Your appearance

[Jenee]

That's very sad. I'm sure you're a very pretty woman.

 

[captcalhoun]

I don't understand that. When I was a size four, I knew I was a size four - sure, I had a bit of a belly, but I sure the heck didn't think I was fat - you could see my bones.

Now, at size 16, I'm fat. I know I'm fat.

How do you look in the mirror at a size 4 person and see a size 16?

I wish I knew, then maybe I could change it. I mean, I've seen interviews with anorexic women who are bone-thin at 80lbs and still think they're fat, and I thought, "How can she think she's fat?" I didn't realize that I was doing the exact same thing, and it makes me wonder, if I lose that stubborn 10 lbs I always want to lose, will I be satisfied, or will I still see a fat girl when I look in the mirror?

The other aspect of the issue is how unforgiving I am to myself, as compared to other women. When I look at other women, I will often find girls with "imperfect" bodies to be very cute/beautiful/attractive. Chubby girls, skinny girls, fat girls, if they catch my eye for one reason or another I never think, "Oh, she'd be so pretty if she just lost that weight!" But when it's me that's all I can think. It's almost as if someone else is in my head, so that I might look in the mirror and think, "This dress looks great on me!" but then that nasty voice whispers, "But it'd look SO much better if you weren't such a cow."

you are not fat. you are a beautiful, curvaceous woman and any man who gets you is a lucky bastard. you're goregeous.

 

[TerokNor]

I think appearance is important, but not overly important. Clean clothes, a fitting hair-cut, good hygiene is good... normal weight (or just a BIT over or under) surly is a plus in society, as people who are a LOT overweight may have to fight with some stigmata that society lays on them. Not that they are always true... but it might be harder for them now and then in society. That might also be so for people who are a LOT underweight, as people might think they have Anorexia or such.

I personally am quite all right with my appearance.... my weights normal, my looks avarange and my hygienic apperance is good.
Well I could make more out of my looks I guess, but as I am always late in the mornings and have to hurry I prefer not needing hours in front of the mirror and wardrobe.
The only thing that annoys me is that I look younger than my age... from my apperance people always guess me 5 to 10 years younger.... :-/


TerokNor

 

[Mary Ann]

Unlike a lot of people I dress down for work. I work in a children's centre so my work clothes consists of jeans and cheap, washable tops. My long hair is in a simple ponytail and I wear no jewellery apart from a watch. It's necessary but I don't like how it makes me feel. I'm short and overweight and like dressing up and wearing jewellery as I feel better when I dress better. I don't like being judged on my looks but I'm guilty of doing just this with the parents and carers who come to our centre.

 

[thestrangequark]

I think appearance is important, but not overly important. Clean clothes, a fitting hair-cut, good hygiene is good... normal weight surly is a plus in society, as people who are a LOT overweight may have to fight with some stigmata that society lays on them. Not that they are always true... but it might be harder for them now and then in society, no matter if the things other people think are true or not true for them.

It's stigma, darling, stigma.

Well I could make more out of my looks I guess, but as I am always late in the mornings and have to hurry I prefer not needing hours in front of the mirror and wardrobe.
The only thing that annoys me is that I look younger than my age... from my apperance people always guess me 5 to 10 years younger.... :-/


TerokNor

I'm the same. I was once denied a job even though I was quite qualified and made a great impression on the interviewer, simply because I look very young. His very words were, "You look like a teenager, even in a blue suit," and he asked me to reapply in a few years.



And, thanks, Captainc, but people can tell me over and over, "You're not fat," "Oh, you don't even need to lose 10 lbs," "Size 4 isn't big!" but it doesn't change what I see.

 

[TerokNor]

*L* Ups, thanks.

Oh thats really not very fair of that guy. Well, when I complain about looking so young most people tell me. "When you are so and so old, you will love to hear when people think you are 10 years younger". *rolls eyes* Maybe, but that does not help NOW, does it? Oh well.... but looking young still is only a minor minor minor problem compared to other problems one could have.

TerokNor

 

[F. King Daniel]

No matter how I feel about how I look ("room for improvement" sums it up nicely), I'm always thankful that I'm not horribly disfigured or something like that.

I think that's something a lot of people lose sight of when they're in "OMG I'm so fugly!" mode. It could be worse.

(if any TBBSers out there are seriously disfigured I'm very, very sorry and mean no offence )

 

[Rek]

I'm sorry but are you one of my other personalities that I am not yet aware of??


