Frumpy

[JaneJeffer]

Can people please stop using this word to insult people who don't want to wear what you would wear. I'm fed up of seeing it.

It's not a word men get accused of

I did not know that skinny jeans are frumpy now. What trousers aren’t frumpy then? Baggy jeans, linen/cotton trousers and harem pants are all called frumpy as well.

It's a funny word though. Frumpy

Frumply dumply

some women want advice on avoiding being frumpy
Fair enough but that's not the context I mean. I'm talking about calling people frumpy when they didn't ask for comment on what they like to wear.

@NecklessMumster

It's not a word men get accused of

No. Conspicuously not.

It’s not very specific either. It’s just derogatory and vague. So if you are asking an opinion and get the feedback “it’s frumpy”, it wouldn’t really help you analyse the supposed problem.

I might not be the target market for this, though, because I look like an explosion in a Monsoon sale with accents from Hush and Oxfam and couldn’t care less what anybody thinks.

There’s definitely a male style that’s frumpy though - badly fitting jeans, sensible rather than cool trainers, zip neck fleece, supermarket t-shirt and some kind of outdoorsy jacket. Probably comfortable and practical but not going to win any style awards or attract many women (if they wish to). Not sure what the male equivalent word would be though 🤔

Not sure what the male equivalent word would be though

Yeah, I can't think of one either. Funny, that

I agree OP, it's very marginally better than 'mumsy' which is just fucking insulting.
But it is shit.

Oh. No photos?

No.

I think frumpy is underrated. I love my frumpy stuff.

I understand what you're saying Op, it's a derogatory term to keep women down. We must all be preened to perfection, wear exactly what makes us look amazing no matter how uncomfortable, we must keep our impossible standards up. How dare anyone veer from what's been drummed into us since the dawn of time.

Is this like when Beyoncé tried to ban the word bossy? 😂

@pastypirate

Hmm. I think frumpy means not dressing for the male gaze. It's not the most offensive word to describe a woman but it's another one that's never used on men!!

I don't think it's about dressing for the male gaze at all, because women who are 'into' fashion are more likely dressing to impress other women (who also are into fashion), than men.

adjective
dowdy and old-fashioned (typically used of a woman or her clothes).

I suppose it is a bit sexist

I get where you're coming from OP. There's a huge difference between saying 'I don't like wearing skinny jeans anymore as I'm bored of them and want a change/ they don't suit me/I prefer myself in other styles' and telling other women that skinny jeans are 'dated, frumpy, middle aged (as an insult), look awful unless you're skinny' etc, especially after a woman has said she likes and wears them. People will say that it's a board for to discussing fashion, and opinions differ, but there's very much a culture of 'this is what us cool girls wear, and anyone who doesn't looks ( insert insulting term of choice)'. Which is a shame as the board is otherwise fun and uplifting.

That's exactly it @5128gap

Some people seem to think (or pretend to think) I want the word frumpy banned which wasn't what I said at all.

You, in your OP:

Can people please stop using this word to insult people who don't want to wear what you would wear. I'm fed up of seeing it.

You in your latest post:

Some people seem to think (or pretend to think) I want the word frumpy banned

So you will permit use of the word ‘frumpy’ when it is used as a term of congratulation? Which is, er, never.

How about you be less sensitive? Not everyone will like what you wear. Some people will express frank opinions when asked to do so. Your problem isn’t with the word ‘frumpy’. It’s with the fact that sometimes other people will disagree with your style choices and will say so in an open debate. Deal with it. All this because a few posters don’t think that your beloved skinny jeans or Boden tops or whatever are the coolest garment available, and you are outraged at the perceived insult.

TBF “Please don’t” isn’t synonymous with “I want this banned”.

@Iamthewombat you obviously have problems with comprehension so I’m going to try to help you out here.

This is a sentence:
Can people please stop using this word to insult people who don't want to wear what you would wear.

The symbol at the end which looks like this . is called a full stop.

When we read a sentence we read all the way to the full stop.

Therefore we don’t read ‘Can people please stop using this word’ and think the OP doesn’t want us to use the word frumpy but instead
we carry on until we get to the full stop and see that the OP wants us to stop using the word frumpy as an insult.

If you still don’t understand then I can’t be of any further help but I’m sure professional help is available.

Also, apart from telling you I don’t own any Boden I didn’t say anything about how I dress so your invention of an imaginary wardrobe for me is very cute. Bless.

I think it's a particularly nasty word, used to describe women (always women of course) whose clothes aren't considered fashionable or 'flattering' enough. It's used on here every single day to criticise other women's clothing choices and to make women feel paranoid about falling below a perceived standard of acceptability. And yeah, it's right up there with mumsy. Just horrible.

When I think of frumpy, it’s usually the per Una range with too many sparkly bits or a skirt that is just the wrong length or shape; a heel of the wrong height to go with the outfit or an over stretched old sweater. Also-things go out of fashion! It’s ok to cling to your skinny jeans if you like them and think you look great and they suit you-anything goes if you think you look great! But…skinny jeans are not fashionable anymore so they are dated and that becomes interchangeable with frumpy I think.
Men get it less because men’s suits/clothing don’t really change as much in style as women’s clothes do - however, we all see that saggy bum in jeans or an ill fitting shirt, which to me also align with the frumpy grandad look.
S&B is all about what’s fashionable and looks good hence why you might get those sometimes brutal responses to what do you think of these shoes? You can’t expect anything else.🤷‍♀️

Frumpy, mumsy, dowdy and plain are all disgusting words used by disgusting misogynists. No one uses them for any reason other than to sneer at women.A man wearing a similar style would be described as wearing garments that were practical, comfortable, or warm.

okay then

not sure how 'plain' can cause such upset but hey ho...