How do some women always manage to look so put together and downright gorgeous?

[Beigecurtains]

Is it just 'inbuilt' style that they're born with? If so, I'm incredibly jealous!!

My friend always looks amazing and really stylish but I find it really hard to put my finger on what it is that makes her look special. She's not overly tall, and is slim but not skinny (size 12), and certainly doesn't spend a fortune on beauty treatments/products or clothes, or having her hair done.

Her outfits are usually fairly simple; just jeans with a nice top usually, and she wears accessories such as a necklace or a large scarf. She always wears make up, but again it's fairly simple, nothing garish. And hair in a bun or just down and wavy.

So on paper she doesn't dress particularly differently to probably 90% of other women, but she always manages to stand out.

How do some women do this? I'd love to know the secret so I can stop looking like a bag lady

mrsCB I wanted to start a good skincare regime,now that I'm 30,so booked with one of the best, ones ,the biggest shockers is how useless facial are,also how bad bad coconut oil is for the skin, nars makeup was recommended as one of the best,i stopped using most of my beauty product and was prescribed with retinol,vitamin C drops,and a moisturiser that the dermatologist swears by.so far so good,

I was very pleased when I was told how good the elasticity of my skin is,being olive skinned has its perks

For me make up is key,I wear primer,foundation,brow zings from Benefit,brown eyeliner,mascara,Bobbi Brown lipstick in a rosy nude,blusher.
I always wear splash of perfume,keep nails short and usually painted a taupe colour for daytime.hair is coloured and discreetly highlighted regularly,and I use weekly treatments for extra shine.
I try to do some exercise at least 3 times a week,usually walking but aerobics and gentle weights too now.
Am trying to lose half a stone by upping exercise and using My Fitness Pal to calorie count,as I know I would feel better if a bit more toned and slimmer!
Clothes wise I love dresses,especially for going out and in summer,but I like jeans,jersey jackets or blazers and always with scarf or necklace.
I also always wear two silver and diamond bracelets that were anniversary gifts.
It may be a cliche but I feel underdressed or unfinished without accessories!

LizzieVereker

This is a great video tutorial on how to tie scarves loads of different ways

I agree facials are useless and I used to be a beauty therapist. It's not what you do to your face once every 4 weeks, it's what you do everyday.

Oh thank you Mrspolkadotty - that's perfect

Curses own pallor and wishes for olive skin.

My friend, Louise, invariably looks as though she's just stepped out from a high end fashion magazine shoot.

I can vividly remember meeting her, after work, for a drink last summer. She was wearing a white linen trouser suit, perfect swinging bob, light, discreet make up and she looked pristine. It was boiling and everyone else looked as though they were about to melt. Not Lulu.

I would never even think about wearing something like that. I would end up with make up all around the collar, food down the front and, no doubt, would sit down in chewing gum or something :)

How does she do it? She is terrifyingly organised, ruthless about good hair, good shoes, well cut clothes, manicured hands. She is on best terms with cobblers/tailors to make the right alterations. I've known her for over 20 yrs and I cannot remember her ever looking less than well groomed. It's important to her and part of her character. She's super pretty as well. I don't think that hurts

passata, that's exactly what I was told,Its a waste of money,if you
Are going spend an average of £80 a month for facials,better have your skin diagnosed by a dr who knows how to treat your areas of concern.some facials can ruin the elasticity of the face,and make skin more saggy,

If you are HOC summer you are told to wear minimum 3 colours in every outfit
I am really enjoying reading this thread-really useful stuff. With young children I often find I let eyebrows/nails get scruffy, but it's so worth doing them!

I can only take this so far though...style is important to me but it's not the essence of my being - I have other interests and passions. I don't mind looking like shit for 4 days on a multi day hiking trip through the mountains, I don't need to be made up all the time...I don't mind getting my hands dirty in the garden doing a bit of digging. I don't wear make up while boot camping in the park or running 10k.

I feel a little bit sad for people who need to be fully made up at all times even in front if their partner...I see woman running in full make up, almost scared to break into a sweat because they might look a bit red or drip a bit! Growing older must be especially hard for the people who really obsess so much over their appearance, how do they cope?

Rudy if you re-read what I wrote, I didn't say that she actually looks like a clown, but that I would feel like a clown if I wore as much colour as she does.

I think she looks great, but while her style is fine for California, where she lives, it would look very out of place here, where most women my age seem to wear 90% black and too much colour is seen as vulgar or attention-seeking!

My Mum was one of those people Snowdown - she's now in her 60's, lives abroad in a remote area, and rarely - if ever - leaves the house. It's very sad.

There have been a few threads recently in a similar vein and I am loving them! I am still in the process of loosing the baby weight so these are helping keep my resolve to really think about each purchase, whether it suits me and is stylish or whether its just an impulse buy. Saving a fortune especially as I'm desperate to buy stuff after loosing a lot of the weight.

lizzie I've got a MAHUSIVE scarf collection. I've built it up from all sorts of places - Oliver Bonas, Accessorize, Next, H&M, etc. House of Fraser are great for a wide range. Key for me is a mix of colour and pattern. Single colour scarves do nothing for me; they need to be bold to make the right statement and pull an outfit together.

Rudy No, I live in large city in France!

My feet do have fat days sob

One of my best friends is like this. I've been shopping with her and it seems her key is that she knows exactly what to buy. She can pick something up that to me looks plain, boring, shapeless and when she puts it on, it looks perfect (for her). My clothing choices are pot luck, sometimes I pick something up and it looks fab, goes with lots of things, other times I buy something and wear it once because I don't like it or it's uncomfortable to wear. I just wish I could shop smarter. Which btw, is my tip - being able to shop for things that fit and suit you. And if anyone can tell me how to do that I'd be most appreciative

Interesting thread.

I have a couple of questions. I wear jeans quite a lot but what constitutes a 'nice' top? I wear a lot of Boden cotton stripy tops, comfortable but probably not in the 'nice' region.

Also, I have long hair which I always wear down. How do I put it up in a sort of casual, half messy style that looks stylish?

I think the putting me together woman is quite conservatively dressed.

I love living in the uk - there's so much freedom in what you choose to wear. I feel suffocated when I read about the French or the Italians and their rules. The Brit's acceptance of all tribes of fashion is worth celebrating, really it's so liberating...yes we sometimes get is wrong but at least we're not too scared to put a foot wrong, I've lived somewhere like that before and I'll take old blighty with its wonky and essentric approach to fashion in an instant.

There are plenty of people over here who do rebel and wear what they want, but this thread was asking about "women who always look put together and gorgeous", not women who dare to wear what they fancy and don't give a damn what others think

Vit C I disagree that the women who play it safe are the only ones who look gorgeous. Putting me together woman - looked perfectly gorgeous and you thought her use of colour was too much!! I think beauty might be in the eye of the beholder - and you have a very straight laced eye!

Like I said upthread: it very much depends on context. The woman on the blog looks great, but she would stick out like a sore thumb where I live!

As it is, I'm already known among my friends for being the "extrovert" (which I'm not at all, really) because I often wear colours and not just neutrals like everyone else! But if I wore as much colour as she does, I would feel very conspicuous and uncomfortable walking around and I'm pretty sure people's attitudes would be very different from usual!