What makes a woman glamorous?

[WineInTheSun]

Just that really!!
Inspired after a colleague saw me stuffing my mouth with biscuits and remarked ‘what are you eating?! You always look so glamorous and not the type to walk around with a mouthful!’

Made me think am I glamorous?
Always have a full face of makeup on (primer, concealer, foundation, bronzer, blusher, mascara, lipliner and lip balm), hair clean and tied in a high ponytail. Have to wear a uniform to work but opt for the dress with a waist belt option.

So what to you sets a woman aside as glamorous?
I’m secretly complimented as I have a crush on said colleague but also wondering if it means he just sees me as a Joan Collins impractical Dynasty type so not such a compliment

[BettyBooJustDoinTheDoo]

I think Meghan is glamour personified in these pictures, old school Hollywood.

[XingMing]

It's a thin line between glamorous and trashy I reckon, and it depends on body shape and age as well. Personally, I think of most of Hollywood's starlets over my lifetime (I am old) as gorgeous when young, but clinging too tightly to their peak earning years look for so long that it becomes quite a needy look.

Joan Collins is the archetype. I think she's clever and funny too, but the world misses her wittiness because she's so Dynasty overdressed still. Meghan Markle currently does glamorous well. I tend to discount models who would look wonderful in a swathe of black plastic bin liner.

Jerry Hall is glamorous and has opinions too, but seems to have dropped off the headlines.

I think real glamour has some intellect attached, and isn't just clothes and groooming.

[XingMing]

Amal Clooney is immensely glamorous: she is beautiful, and married to George, and can wear anything, but she is also in her own right and purely through her own hard work a top flight international lawyer specialising in human rights. That is glamour!

[ShesGotBetteDavisEyes]

That biscuit comment from your colleague would put me right off him OP!! He’s probably the type of guy who thinks women shouldn’t fart either!
My dm is often described as glamourous. She has a bouffanty hairstyle which is always “done” and uses lots of hair lacquer. She always has a full face of makeup (not overdone though) and matches her eyeshadow to her clothes! She wears jewellery and perfume and always has a nice coat/shoes/handbag.

I try to be well put together but I do have my off days and often slouch around in leggings and a T-shirt!

[ShesGotBetteDavisEyes]

That reminds me I watched this episode of french & saunders spoofing Joan and Jackie Collins the other day - it’s hilarious!

[BettyBooJustDoinTheDoo]

Yes agree with Amal, she has the look of a young Joan Crawford to me.

[MikeUniformMike]

Dita von Teese is glamorous.
Joan Collins is, so are Tess Daly and Nicole from Pussycat Dolls.
Emma Thompson is but didn't use to be a few decades ago.

It is looking expensive and high maintenance. Hair done, nails manicured, expensively dressed, heels not flats etc.

[Thisismadness]

I think it’s women (people?) with a timeless look. Amal Clooney, definitely but George has it too. Monica Bellucci is another one, Cate Blanchett also comes to mind. I think Joan Collins is just trying too hard, I don’t like her look at all. I like to think I’m stylish but I’d be confused if someone called my glamorous. On balance I think It would be a complement.

[Eesha]

I have a friend who I'd say looks glamorous but it's because she always has a full face of makeup on. She is very pretty but it gives her a polished look (always red lips) regardless of her clothes. In maybe 20 years of knowing her, I haven't seen her without makeup.

[StellaRockafella]

I get told I'm glamorous a lot and am endlessly amused by it - I wear barely any make-up, have never had a manicure but I do have great skin, very defined cheekbones and always wear earrings, usually baroque pearls or diamond studs. I have come to the conclusion that it's possibly something that's innate, much like being chic. It also means different things to people - some of the previous posts aren't my idea of glamour at all and sound more eurotrashy and just a little bit vulgar.

Joan Collins is old school Hollywood glamorous, ditto Elizabeth Taylor and Sophia Loren. I think Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly are more chic and stylish, but not hugely glamorous. I do agree about Amal Clooney being glamorous, not so much about Meghan Markle who is polished in a very American way. Elizabeth Hurley is glamorous.

[WineInTheSun]

Very interesting reading all of the replies! Seems generally to most it means makeup, confidence, clean hair and good posture.
Maybe I am glamorous then, although as a nurse I wouldn’t say I really could be! Just don’t look completely exhausted perhaps and the dress/belt on an hourglass figure is more flattering 😁.

Tbh I hadn’t considered him ‘negging’ me as I was more taken aback by what he meant, I hadn’t heard anybody use the word ‘glamorous’ since my Granny described her neighbour’s new wife as it! Not to steer this to a relationships thread but I feel there is a spark there as I have caught him looking at me in the past and he always smiles when he sees me. So I’ll take it as a compliment.

