What screams frumpy?

[bradpittsbathwater]

What makes something/someone frumpy? It's hard to define. I know MN can get upset at this word.

@bradpittsbathwater yes, I suspect jealousy, because she can't pull them off. This seems to be a trend with overly critical ppl.

I can never get over the guy in the white top. It looks like his nanna knocked him up a shirt out of a tablecloth quicksmart because he accidentally burnt his only going out top with the iron.

Ha! I'm the opposite to you and find painted toe nails repulsive, more so if they are also long or acrylic. Painted nails and nail art is utterly ridiculous 😂

YES! And my god, the price of all this - not just the price in time, thought and effort, but what women are expected to be prepared to pay for creams and potions... even the good old Guarniad lists face creams for £60, £70, £100... for that price, I'd expect it to rub itself on me and make me a cup of tea after...

Ooh, tea... 😋☕️

I like unpainted nails, and also very little makeup. Hopeless frump.

😂😂😂

A lot of what pp are saying about unkempt hair and tatty old clothes and bags etc just sounds 'scruffy' rather than 'frumpy' though.

You can be well groomed and tidy but also dress in a dated or dull sort of way (which is what I think frumpy is used to mean, although I struggle to picture it - so I find this thread interesting!)

I am genuinely concerned that we know each other 😂

My unadorned face is perfectly acceptable for leaving the house in though, I won’t hear otherwise. If it’s good enough for men, it’s good enough for me 🤷‍♀️

I would, yes.

You are so right, have a gold star.

You can’t label a particular brand as frumpy, such as Fatface or Whitestuff. I have clothes from these store and have been complimented on them, because the styles suit my shape and colouring. I‘m also size 16-18, so no supermodel.

I also see identical shaped dresses in ‘non-frumpy’ stores, but because they are from Cos or Zara, they are deemed acceptable.

If I wear a black, v-neck tshirt or dress, I would look frumpy. If a friend wore the same outfit, she would look stunning because the colour and style of dress suits her. There’s too many parameters for one size to fit all.

This sort of false dichotomy is absolute rubbish though - it’s not either frumpy or a fashion slave.

Plenty of people follow fashion because they enjoy it. I enjoy shopping, especially second hand, vintage and small designers. Finding great clothes. Trying things on. Putting different outfits together. I love fabrics. I enjoy people watching and seeing what others are wearing. I know lots of people who love fashion, that doesn’t mean they just follow it blindly/are sheep/don’t have any personality. I would say it’s usually the opposite - there’s loads out there and picking and choosing items and putting them together is a creative expression.

Frumpy is a term used to malign women who are slightly fat and want to be comfortable, and can't be arsed with the whole thing.

Take three stone off a frumpy woman, still in same clothes, and she'd be called boho chic or something.

To me it is a word that means 'you're not demonstrating enough effort in your appearance to be worthy of my respect'.

It's a sexist, ageist, sizeist, belittling term.

This. To me, it's a kind of sensibleness, and lack of imagination. What I would have considered "square" back at school in the 90s. It's a somewhat uptight personality resulting in everything ultra matchy, ultra coordinated, too conforming.

But a lot of people I think are frumpy will consider themselves fashionable and stylish and would consider me a bin lady, which is fine!

I also agree with all of this.

Products have greatly changed in the last decade. Last few years especially in foundation so while flattering colors may not have changed application/products have. But it may be less frumpy and more a fail to evolve style by holding onto past “looks”

@Lavenderandbrown I use different products but same colour/style makeup

Frumpy to me is anybody who doesn't care about style or what they look like. Which is up to them.

Sometimes I wish I didn't care! I'd be a lot richer.

But on the right trendy probably younger person that would look great - think along the lines of cottage core, with either sandals or trainers.

Nope. You don't like it. You wouldn't wear it. Absolutely fine.

Your proclaiming that it's "frumpy" - not fine.

Although trying too hard can be a recipe for disaster in itself.

Isn't that this whole thread?

@IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle I was trying to demonstrate that floral can look good, as the majority of ppl are referring to the second look.

I love and suit a good floral.

I can't find an image of it now, but last autumn in the Oliver Bonas sale I bought a midi wrap dress, black with orange and pink larger flowers. Not my usual print as I usually go for smaller prints. I wore it to a festival and got a few compliments on it, not that I was looking for any. To me it's more 'try hard' (does that make sense?) style for me. But very easy to wear and suits my figure.

But she's the future Queen. No way would her Zara swan print dress (I had that!) or her sheer dress/skirt she wore at uni be considered passable now.

But you're right, I do think she looks incredibly boring in how she dresses. Meghan on the other hand wears clothes which often don't fit her, but she to me at least looks a bit more exciting than Kate and always did. And I'm no Meghan fan either.