Why is it important to look pretty?

I dress how I dress for myself.
However, have you seem Catch Me If You Can?
It's amazing what a good "costume" will do, and how different people will treat you.
Simply because Leonardo Dicaprio wore a pilot uniform he was able to successfully use and cash like hundreds upon hundreds of fake checks! Hilarious.

At any rate, I feel that how we present ourselves/the makeup we wear/the clothes we wear are a costume. And sometimes an old costume, though comfortable, does not fully reflect who we truly are anymore.. As we are always changing..
When I go out in sweats and no makeup men dismiss me..
When I put on makeup and put effort into my outfit (or wear a dress) they all look at me.
It's amazing actually.

It IS amazing, but it does not mean that the makeup attracts them. More likely, the confident look you get on your face after you put on makeup and the feeling of being graciously feminine in a dress are what attracts their looks. Or, at least a bit of both - objective look and the subjective feeling of confidence that grabs attention loud and clear.

You know, I think I just thought of one reason why it's important to look nice. I ran out of my house this morning to do some errands. No shower, since I'd be wearing a hat and coat - who can tell if I look like a slob?

While driving from one plaza to another, less than an 1/8th of a mile, I got stopped for not wearing my seat belt. I got a ticket, not a warning. I think if I was driving a nicer car and didn't look like a slob, I would have gotten a warning.

I used to be beautiful before I gained 75 pounds. It was important to me, because growing up I was made fun of constantly. Let's face it, I was not a pretty child. Now that I no longer have my looks, I feel ashamed of myself whenever I go out. People respond to me differently. It sucks.

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Same here.

You kind of get to the point where you feel so bad about how you look that you think you can't change it. I want to lose weight, but depression tells me I'll just fail.

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My daughter hates when I mention about not wearing makeup and dressing up. It's not that I don't think she is beautiful without it... because she is gorgeous inside and out to me ...It's that I know how judgemental the real world is! I want to protect her, although I know I can't. She has the self confidence I always lacked!!! i STILL KEEP BUYING THE MAKE UP AND CLOTHES JUST IN CASE SHE CHANGES HER MIND! p.s My hang up not hers!

Oh I know. And my only source of exercise right now is just walking in my apartment. Trying to do it several times a day.

You might be in for a pleasant surprise. I got fitbit (electronic pedometer that syncs with the computer) and this lovely little thing is honest and does not care whether I intentionally went for a walk or just went up and down the stairs many times getting hampers into the laundry room, getting groceries out of the car, cleaning after the cats, taking flattened cardboard to the special cardboard recycling receptacle on the other end of the apartment complex, and, just pacing the floor because when I talk on the phone, I walk and not sit. And in the evening, sometimes, just those steps taken while doing chores and pacing the floor add up to the daily recommended step count, without ANY intentional exercise.

It is an expensive thing ($99) and it needs maintenance - I charge it every night - and the plastic wristband into which the "bit" goes is ugly, but I very much enjoy having it because it has enabled me to break away from the (ridiculous if you think of it in the context of world history...) notion that exercise requires special effort, special clothes, special structure, special set of mind.

For the "honest count" that fitbit provides me I would wear the ugly wristband...

Me too! I find it makes me stay home more. How do you handle it?

I definitely look for reasons to stay home more often now. When I do go out, I either wear a hat and slink around like no one can see me, or I make sure I have my hair and makeup done just right. Makes me feel better!

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Well, if you don't care about people thinking you're a deadbeat underachieving slob, then why make a post at all? I read only your posts and that is the image in my head. Where on earth do you work that allows you to show up wearing yoga/sweatpants and a dirty old jacket that you wear every single day....and expect everyone else at work to come in dressed professionally? Why go to work at all if the "IDGAF about the world, so I'm gonna show up in my PJs" is the image you portray in a professional work environment?

Everyone is so focused on themselves that they're not addressing the problem...you. The girl who wants to give you the makeup isn't the problem. She's trying to help you because you probably look like a raggamuffin and yes, she probably is offended by having to get all dressed up for work and you look like you just rolled out of bed.

