I often look scruffy. What easy steps can I take to look neater?

[Ferrisbuellersdayoff]

I'm often at the school gate with unkempt hair, a down-filled walking jacket, old, bobbled top, jeans that don't fit, amusing socks from accessorize and scuffed shoes. I work from home most of the time. When I have to go to see clients, I wear dresses and try to look tidy (but still end up with ladders in my tights and looking a state) but when I'm running errands and on the school run, I feel really awkward and messy. It doesn't help that I'm about a stone heavier than I like, and my hair is greying because I can't dye it at the moment. What can I do to smarten myself up and feel less dowdy? I'm 5ft 6 and a size 12, pear shaped with a massive mummy tummy that makes me want to cry, so I have to try to hide it.

It's very good. I use a thicker concealer but this is my go to on non work days

I am a size 14 but always look ok even though i work form home and live in the courtyside.

Today I am wearing slim leg jeans (not skinnies) in a fairly dark blue and some tan chelsea boots. I also have a tan Mulberry Bayswater. I have on a cream corduroy shirt from H&M and a pale grey poncho over the top (I'm peri-meno so im always hot at the mo and can't wear coats). My hair is always died by the hairdresser every 5 weeks (dark brown) and i wash and dry it every other day. I am a nail biter and have short nails but they are always gel polished (I have to go every 7 days as i pick) - at the mo they are in a very dark navy). Simple silver jewellery. So a bit boring, but clean, presentable and not scruffy.

Top tip - dont wear your jeans for more than 2 days as they go terribly out of shape and will make you look scruffy.

I would strongly recommend eBay to buy good quality second hand clothes.

Clean shoes
Clean brushed hair
Clean ironed clothes
Neat tidy nails

Above that and everything is a bonus

TableNiner is right about wearing all your clothes - don't save things for imaginary special occasions. I do this and only recently realised have silly it is.

Even the most battered leather footwear will look 100x better if given a quick polish.

You need to find a brand of jeans that works for you. Many online retailers do free returns. Uniqlo are good for me. 7FAMK are terrible on me. So you don't necessarily have to spend £££.

I think its a matter of organisation and prioritisation.
Self respect and feeling confident must be something that is important to you to prioritise it. It does not take a lot of time or money. It does not matter whether you work full time in a paid role or are a SAHM, there is absolutely no need to look or feel like you are describing if you do not want to.

And there is no denying it a UK size 12 is large, we have just been forced into accepting it a 'normal' , its not.

Jeans don't go out of shape for me and I can wear them for months without washing (yes, really, but I don't wear them all day every day - just for if I leave the house).
My go to for jeans is Gap (great once I found out what my size is), but I wear more expensive brands too. Diesel, Levi's, 7 for all mankind (so comfy) mainly. I would recommend M&S but I'm too small for size 6 there - I'm a size 8.

Some brands will be baggy arsed after wearing for about 10 minutes, so I got rid of those. Sadly Uniqlo was the worst offender, I gave up after about 3 pairs - a shame cos I like their stuff.

I'm nowhere near a size 12 but size 12 is definitely not large. I'd be fat at size 12 but that's because I am short and fairly slight.

Sizes have got bigger though. I have clothes from the 1990s and they are tiny compared to the same sizes now. Waists especially.

Sizes vary from shop to shop, and to say that a size 12 is large is ridiculous because it doesn't mean anything. If you routinely shop in stores that use vanity sizing, 12 might be large, but it is still a generalisation.

A Next size 8 is too big for me in jeans, but I am bosomy and have been since puberty, so a 12 in Euro equivalent top half, an 8-10 bottom half; I only lose weight off my bum. I rarely wear dresses for just this reason. But compared to a young French woman, I'd be largish. OTOH, my skin is relatively unwrinkled and youthful, and that is partly because I have always eaten carefully and exercised but don't diet or sunbathe. There comes an age when you you to decide between your face and your body and since only DH sees me naked....

Go to a MAC make-up store to buy an every-day lipstick (a rose colour is always good). Get the people who work there to help you and don't be afraid to try on 20+ colours until you're happy with the outcome. Then take a minute in the morning to apply it properly (2x costs with tissue paper blotting) and keep it in your handbag to top up throughout the day. I find this combined with a tinted moisturiser and some mascara is more than enough to feel together and polished!

@absolutelyknackeredcow just realised I've seen this video before and still not taken it on! I need to buy a liquid blush thing then I'm set

GP thinks I am allergic to my hair care

Your GP could be right. I developed a reaction to the hair colour I'd used for years

I have discovered that spending time on straightening my hair and putting on some foundation and lip gloss makes all the difference.

I'm in a hurry, tight-fisted and fat but people always tell me I look good. Maybe these tips, honed over 50 years of hating getting dressed, help:

1. Absolutely no amusing or novelty clothing. Especially not if you really own a cat or pug.
2. Studs and scent at all times.
3. Bright white tee every day, recycle after 6 months, buy in 10s.
4. Eyebrows shaped and dyed while waiting for bus.
5. Box of shoes/boots by door so you can choose what goes.
6. Never jeans, always dress or skirt or joggers.
7. Tanning body cream covers a multitude of sins.
8. Make up on in bus or car .
9. Rimmel 60-sec nail varnish as above, as long as you are still for 5 min.

10. Newish or expensive handbag that shuts.

6. Never jeans, always dress or skirt or joggers.

Er, joggers?

I can't use any cosmetics at the moment, but I wish I could! I usually have dyed hair, tinted eyebrows, tinted moisturiser, concealer, blusher and lipgloss. I'm very, very fair and happy to be so, therefore fake tan is not an option, and bronzer looks weird on me. Similarly, white clothes look dreadful on me. I work from home, so there's not a lot of waiting for buses going on!

I'm definitely bigger than I should be and want to tackle this. I'm bang on size 12. I know from experience that if I put on a stone I'll be a 14 and if I lose one I'm a 10. I feel more comfortable as an 8-10. The big belly is partly from diet and partly from a feeble post-childbirth core.

I think the police would take a dim view of applying make up whilst driving too

You've had some good advice OP. Couple of thoughts from me - buy clothes for the lifestyle you live most of the time i.e. invest a lot more in well cut jeans and good flat boots rather than posh work clothes that you only wear once in a while.

It is really worth getting eyebrows professionally threaded or waxed every few weeks. As you can't use dye currently use one of the eyebrow pencils or kits that are around cheaply.

I wouldn't bother getting nails done as it's ongoing and pricey but do make sure that they are filed occasionally.

Mind you
when I work from home I'm in workout gear the entire day with my hair scraped back unattractively. I always hope not to meet anyone I know when walking the dog as I'm such a state , so I'm probably not best placed to give advice.

1. Not exhausted towelling sportswear, jogger type trousers - comfortable but not shrieking Given Up.

@inliverpool1 Best MN response evah.

I hope you've already dialled 999.

@rookiemere

buy clothes for the lifestyle you live most of the time

You've hit the nail on the head here. Thank you.

@Supersimkin2

I'm struggling to imagine joggers that aren't scruffy?

Cuffed trousers

I don’t take much notice of sizing. I wear what fits me.
There are those who look slim at size 12 and others who look chubby. It all depends on height, body shape and muscle
My sister is a 12 and has a six pack.
So Op will not look like my sister

My advice -
As others have said buy a nice pair of jeans skinny or straight leg

Long line tops/ jumpers to cover your stomach

Nice ankle boots/ knee length in tan, burgundy or dark brown

A large wrap looks really classy

Some good advice here but I wouldn't take advice from anyone with a bmi of 20 who thinks they look fat, as they clearly have a distorted view when it comes to size and looks.