How to look 'expensive'

[INeedSomeHelp]

I'm not sure if that's the right word but I was in Sainsbury's today and the woman in the queue in front of me just looked 'expensive'.
She wasn't wearing anything remarkable - a leather jacket with a fur collar, skinny jeans and brown knee length boots but somehow she looked 'done' whereas I looked like a sack of spuds.
How to achieve that expensive look without the budget?

Kendal doesn't have hair extensions, pumped lips, breaststroke or bum. I don't see Kendal wearing as much makeup as her DS.

Breasts

I think clothes are a very small part of it. Looking expensive is about looking fit and healthy with a reasonable level of grooming.

Being thin doesn't look particularly classy if you are 20 cigs a day thin, with thick make up to disguise your grey skin.

My student daughters look much more expensive than many of their friends because they exercise and eat properly. They have shiny hair and great teeth. They may have Primark or charity shop clothes rather than designer labels, but they have a definite glow.

Yes, she hasn't got that 'overblown', exagerated look that her sisters have.

I'm off to the shopping mall soon.
I think after this thread, I'm going to be some serious people watching.
It's got me intrigued.
Now lets see - who's looking good and who looks like a sack of spuds.

Hmm I think it varies from person to person along with individual perception and your face doesn't have to be attractive either!

In the early 2000's I was what is 'preppy' I guess. Was in my early 20's and a slim but very pronounced hourglass (who thought she was fat and is now a size 18 hourglass ffs!!! That'll teach me...). I have a face like the back end of a bus, an overbite but masses of curly hair.

I would wear jeans and a rounded v neck jumper or blousey top tucked in or a loose wrap cardy (had a gorgeous purple crochet Topshop one) with Cain underneath, suede or velour fitted blazer worn open, heels, pedal pushers in summer, fitted or tie back short sleeved shirt/blouse with it or mock wrap waist stripe tops, A line cord skirts with cashmere type v neck jumpers etc.

I walked tall due to a combination of heels and Pilates.

Friends always thought I looked 'expensive' and high maintenance but it took me seconds to get dressed and I'd just chuck things on,leave my hair natural and spend five minutes on my awful face . They always thought my clothes cost a fortune and I was often asked if they were designer but they were ALWAYS cheap high street (aside from evening dresses!)

On the other side, I often got called Barbie and had some people assuming I was a bimbo!

So I think individual perception of others is a big thing. What one sees as looking 'expensive' another sees as cheap, weird or tacky (or even trashy). I often see things people say are expensive or classy looking and I think it looks like cheap market tat that only a wench would wear

On the other side, I think how you carry yourself makes a difference. If you walk tall then you do look better. If you slouch (like I do now!), don't dress for your figure or wear things the wrong size you look worse and less put together.

I look a total mess now, which probably suits my face more (!) And find that the harder I try to look better or look more relaxed (something I always wanted) the more idiotic I look

Oh I always added a colour pop too. Who wants to be drab?!

Ahem - shortie here who has always had people comment positively on their clothing choices and has given the impressions that a) I have a gigantic wardrobe (I don't) and b) spends a fortune on my clothes (I don't).

Yes, I am slim (size 4-6) with good hair and skin despite being only 5'2", but I think that the key is that I know a) how to dress for my size, b) always make sure that all my clothes fit well, and c) no matter how inexpensive the item of clothing, I make sure it is made out of quality fabrics.

Even when it comes to basic t-shirts, I make certain that they are made of pima cotton or similar and in plain colours. Certain things I won't skimp on - handbags, shoes, coats, and certain accessories (scarves) - these I buy the absolute best possible.

One of my most complimented-on outfits was from when I was 6 months pregnant with my first child - a pull on simple white broderie anglaise midi skirt from M&S, a white v neck t shirt (no name brand), beige wedge espadrilles (??? on sale), an ice blue mini Longchamp nylon tote, and a white and ice blue silk scarf thrown around my neck (Hermes). Although I was pregnant and the total cost of the clothing (excluding accessories) was about £50, it still looked "expensive" because it was all good quality and fit a look.

I have a certain style and I buy clothing which suits it. This means that I have clothes which I still wear from over 10 years ago which have not dated because of their quality and the fact that it fits my style. This tends to be a classic, tailored look but made not boring by accessorising.

A blogger with great accessible style is Mai Tai - her clothing choices are very simple, but she probably had 100 ways with scarves. She definitely is in the classic style categories, but it is interesting to see how she takes a couple simple items of clothing and creates multiple outfits from them.

I've sometimes seen tall, well built, I guess you could say statuesque, women who have that "expensive" look, so I don't think its to do with being slim. It's really intangible, but could be that they are wearing at least one good item, but it's more to do with a total look, as if they're well put together and have thought about their appearance from top to toe. Also, even if quite large, their clothes fit well.

Yeah, statuesque and overweight can still look expensive

Short and a size 4 can look expensive

Short, fat, massive tits (ie. Me) not in a fucking million years can I look expensive. Busty barmaid yes, wench yes.

