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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:
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7
Janegrey333 · 03/12/2020 15:42

@LoisWilkersonslastnerve

basically I want to dress like I'm a ballerina or an author in the late 1950s/early 1960s

Love the sound of this.

Love tulle.
What makes someone look / seem classy?
Janegrey333 · 03/12/2020 15:48

Oh look. Alexa Chung has good taste.

What makes someone look / seem classy?
Ginfordinner · 03/12/2020 16:12

@Janegrey333

Oh look. Alexa Chung has good taste.
Hmm. Not a fan of anything she is wearing in that picture.
VinylDetective · 03/12/2020 16:21

@WellFuckThisShit

And (this is a genuine question) do people really look that closely at other people's tan, fake or otherwise? I'm imagining people (in the playground of course) discreetly trying to look at the underside of other peoples' arms to judge whether they are classy or not...
Well if someone’s sporting a tan in the UK now, it’s a fair bet it’s not real!
WellFuckThisShit · 03/12/2020 16:29

You see slight you sound to me extremely stylish - I would love to wear outfits like that! I haven't owned a pair of jeans for years as they just don't suit me (I don't wear trousers at all, occasionally some very non classy dungarees, I'm a ballerina who likes to decorate her (Parisian) apartment then Wink) I would love to wear jeans and an old Aran jumper and have ballerina friends

The ballerina thing makes me think of ballet buns, I had a gigantic one for years when I had hair, then out of nowhere they had a moment of being very fashionable, then went very out of fashion (I think there was a drug dealer snapped wearing one and everyone hastily took theirs down). But to me, ballet buns will always be a "stylish" (or classy if you prefer!) look (but it has to be a big one and worn tipped on the back of your head so it looks a bit like a pillbox hat from the front) and things like big flicks of eyeliner will always be stylish whether or not they are having an "in" moment (eg 1960s or Kat V D).

I think if women have certain tastes and or like certain looks they should have the confidence to wear whatever the fuck they like - and if you have that confidence, then you feel classy/stylish to me.

Feeling is more important than looking, I think? I genuinely know people don't look at me and think admiringly "oh she's so classy, she's like a 1950s ballerina" they think "why the fuck has that woman got a shaved head and her grandmothers clothes on, the fucking weirdo" but I really don't care as it's a look I like.

Objectively I don't myself like anything Alexa Chung is wearing in that photo (I particularly don't understand the shoes Grin) but I believe that she would look in the mirror when she is dressed and be happy. So I think people judging her (her for wearing the clothes rather than just judging the clothes objectively) are very unkind.

boomshakey · 03/12/2020 16:50

God I love Alexas shoes in that post. But my style veers between Amish dresses & toddler shoes to NY 70s student & then 90s sportswear. 😊

Janegrey333 · 03/12/2020 17:07

@boomshakey

God I love Alexas shoes in that post. But my style veers between Amish dresses & toddler shoes to NY 70s student & then 90s sportswear. 😊
Sounds nice!
Standandwait · 03/12/2020 17:08

Having spent Lockdown 2.0 watching old Audrey Hepburn films, I have concluded that to look classy you have to have small boobs, a long neck, and smooth skin and hair (no curls). (So I'm already ruled out, and can do whatever I like.)

A wardrobe of clothes tailored to your body (which of course never changes shape) would be ideal. But failing that, you must wear wool coats, long or short but not anoraks or puffers. They may be colourful, but never pastel. And leather shoes, not trainers, Converse (*except possibly with bare ankles, in summer, on holiday).

It would probably help if you lived between about 1940-1965. And wore gloves.

But (sorry, Grace Kelley) do not go too blonde. In fact, my final observation is that what looks good in photographs or on film (sharp contrasts of makeup and colours, including the supposedly classic red lipstick and fingernails, or eyebrows and lashes much darker than hair, or contouring) never looks good in real life.

In short, we are all doomed by unfortunate genetics, living in the wrong era, and the general impossibility of reincarnating Audrey Hepburn. It is some consolation to me that even she didn't look that good in Sabrina after her makeover -- too stiff. But having Humphrey Bogart on her arm did help the look.

Janegrey333 · 03/12/2020 17:12

Alexa in the past. Love it all.

