pEOPLE WHO LOOK GLAM WEARING JUST NORMAL STUFF - WHAT'S THE SECRET?

[popsycal]

Ok so I have had a bad day trudging round town with ds3 trying on dresses for a wedding and nothing fitted properly. I am a size 12 so lots of choice. But I just looked at myself and though urgh.

I have a friend who is a similar size and build as me, we shop in similar places and have a similar style. Yet she can make an asda t shirt look so glamourous. She is fairly normal look but always looks stunning,

So - share your secrets!

Feeling frumpy

white clothing, not qhite clothing

If it's flawless skin you're after, try this: www.theoilcleansingmethod.com.

It's been done to death on MN recently, but people rave about it.

I don't have spots, but I've tried this a few times and you do wake up feeling as if you've had a facial.

I agree a bit tanned looks better - which is why I'm resigned to always looking slightly tired and grotty no matter how much effort I make in other departments; I just can't bring myself to fake tan my face - partly skin sensitivity, partly feeling it's naff.

I totally know what the OP means. There are some women out there who could put on what I'm wearing right now (jeans, tshirt, pumps) and look like an heiress.

I look ok, but not like an heiress.

I just don't know the secret and dare I say I don't think bra size is really here nor there.

Quite often, I'll look at a great looking woman who looks stylish and think 'I wish I had that tshirt' and then realise that actually I do have that tshirt, I just don't look like her in it.

I have highlighted, well cut hair but some days it won't play ball and I look like Kevin and Perry.

I have followed the advice of every single magazine and invested in a crisp white cotton shirt but I never wear it, as it looks like a limp rag on me after any interaction with public transport.

The secret for me is accepting that I will always look better in summer, ie with a bit of fake tan, a nice skirt etc, and that during winter I will look pretty ordinary on normal work days. I just wasn't born with the gene that makes jeans, flat shoes and a top look like statement fashion.

Excellent personal hygiene, regular grooming, lots of sleep, a healthy diet and a reasonable amount of exercise go a long, long way in the glamour stakes!

my tip would be buy expensive clothes but fewer of them - dont think thats revolutionary

i buy basics in the sales every year eg jeans and shoes, underwear that i know i need so i can get good ones eg armani jeans for 50 quid rather than 195 - go as plain as possible so not too blingy or patchy etc

if clothes have shrunk lost colour etc send them to recycling - dont even save them for garden else you end up wearing them out!

I am very pale and fake tan just makes me look dirty. In fact, REAL tan doesn't look brilliant on me either. I think fake tan looks really bad on most of the people I see wearing it.

New Girl's advice is good - I bought a plain black shirt in the Armani Exchange sale and everytime I wear it I get asked if I've lost weight!

I think shoes, bags and coats can make a big difference - but this is not something I have mastered at all, as I hate shoes, have little interest in bags (dd1 says that my handbag is actually a cowboy's satchel) and I can never find the coats that I picture in my head.

I agree about fake tan, janeite - horrible stuff!

I am very pale and do wear a little st tropez but use very sparingly. To be honest it just brings me up to a normal colour rather than my usual pallor.

janeite do you still have the colour book???
(which library was it from?) I need to sort myself out

I took it back to Stirchley library on Tuesday but I think it actually lives in Harborne. It is v good for just giving a general indication of colours - and very reassuring for me as it said black is one of my best colours!

Well thats good news then! We are about the same paleness are we not... hopefully black will be one of mine too

That sentence sounds so much like the 'real' people who are actually actors on toothpaste ads.

"I was always to scared to smile, worried about my yellowing teeth. Then I discovered Shiney Bright, the new tooth-whitening treatment from BigBrand. Now I have so much more confidence, and my friends say I seem like a happier person."

*too scared, not to

Hit it on the head trillian. Why would you revive an old thread and then write in such a blatent way. Try harder next time, eh

It is a good old thread though. Some people do manage to look much nicer even when they are wearing a t-shirt and jeans.

Doubly stupid to revive it to advertise something that has already been recommended by actual real people in the thread - the blatant advertising has put me off now, whereas the real testimonies are a little bit persuasive. They would be more persuasive if 'getting your colours done' didn't sound like a horrible middle-aged thing that Bridget Jones's mother made her do.

my "rules" for me, in case they work for anyone else:

avoid crinkles. hang things on hangers while damp (even tee shirts) to minimise ironing. garments with a little elastane are worth having. something a little fitted or tailored is inherently more flattering than something baggy. i say this as a size 18 apple shape with a podgy belly.

dark jeans are always more flattering and more glam than pale jeans.

find a jeans / trousers style that suits you and stick to it, even when fashion decries it. i need a low-waisted boot cut, and have longer pairs to wear with heels and shorter pairs to wear with flat boots, ballet pumps or flip flops, depending on the weather.

keep it simple. generally i will wear eye catching earring OR an eye catching necklace. not both at the same time.

use accessories to guide people's eyes away from the bits you want to hide. i tend to hide my belly by wearing plain tee shirts (black or white suit me best) and use a necklace or a great pair of shoes.

a little make up to even out your skin tone, calm down any shiny areas, and emphasize your eyelashes.

takes me about 10 minutes, another 5 if I want to straighten my hair too. GHDs are wonderful.