Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

What makes someone look / seem classy?

252 replies

scruffyandlockeddown · 29/11/2020 20:48

Not rich / expensive (although those threads are a great read).

But that more intangible serene class / grace / elegance?

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
questionn · 30/11/2020 00:33

Yes Nicole has gone too far facially however I still think she is elegant looking.

VaggieMight · 30/11/2020 00:39

Yes Nicole has gone too far facially however I still think she is elegant looking.

I just don't see how someone can be elegant looking when they look so distractingly not normal looking, she looks incredibly odd. It's sad to see. She looked great in BMX Bandits though, but not classy, just great.

ZaraW · 30/11/2020 08:03

@VaggieMight

Yes Nicole has gone too far facially however I still think she is elegant looking.

I just don't see how someone can be elegant looking when they look so distractingly not normal looking, she looks incredibly odd. It's sad to see. She looked great in BMX Bandits though, but not classy, just great.

She was a teenager. I doubt many people that age want to look "classy".
Ginfordinner · 30/11/2020 08:09

looks great. More casual in them but certainly a cut above the usual yoof wear.

I live rurally in an unfashionable part of Yorkshire. People are more likely to be wearing parkas or waterproof coats against the rain, not camel coats. I can honestly say that I don't think I have seen anyone wear a camel coat in town or at school pick up.

And young people don't like wearing coats.

questionn · 30/11/2020 08:56

I just don't see how someone can be elegant looking when they look so distractingly not normal looking, she looks incredibly odd.

I don't necessarily think you need to see someone's face up close to determine whether they are elegant. Ballet dancers are incredibly graceful & I think that watching them even though I can barely make out their features.

Janegrey333 · 30/11/2020 11:05

@Ginfordinner

looks great. More casual in them but certainly a cut above the usual yoof wear.

I live rurally in an unfashionable part of Yorkshire. People are more likely to be wearing parkas or waterproof coats against the rain, not camel coats. I can honestly say that I don't think I have seen anyone wear a camel coat in town or at school pick up.

And young people don't like wearing coats.

They appear to in posh Edinburgh. Not everywhere is the same. I think the camel coat is town wear for some but I would happily wear one in the country too. It’s classic, after all, and it can be dressed up or down.
Janegrey333 · 30/11/2020 11:06

It does rain in Scotland too. Everybody - sweeping statement - knows that...

Janegrey333 · 30/11/2020 11:07

@Missthedog

It's posture, confidence, shoes you can walk in and never wearing anything with words or glitter on . Oh and no carrier bags...
That must make shopping tricky!
cactusisblooming · 30/11/2020 11:16

Tall and slender, great posture, high cheekbones. Clean hair, but not necessarily styled. Understated, well fitting clothes.Definitely no eyelash extensions or false nails.

LightDrizzle · 30/11/2020 11:25

I’m 5ft and a bit dumpy currently and I’m afraid that I do think at least average height and slenderness are depressingly key to looking classy or classic.
Things that can be controlled
Pared down makeup
Looking “clean” - person, clothes and accessories
Good hair in nice condition
Avoiding busy styling - throwing too much stuff on
Well fitting clothes.
Natural fibres/quality fabrics really help.

You can be short and well-upholstered and look pretty/sexy/attractive/stylish/posh etc, but classy or classic is tough.

Bluntness100 · 30/11/2020 11:30

Curiously, I don’t know, but I can tell you a story. I was going on holiday to the Caribbean and went to the loo, had to queue, so was standing at the top of the aisle, looking around me, bored.

Later I got regularly talking to a young woman, mid twenties. who was at the same complex as us. She blurted out one day, “I can’t believe I know you now, when you were on the plane, we were all talking about you. Someone had said, look at that woman, she’s really elegant, so we were all discussing you as you stood there”

Which kinda surprised my daughter and I. I was wearing a black fitted t shirt, black yoga pants, and flip flops, of all things, as you do for flying, and had my hair up in a chignon. I am five foot eight and a healthy weight, brunette.

