Help me be less ugly in 2026

[DaisyMalaisy]

I appreciate there’s not much to work with!

I started out as a 3/4 and now I’m 40 I’m more like a 2.
I am a size 8 but fat around the middle and my legs are chunky - I need to start exercising in the new year to try and help this. I’m only 5ft 5ish and look short and squat.

I don’t know what women of my age wear to look reasonably up to date. I am bad at buying outfits and will just buy single items I like but then they don’t go with anything.

I also have terrible skin and my eyes are now very hollow, like I’ve got black eyes. So any advice for brightening those would be appreciated.

Im not aiming to be pretty but I would like to be better than I am now.

Season analysis + kibbe style + chat gpt is my best friend. Without actual measurements it's hard to know what styles Will flatter. Do you use make up ?

I doubt you are as chunky as you think if you are 5'5 ànd a size 8!
If it was me I'd concentrate on health first. Plenty of sleep, eat healthy, hydrate, fresh air, plenty of exercise, etc.
If you feel better in general you have more self confidence which improves anybodys appearance!

Women do not exist to be marked out of ten on their appearance. If this is a genuine OP you have been strangely and pitifully misled.

Assuming you are sighted (which you must be as you have described yourself in visual terms) there is surely no reason why you cannot browse online newspapers and magazines / instagram to familiarise yourself with fashionable, everyday shops - and then go to those shops’ websites to find what appeals to you. This is how other people keep up to date with what to wear.

I’ve never known anyone mark themselves out of 10, how sad.

Being brutally honest.....if you talk about yourself in these terms and call yourself ugly and squat then all the products in the world won't help. Would you speak to a friend like this? You are average height and a size 8...... you're definitely not as big as you think you are. You are a far smaller size than the average woman in the UK......do you look at other women and think they're all fat and ugly?

I agree with a PP that to start to feel better I'd focus on health. Do some strength training, drink lots of water, take supplements, focus on nutrition, cut out the crap and ultra processed food. Walk in nature, learn to be grateful about what your body can do.

If you want to sort your skin out I would get a basic routine going and stick to it. Vitamin C serum and SPF 50 in the mornings and cleanse, serum, moisturiser in the evening.

For brightening I would buy Charlotte Tilbury Hollywood Flawless Filter (or L'Oréal Glotion for a cheaper alternative) and top it with a bit of concealer or setting powder.

The OP’s writing style, vocabulary and specific claims (including average height and small clothing size) seem familiar to me from other threads. I don’t know if there’s more than one poster grading themselves - and by extension, other women - in the manner of poorly educated American schoolboys.

🤷‍♀️

I am your height and a 10 to 12 no one would ever call me short and squat

this makes me think you have issues around your appearance that are warped. Innaccurate.

even grading your appearance - what is that about ?!

life isn’t about looking good - friends are not friend and lovers not lovers because you score high, people love the laugh, the smile, the personality.

learn to love yourself. You don’t do fashion? - that’s you - love yourself for it

if you feel bad about yourself it will show in your face a skin. Eat well. Drink water, get outside.

check your weight if you have hollow eyes and a size 8 at your height - are you underweight? Should you eat more good food?

Im thinking do you have body dysmorphia? How can you possibly be fat at 5 foot 5 and size 8? I'm the same height and a size 12, maybe size 10 in some tops and Im very slim. There are clothes that suit me and others that look awful. Are you choosing the wrong style for you?
Makeup hides a multitude of sins if you use the right kind. None of us are supermodels without it.
Above all you need confidence to look good. Nobody is going to be attracted to a cowed little mouse. If you stride out with confidence even if you don't feel it inside people will notice you.