Part of being an adult is doing things you don't like to do, especially when it comes to the workplace. You SHOULD be putting an effort into how you dress for work. It's called being "professional". It's not about sticking it to the man, it's about running a business, and the customers run the business. The way you dress makes a statement, and your customers/clients will get their first impression on whether you care about your company or the customers, and how you dress will give them that impression.

Since everyone is offering their own grievances on how they wish they can just show up to work in sweatpants, I'll offer mine. I work at an elementary school with no dress code. I am allowed to wear visible tattoos, piercings, and edgy hair. I can show up in my pajamas or sweatpants if I wanted to, but what message would that send to the staff and to the children? My dress affects my performance and first impressions. I have to look my best, and I don't have to wear make up or wear high heels to do that.

If my boss had presented us with a dress code, I would certainly follow it. However, no such thing occured.

It certainly wasn't a requirement for this woman to wear full makeup to work. But she chose to, because she wanted to. If she had freedom to look like a model, I must have freedom to look as I please as well.

Your statement of how this woman was offended may be reversed. Because no where was it stated that her choice of attire was "correct" and mine was incorrect.

And, DrSkipper, I do not appear to have "rolled out of bed". Yes, I wear sweats every day. But they are clean. My hair is combed and I am showered. (Hence my OCD). But I do not wear makeup or "fashionable" clothes. I would not unless my job required and I would not work at a place that did.

You have no right to call me names.

I'm not underachieving. There's more to achievement than clothing. I have always made A's in school. Some people don't care for academics, but I don't make them feel bad about it.

I would not accept in a job in a hair salon, and I recommend they not work in a research lab.

Since you hadn't stated where you work nor what the dress code was, I could only judge sweats as unprofessional for most work places.

Yes, but it was unnecessary to judge me personally, preferring sweats does not make me a deadbeat underachieving slob.

And, my job at the time was a costumed character. I was dressed in a costume 95% of the time at work. They only saw my clothes coming in, and I had the right to wear what I wanted because I only interacted with guests while in costume. The woman was my guard and saw me several times outside of work. She was referring to my attire all of the time, not just at this part time job.

It would have been better to ask before you judged.

You're right, it would have been. My mistake.

A cheaper regular pedometer would work for that as well, in case anyone's interested in trying it without investing in a fitbit or jawbone. I do believe you can sometimes even borrow the simple pedometer from a local library.

I don't feel right without at least concealer, foundation and mascara when I leave the house. I enjoy lip balms and lipsticks as well as eyeshadows. I usually keep my makeup pretty natural but often polished if I have an event. For regular days I'll wear concealer on my eyelids, one or two eyeshadows, and lip balm, as well as the three I mentioned above, and for special events I'll wear more eyeshadows, eyeliner, and lipstick.

For me it's like showering and putting a nice outfit on - part of making me feel I made an effort to look nice.

I used to love playing with makeup and everything. Now it's a huge effort just to exist. Staying in so much I barely ever do anything anymore. I really want to change that in the new year.

I like the idea as well about tracking my walking , how do you know if am ipod app is just as good ?

I looked up fitbit and it looks cute but the price is not cute !
I don't like the ones you strap around your chest to track your heart beat .

I didn't know a library has them ?

Our library has 15 pedometers you can borrow. I use my iPod app sometimes too. I don't know if it's exactly accurate, but it gives me something to shoot for.

Right now I'm trying not to worry too much about diet/exercise since I'm in the running for a job, and my psychotic episodes were triggered when I got a new job and started a diet at the same time.

I think it all goes back to the fact that women are sex objects and men are people. In every human society I know of this is the undercurrent of sexism everyone is talking about. Men are expected to do things, and women are expected to marry well. As a woman, society tells you that how you look determines what you're worth. So, I suppose that bucking against the current and not dressing up and painting your face scares some people. As a whole conformists are more valued than non-conformists. I think when women fail to perform to this ideal, then it's like we are making a statement "look at me, I think I can do something" and men find this threatening to their masculinity, and other women like to point out just how much better than you they are at conforming to their gender roll, in hopes it gets them somewhere.