What makes you think someone is poor?

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What makes you think someone is poor?

I'd really like to know because I've had so many people assume that I'm poor (and not just in the last few years). Not people that really know me but like shop assistents or nurses and such people. I've had plenty of remarks that something like the ronald mcdonalds house would cost me too much money (was 15 euro a night).

I'm not poor. Far from it. I'm a SAHM in a detached house in a nice village. I style my hair every other day, wear minimal make up, always wear some fine gold jewelry. Granted, I don't wear brand names, but I do wear a proper wool coat, real leather handbag and leather loafers. I prefer buying pieces that are good quality and last than just pay for a brand. I don't have a noticable regional accent. DH makes a lot of money. I used to be poor when younger and apparantly I still look it in some way.

I don't have to look like you should rob me, but I would like the concerned poor remarks go away. So tell me, when you see someone, what makes you think that they're poor?

I lived in the East End of Glasgow. The people I knew who favoured sunbeds were most definitely not wealthy.

Hope this helps.

Being not wealthy is not the same as being poor.

they were poor

hope this helps

Being a young mum? Jesus fucking Christ I thought this thread couldn't get any worse.

There are some really nasty women on this forum.

I don't think a lot of wealthy people will be worrying about their nails and acne can blight anyone, rich or poor. Lots of money is no guarantee of good skin

I think it's only poor people who try to look rich. People who have enough money really don't care what people think and lean towards comfort.

People who struggle are the ones trying to hide it by trying to show they can afford nice things.

I grew up in Larrnden VB's vowels are WC.

Teeth are the give away for me. It’s almost unheard of here for the kids not to have orthodontics and those who don’t get NHS treatment have it privately, I can’t think of any of my kids friends who haven’t had braces. People don’t have noticeably missing teeth, they get them fixed and they’re rarely discoloured. Obviously many poor people will also have good teeth but it’s pretty much without exception that people have good teeth

They’re not really. They’re a bit north east London and not posh but they’re not working class

What are WC Vowels?

The difference between trousers and trases

Op are you a brit now living in the Netherlands?

What do they say to you to make you think they think you’re poor?

I don’t care how much money, or not other people think I have tbh. and nurses have insinuated you’re poor?…very odd. If you’re happy with you and your life then who cares what people you’ll never meet again think. Unless you’re not as happy as you suggest?.
cant be bothered with judging people. I think if you’re going to list things you think make people look poor you aren’t a very nice person, so what if they are poor? Some of the most amazing people I’ve met in life aren’t well off and ‘poor’ it says more about you than the people you’re judging

I'd only think this I'd they always wore worn out clothes and shoes with holes. Ironically I was wearing leggings with holes in them today, but I haven't had a chance to get some new ones and it's in a discreet place so even then you never know!

If you live in the Netherlands, it is a whole different kettle of fish. Groomed is a completely different style. I've lived in Germany for 10+ years, and the style of groomed (similar to the Netherlands), is incomparable to the UK style of groomed. So the worn leathers and wools of the UK do look poor and worn out on the continent, especially in the northern Anglo countries (E.g. Sweden, Denmark etc). A loved and worn leather bag in the UK, indicates a degree of poverty and lack of excess cash in the NE and in Germany. Things need to be brand spanking new, preferably with a label in order to be considered the wealthy classes. A very new and big car on the drive and minimalist lifestyle indoors. Sorry OP, but you needed to specify that critical piece of info up ahead. The UK style is very much known on the continent. And sometimes mocked.

As a cohort it’s correct though. Very few people who go on to a successful career had children very young.

One of the greatest indicators of future success is the ability to forego reward now for reward later, and a corollary of this is that those who will put in the effort to become wealthy are rarely those who think having a baby aged nineteen is a good idea.

@TeaAddict235 this is very interesting, can you elaborate more please?

Um, I'm not sure what to say @Explodingatomickittens, I've given a very very summarised observation and also have added what friends and acquaintances out here have said. European wealth is more ostentatious, many houses have saunas / steam rooms in them, and so the access to making your skin & hair look good (even for teenagers) is within easy reach.
Wearing / possessing ages old items brings a bad taste in many Austrian's/ German's etc mouths as it is back to the third Reich and what many families suffered, so few want to wear items of old, let alone keep them in their houses. It's much more a case of 'out with the old, in with the new'.

So I think that the OP may know what is being thought perhaps. Curly hair is for the bohos/ ethnics, straight hair is a sign for the wealthy in Europe. E.g. Barbara Becker type glam, Heidi Klum style, Nikki Benetts, Barbara Schönenberger style etc. those are quite easy people to Google and are often in women's magazines. There is no Helena Boham- Carter type*, unless again you are talking about off grid free range living types. That is never considered understated rich. Helena BC is considered Berlin squatter type, definitely not wealthy; and that is probably where UK and Mainland Northern European wealth tangents at its steepest.

*MN disclaimer, I am not trying to offend anyone.

My experience of living in the NL would suggest there is a clear divide between those who shop at Etam/Promiss and those who buy “basics” at Esprit/Mexx (e.g., pastel T-shirts) but then are worn with armarni jeans. When I lived there you couldn’t buy clothes at supermarkets/cheap places. Primark was only just happening and in one city only.

Items would be worn with a full-face of make-up (Douglas being a multi-story Sephora in almost all towns) - expensive designer bags and with good jewellery.

They have a genetic ability to eat soup without spilling it over their small, perky tits and are no stranger to the iron.

Lycra was for the gym, not daily life.

“Conditie” (fitness) is v important and you WILL be told if you’re porky.

Yes, I was also wondering that. And so sorry if you have a sick child OP

Bloody hell!

When I first visited Amsterdam in 1999, the majority of families were wearing matching dayglow shell suits and mullets were the standard male haircut.

UK fashion at the time, was quite understated. Shell suits were really, really naff and mullets were objects of ridicule. It made the Dutch seem very dated in terms of fashion and families wearing matching tracksuits was bizarre by British standards.

A friend remarked that he'd assumed the Dutch would be 'just like us', but came away thinking they were actually rather different.

Well I lived in NL between 1999 and 2003 and don’t recall matching shell suits or mullets. It’s so difficult to generalise and the Dutch are nothing like the Germans either, in fact they’d be very upset to be clumped together with other Northern European nations (except maybe Flemish speaking Belgium) as it has been done above.
The only true statement about them that I’ve read is that they’re direct to the point of bluntness (which can be misinterpreted as rude by Brits)

This thread is so bizarre…

I don’t think you can really tell by appearance. We were quite WC growing up and my Mum was as obsessive about making sure our clothes were ironed and clean and shoes polished. Whereas my kids look
quite scruffy most of the time, much to her horror.

Rich people don’t care about ostentatious brands and displaying their wealth. They can be quite scruffy/covered in mud etc.

But that's exactly one way in which it's possible to 'code' someone -- obsessive cleanliness and overly-meticulous self-presentation signalling a concern with 'not looking poor' and some form of insecurity or aspirationalism. My mother grew up dirt poor in rural Ireland in the 40s, and her widowed mother skimped on the children's food so they would have a single 'good outfit', complete with hat, for church on Sunday, and would never let them run barefoot in summer, as lots of other children did. To this day my mother, in her late 70s, would never dream of nipping into a shop to buy milk with slightly muddy boots and trouser hems on her way home from a country walk, because she would feel judged and insecure and 'dirty'.