What makes someone look / seem classy?
Standandwait · 03/12/2020 17:16

See, Janegrey, Audrey might well have dressed like that. Although with a smaller handbag. (And skin-toned tights, but they, like pancake makeup, look good on film but not real life.)

boomshakey · 03/12/2020 17:17

@Janegrey333 is that sarcasm? I wouldn't blame you if so 😆

Janegrey333 · 03/12/2020 17:32

[quote boomshakey]@Janegrey333 is that sarcasm? I wouldn't blame you if so 😆[/quote]
No it isn’t!! I think it sounds eclectic and interesting. Smile

boomshakey · 03/12/2020 17:40

🤣 thank you. I fear it's doesn't generally come off like that!

Janegrey333 · 03/12/2020 17:40

How perfect is she. And no jewellery to be seen.

What makes someone look / seem classy?
Terralee · 03/12/2020 17:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

WellFuckThisShit · 03/12/2020 18:04

Oh that second Alexa Chung picture cheers me up as I have a lot of jumpers/Peter pan blouse combinations (I like it on dresses too) and a pair of very similar shoes with pointy toes and bows (Zara IIRC) Clearly I am indeed a style goddess of the highest order.

@Terralee do you feel your very detailed post may perhaps be a trifle identifying?

MissLucyEyelesbarrow · 03/12/2020 18:05

Three pages in and nobody has segued into telling us that rich people wear ancient scruffy clothes and drive around in ancient land rovers encrusted with dog hair! What is happening to Mumsnet???

That’s an urban myth.

It really isn't. But those people don't look classy, they look scruffy, just posh-scruffy. It's a subtle form of one-upmanship because they are signalling that they are too important to follow convention. Boris Johnson is the king of the posh scruffies.

Terralee · 03/12/2020 18:07

@WellFuckThisShit oh no I meant to change names!
Just reported

MitziK · 03/12/2020 18:14

@Janegrey333

How perfect is she. And no jewellery to be seen.
I don't think that somebody who reportedly weighed no more than 7 stone 5 pounds (according to her son), so whose BMI at her highest weight was 16, is 'perfect'.

I'd have to weigh just over 6 stone to be her highest BMI. And that's not elegant or perfect. That's unhealthy.

Lizzie523 · 03/12/2020 18:15

Well to toot my own horn I think and have been told that I fit the bill by a few people in the past.

I don't think you have to only wear camel coats (although I do have one Grin), nor do you need an Audrey Hepburn figure. I have an hourglass figure and if I worn bodycon every day would look trashy in a hot second.

It has taken me about a decade to refine what shapes and colours look good on ne and now I rarely deviate from them. I have a good eye for colour and coordinate an outfit easily without trying - I know this because again people have commented on it and it is rarely intentional.

Nor do I think it is about money. It really helps, sure, but I am a master of looking expensive because I have a good eye for a bargain. I just recently just got a Max Mara coat half price and waited for it to come down in price!

Other than this I have been told by an ex partner that he loved my self assured walk. I find the more yoga and dancing I do the better it gets.

Write now I'm wearing a half price jumper I bought from Oasis in the Debenhams sale. With leggings Grin gone downhill a bit since working from home but look forward to getting back to it.

I hardly swear all the time but I do if I feel passionate or angry about something. Classy doesnt have to mean dull.

Ginfordinner · 03/12/2020 18:32

Nope, the second Alexa Chung picture does nothing for me either.

PolkadotGiraffe · 03/12/2020 19:19

@Bluntness100

Lol at the bitchy comments,,😂
Imagine what would have happened if you had actually made an effort! 😧😆
Imissmoominmama · 03/12/2020 19:20

I can never look classy- I hunch my shoulders without realising it.

I’m classy inside though.

DorisDaisyMay · 03/12/2020 20:22

The very wealthy I know look very unfashionable but very expensive. They wear the this-old-thing £300 jumper. Mud splattered £400 boots etc.
On an off point they also have very old fashioned kitchens.

PolkadotGiraffe · 03/12/2020 20:24

@Pyewhacket

... because a camel toe with a camel coat isn’t accessorising , it’s just wrong Grin
GrinGrinGrin
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