitate to simple dressing but my love of novelty lets me down sometimes I think. And I do have good long blonde hair but probably over-style it and should attempt a scruffy top-knot thing.

What's the verdict on 40bum? I think she always looks both posh and scruffy, but her look is a) more detailed and fussy and b) older than this I think...

[Treaguez]

"Keeping your face arranged in a calm expression" this is absolutely key IMO.

NEVER show emotion/interest/enthusiasm. Too much enthusiasm is extremely uncool, as is too much intelligence. Quiet intelligence is all right but too much puts the boys off. Sarcasm is right out. If you have Bitchy Resting Face, don't.

And remember, everything is lovely. Even when it isn't.

[InMyShreddies]

Haha yes me and DH do a Millie voice when watching Made in Chelsea. It involves speaking with as little facial movement as possible and no expression at all.

Try it: 'it's soo lovely to see you, we must do it again soon' and 'I'm so heartbroken/angry', how could she do that'

[libertychick]

Oh well, I'll never look posh then! I have a hyper expressive face - my emotional state is never in doubt!

[ontheotherside]

MrsHoarder, who says that we were scruffy by the time we were in our 30s?

Superstrength perhaps we need our own we do not want to look posh thread

[watchforthesnail]

i wont ever look posh. im not trying to be posh. Its just about a 'look' not trying to be something im not.

The eyeliner less face went down well today, several people told me i looked really fresh like ive been on holiday. But mostly, people are commenting on my hair, apparently it looks lighter and more bouncy and longer. Clearly its not. I dont see how less eyeliner has made my hair look different, but it appears it has.

Inmyshreddies - yep thats the look. My friend is going to cowles week and said its full of people with that look, hair up all odd, looking a total mess, but somehow not. I think its totally about things not looking overly planned or matching and a bit lived in. The ebay buy sounds fab :)

[WileyRoadRunner]

Sarcasm is out? and bitchy resting face too?

[Treaguez]

Yes. Your face should be a mask at all times. Anything else makes others uncomfortable, and isn't good manners. You may laugh. But no cackling.

[InMyShreddies]

I'm going to start channeling Millie and Betty from Mad Men. Zero expression [posh]

[RonaldMcDonald]

Breeding is all in the legs
like racehorses

if you aren't long enough from knee to ankle you simply aren't posh

[kaosak]

! @Ronald

[ontheotherside]

watchforthesnail I'm not having a go or being mean, and I'm sure you'll look lovely. I'm just interested in the politics of dress in a wider sense. Perhaps I'll find somewhere else to have that discussion.

[Somethingyesterday]

ontheotherside This is exactly the conversation I wanted to have (but lacked the skill to introduce...) The thread on "giving oneself permission to look good" has been amazingly interesting......