I think it was likely the simple clothing, and the hair up, but I think if you keep it simple, well fitting, nothing revealing or over tight, no busy patterns, and you’re relatively tall, with some natural make up, it does it. No large or gaudy jewellery, I wear just a pair of Pearl studs for example, and hair well kept, .as well as a level of confidence, you can look elegant to others,

I think my daughter is naturally elegant, it always occurs to me when I look at her from afar, but I think that’s about how she carries herself, she’s tall, five foot nine, and slim, but there is something about the way she moves, and holds herself, that seems elegant.

cactusisblooming · 30/11/2020 11:30

LightDrizzle as a dumpy fatty I agree it is depressing, but ultimately I think looking classy is down to good genes. I could do all of the above and more and look well groomed, but not classy.

AnaViaSalamanca · 30/11/2020 11:35

What is your definition of "classy" OP?

I think people who try to give the impression of elegant/classy are actually quite conformist, self conscious, and try hard. Elegance is not really a look you can put together. Just be clean, polite, warm, present in the moment and be confident in yourself.

PigsInHeaven · 30/11/2020 11:43

There's a serious stealth boast, @Bluntness100 -- looking elegant while queueing for the loo on a longhaul flight! But as we have established elsewhere, you are in fact Minnie Driver. Grin

PigsInHeaven · 30/11/2020 11:52

@AnaViaSalamanca

What is your definition of "classy" OP?

I think people who try to give the impression of elegant/classy are actually quite conformist, self conscious, and try hard. Elegance is not really a look you can put together. Just be clean, polite, warm, present in the moment and be confident in yourself.

It reminds me of a Colour Me Beautiful book someone once gave us in a box of books intended for a jumble sale when I must have been in my mid-teens back in the Dark Ages, and which I found creepily fascinating. Not for the colours, but for the 'style types' -- something like Sporty, Romantic, Dramatic and a couple of others.

'Classic' was the most depressing-sounding of the lot, all about liking your bag and shoes to match, and how apparently your main priority in life was to coordinate your outfits and to be matching and well-turned out. The Queen was a 'classic' dresser, I seem to remember.

MushMonster · 30/11/2020 11:54

Posture and confidence. It is about the way they carry themselves.

Ginfordinner · 30/11/2020 11:55

Ruth Wilson as Mrs Coulter in His Dark Materials epitomises elegance to me.

Bluntness100 · 30/11/2020 11:58

@PigsInHeaven

There's a serious stealth boast, *@Bluntness100* -- looking elegant while queueing for the loo on a longhaul flight! But as we have established elsewhere, you are in fact Minnie Driver. Grin
Genuinely true story 😃
TooExtraImmatureCheddar · 30/11/2020 12:31

I don't think height has anything to do with it - small women can look classy and elegant too! So long as someone is in proportion than I don't think height comes into it.

BatleyTownswomensGuild · 30/11/2020 12:38

Tailoring: Simple, classic, well-cut clothes. Discreet make-up, French manicure.

Suffice to say, I'm not one of those women. (Eyes holey socks and stubby fingernails sheepishly....Confused.)

Janegrey333 · 30/11/2020 12:48

I’m not sure being taller than average, unless you are bone thin like fashion models, gives that elegant impression. It can be a bit Heffalump.

isthismylifenow · 30/11/2020 12:55

A woollen coat isn't going to work for me, seeing as I live in a hot country.

I do think posture has a lot to do with it. Like Bluntness, my daughter gets complimented all the time. She is a dancer and has the most beautiful posture. The way she holds herself, and even just the way she stands.

Janegrey333 · 30/11/2020 13:00

Minnie Driver is now very very bone thin indeed. She had always had a square jaw but it really is accentuated these days. Sad

What makes someone look / seem classy?
Janegrey333 · 30/11/2020 13:02

The above is à propos a previous reference.

Katrinawaves · 30/11/2020 13:04

@isthismylifenow

A woollen coat isn't going to work for me, seeing as I live in a hot country.

I do think posture has a lot to do with it. Like Bluntness, my daughter gets complimented all the time. She is a dancer and has the most beautiful posture. The way she holds herself, and even just the way she stands.

Don’t worry. The camel coat didn’t work for Derek Trotter either 🤣

I think posture and graceful movement has a lot to do with it. Teresa May has the height and figure to look classic and also wore some lovely outfits but always looked like a badly wrapped parcel in my opinion because she stopped and shuffled around.

I once worked with someone who was physically very unattractive (she had some facial deformities) but always looked very elegant because of her posture and movements. She was always dressed beautifully with well styled hair and the general impression she gave was of a very stylish woman.

Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.

This thread is closed and is no longer accepting replies. Click here to start a new thread.