I suppose we should all keep being glam and take it as a compliment even if the blusher is blinding

[WineInTheSun]

Interesting about glamour being innate, maybe being smiley and friendly too? Although I imagine many of the famously glamorous divas weren’t necessarily friendly and only smiled for the camera . Maybe being glamorous is an attitude too?

[borntobequiet]

Glamour originally meant a spell or illusion, so to me it’s about more than how you dress or look. Princess Diana had it, Jackie Onassis had it, Audrey Hepburn had it. Perhaps it’s relevant that they all had lives that were unhappy in some way. Latter-day celebs are so obviously intentionally glamourised that the illusion is shattered.
People I know in RL whom I consider glamorous all at least project the illusion of confidence.

[CandiceSucksCandy]

Audrey Hepburn
Rita Hayworth
Ginger Rogers
Coco Chanel
Marilyn Monroe
Dita Von Teese
Scarlett Johansson
For me it's 'done' hair but not too overdone.
Really good jewelry but not too much of it
Not having big blingy designer labels on show
Little bits of sparkle here and there.
Not in your face but people notice them, in a good way.

I wish I could do it.

[Waterandlemonjuice]

I think calling someone glamorous is a compliment.

Last time I was called it I was wearing bright red lipstick and it was definitely meant as a compliment.

[anicebag]

If I call someone glamourous I mean- nice hair, makeup, definitely bright lipstick, coat not puffer, leather footwear, and maybe a swishy scarf/wrap thing around neck. Someone "done" who's not wearing jeans and trainers. Tan handbag would be ok too but probably black. A type of women dressed to go out shopping on a Saturday in Glasgow.

[Ninkanink]

To me glamorous definitely means old school Hollywood glamour, e.g. Audrey Hepburn, Liz Taylor, et al. So the modern, day-to-day version of that, keeping it just on the rude side of over-dressed (because if you go too far you just look a bit silly I think). A number of colleagues of mine told me I was always glamorous as well. I do make an effort to wear well-curated outfits, and I love beautiful handbags and shoes. At that particular job I did wear heels quite often, plus a little bit of make up, but not OTT - No full face make up, just a bit of eyeshadow, mascara and lipstick or lipgloss, nicely groomed brows etc. I generally don’t do much with my hair, blow dry it and wear it down or in a pony tail. It’s more to do with how you carry yourself I think, and also if your dress sense tends toward the classic/timeless/some would say boring.

I also got called glamorous because I carried a Becksøndergaard fabric bag (which I got free for spending over a promotion threshold) as my shopping bag rather than just a big standard supermarket bag for life. I’m flattered, of course. But to me it was just a nice, useful bag to carry my shopping and/or work stuff in.

There is another version of glamorous...TOWIE/WAGs/Love Island. That’s not glamour to me, though. That’s just OTT, and a bit tacky, unless it’s kept very understated and elegant and on the right side of the line.

It’s very subjective, isn’t it.

And, it goes without saying that if it makes you happy and you feel good, wear what you like whether or not anyone else thinks it’s OTT, tacky, too much, too little, or whatever other judgement one might conceive of. As long as it’s appropriate for one’s circumstances I think the more variety of fashion and style, the better and more fun!

[Ninkanink]

Haha wth is autocorrect doing?? I can assure you I don’t dress on the ‘rude’ side of overdressed...obviously meant on the right side.

[Ninkanink]

Sigh. And bog standard, obviously

[Ninkanink]

Also didn’t actually mean to put lip gloss (generally find it too gloopy and sticky), meant to write lip balm. Very subtle, which is generally how I like it.

[JonnyPocketRocket]

Interesting, I would probably describe you as glamorous, OP but I wasn't aware of the Joan Collins/ drag queen/ glamour model connotations in so many people's minds! I'll try and use "stylish" or "chic" in future.

[Ninkanink]

I think that rather brash look was considered quite glamorous in the eighties, and some people have obviously carried on either wearing that style or picturing that style in relation to the term. It wasn’t the best decade for fashion, really...

[BoucleEponine]

Amal Clooney is immensely glamorous: ... but she is also in her own right and purely through her own hard work a top flight international lawyer specialising in human rights. That is glamour!

No, she's very intelligent but was very much junior counsel until she married George and he's bankrolled her high profile pro bono work. And human rights lawyers often represent dictators and other arseholes. - nothing glamorous about that.

She's become very glamorous and classy since marrying GC and wearing haute couture everyday 😃

[Ninkanink]

Heh yes - if you’ve got the stylish gene (or know who to pick to style you) then money does definitely buy great style/glamour!

[AnuvvaMuvva]

I always got called glamorous when I was younger. I think it's glossy hair, visible make-up, and jewellery.