Laurie I feel your pain, that's me too, to a tee :( Blousy, frumpy or scruffy are the words I'd use to describe how I look most of the time despite following most of the advice on this thread .

Laurie who cares when you have a beautiful ring
Now THAT looks expensive.
I'm on the ring thread too.

mutton I get what you're saying about class. I'm from a very working class background and people were very conscious about clothes. There was always "Sunday Best" no matter how poor you were. Some of these clothes-especially coats-were beautiful quality and expensively cut.

I think I kind of carry that idea through. I'm never scruffy and perhaps come across as too try-hard. I think clothes can be a way of altering how people perceive you.

I had a colleague once who said he could always tell when Welsh people were visiting the town as they were always better dressed then the locals (and probably be in their Sunday Best".

The woman I saw this morning in the dry cleaners looked fab in her red fedora hat.

She really carried it off.

My personal opinion is that women who don't look 'expensive' have tatty hair that needs cutting, colouring or both. You can wear what you want but if your hair is a mess, you look a mess. I don't mean it necessarily needs combing- windswept can look glam- and so can hair pulled in a high ponytail or a comb grip- but hair that is dry, needs roots re-touching or is just shapeless is a no-no.

Ditto (IMO) no make up. I know this is contentious on MN but hey, it is S&B! IMO (only) very few women over 35-ish look ok without any makeup. A bit of light foundation, blusher, mascara and lippy can make tatty look groomed.

Scuffed shoes / boots are a no-no.
ie where the leather is so worn you can see the white /grey underneath.

Tatty nails- ie dark colours that are chipped.

Wearing the 'wrong clothes' for the occasion. A personal hate of mine is older women who wear a fleece or Gortex type jacket & trainers for everything (ie supermarket, trips to shops, etc) when they are really for country walks or when it's pissing it down.

Wearing the 'wrong clothes' for the occasion. A personal hate of mine is older women who wear a fleece or Gortex type jacket & trainers for everything (ie supermarket, trips to shops, etc) when they are really for country walks or when it's pissing it down. And the woman I saw the other day at a family event in a muddy field wearing smart coat & boots with a formal designer handbag looked ridiculous - everyone else was wearing wellies or hill-walking boots.

It's not what the clothes cost but how they fit that counts. Many women seem to hide under baggy clothes or are popping out of clothes that are too tight.

And having some idea of how to put colours- or no colour- together.

Wearing judgy pants, some people you see look as if they have dressed while wearing a blindfold. I don't like 'matchy-matchy' but some idea about what goes with what does help!

Some women can look stunning in a pair of cheap but well fitting jeans, a simple top and one piece of simple but quality jewellery like a lovely bangle or earrings.

Is it Jilly Cooper who said that there is an enduring myth that upper-class women all have lovely thin ankles?

And that it's not TRUE, it's just that any upper-class woman who did not have delicate ankles would make a big effort to hide them, so the only thick ankles you would ever see would be on lower-class women?

I feel like I remember there being some comparison to a thoroughbred horse...

Thanks Mutton

"Is it Jilly Cooper who said that there is an enduring myth that upper-class women all have lovely thin ankles?"

I don't know if she said it was an enduring myth, but she certainly wrote about it. In 'Riders' Tory hated her mother sometimes 'for her ankles slender as a gazelle's, and her high flexible insteps, and think Knightsbridge legs'

Taking a bus through Knightsbridge, and guessing who is a tourist and who is an expensive resident is probably as good a way as any to work out what the markers are. I think a lot is to do with hair: thick, well conditioned hair.

I think there are many factors .
I don't think that you have to be either slim or young. It's not just about money either.
Women such as Amal Clooney ,Victoria Beckam , Towie and the Geordie Shore lot do not look expensive. For despite wearing very expensive clothes , they all look like they are trying too hard to look expensive.
One is reminded of Daniella Westbrook and the Burberry fiasco. She singlehandedly put me off Burberry for life.

Interesting article related to thread. How she reinvented herself to bag a millionaire Anyway, says she shopped on eBay for expensive staples.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1352664/How-marry-millionaire-Shop-girl-Kim-reinvented-land-rich-husband.html

I was at soft play today and was thinking about this. I think there are several factors:

Life: a hard life - financial worries, poor diet, smoking - are reflected in your face and skin. Loads of the people there looked "hard" they had "hard" faces.

Bling: less is more, money does not buy elegance. Gucci, Chanel etc can look cheap on the wrong person. Keep it understated. I think people think if I have X and it costs XX and people know that then they will look expensive. They don't, understated wealth is the best. Eg Michael Kors bags to me = chav.

Sportswear at, to and from the gym only.

Subtle make up, groomed hair and nails.

My mum has money but doesn't look elegant - dreadful haircut, smoker, cheap bag (not leather), untailored clothes, eg tracksuit bottoms, jumpers and slacks.

PrizeyPrize, if she was trying to look expensive, she's failed. She looks trashy as anything.

And that story is just tragic!