Me? I'm 5'8", 115 lbs. I eat a lot, I don't gain weight, and although I could get toned really easily I just never get around to it...

I've got some height and weight on you, and I'm one year older. 5'10 120 pounds and 21 years old.

Maybe...I am the future you.. I've traveled back in time(a whole year?) That or a alternate universe you.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

You are MUCH MUCH more than that.

thanks.

I still hate the sound of my own voice though. I should snort some helium, then I wouldn't sound like a defective record player.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

That's the other thing. I look hideous - my face has been known to turn mirrors into stone. I have a very strange voice that can hardly talk properly. My own personal health and care has not been the best of late. My circumstances have changed (but that's another story). I need a better haircut.

And yet, right now... right now... I can't stop hearing my cacophony of a voice or looking at my hideous self in a mirror... and I feel good about how awful my outward presentation is. I even feel more confident about meeting potential loved ones in spite of my personal grotesqueness. I don't know why. Perhaps it's because it feels like we skipped spring this year and went straight to summer...

This isn't me. This is NOT me at all.

 

[Holdfast]

I like my appearance these days. How did Carly Simon put it?

You walked into the party
Like you were walking onto a yacht
Your hat strategically dipped below one eye
Your scarf it was apricot
You had one eye in the mirror
As you watched yourself gavotte​

I wasn't always so happy about it. But it took time for me to decide on doing something about it. Once the decision was made, the rest was relatively easy - lose weight (and a lot of it!), dress better, whiten teeth, get a better haircut, nicer glasses, etc, etc, etc.

Thing is, changing appearance is pretty easy. Deciding you want to actually do it is harder. Deciding to do it for the right reasons is harder still. I like my appearance now because it's what I want it to be, not what someone else wants it to me and not what society tells me I should look like. In fact to many people, how I dress and behave would seem contrived, silly, effeminate or god know what other adjectives! Point is, in the opinion of the only person who matters - me - I like how I look when I catch a glimpse in the shop window. In fact, I often take a second look.

 

[thestrangequark]

I like my appearance now because it's what I want it to be, not what someone else wants it to me and not what society tells me I should look like. In fact to many people, how I dress and behave would seem contrived, silly, effeminate or god know what other adjectives! Point is, in the opinion of the only person who matters - me - I like how I look when I catch a glimpse in the shop window. In fact, I often take a second look.

This is a wonderful mindset, and is exactly how I feel. The problem is that it works against me. I'm my own cruelest critic!

 

[Capn Flukie]

I'm wearing black socks with sandals. You do the math.

 

[Holdfast]

I like my appearance now because it's what I want it to be, not what someone else wants it to me and not what society tells me I should look like. In fact to many people, how I dress and behave would seem contrived, silly, effeminate or god know what other adjectives! Point is, in the opinion of the only person who matters - me - I like how I look when I catch a glimpse in the shop window. In fact, I often take a second look.

This is a wonderful mindset, and is exactly how I feel. The problem is that it works against me. I'm my own cruelest critic!

Oh, self-criticism is great.

You just need new judging criteria, that's all.

It's not cheating, it's changing the parameters of the test.

 

[thestrangequark]

^NERD!

 

[Holdfast]

^NERD!

If Ralph Lauren ever makes a pocket protector, I may just succumb...

 

[Captain Shaw]

I work in a factory that makes medical products so I have to wear a uniform and a hair net and no make up.
Outside of work it's usually black trousers and a decent looking top which I must admit I am fed up with but I don't have the best legs so no dresses.
I don't put make up on because even though I am 27 I no good at putting the stuff on.
I only ever wear jogging bottoms in bed when its cold I never wear jogging bottoms in public.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

I'm wearing black socks with sandals. You do the math.

I have the opposite attitude. I wear white socks with everything. Even nice shoes and trousers.

The way I see it is, the sole - SOLE - function of socks is to protect the feet. That's it. I attribute no fashion, no visual component whatsoever, to them.

 

[Holdfast]

I only ever wear jogging bottoms in bed when its cold I never wear jogging bottoms in public.

Not even to go jogging?

They weep silently at night for never getting to fulfil their primary objective, you know.

 

[Captain Shaw]

I only ever wear jogging bottoms in bed when its cold I never wear jogging bottoms in public.

Not even to go jogging?

They weep silently at night for never getting to fulfil their primary objective, you know.

For all you know I have a treadmill