Apparently being ugly is more than being unhappy in terms of appearance. According to an expert in pulchrononomy (the little-known study of the economics of appearance), ugliness affects every aspect of life – from your employability to where you live, your friendships and even your lifespan.
As Tom Whipple, the science editor of The Times, concludes in an article on the subject: “The beautiful glide through life, oblivious to their privilege, wearing a crown that only the ugly can see.”
It’s not surprising that life is easier when you look good. And without delving into cultural and racial definitions of beauty, there are generally accepted definitions of what beauty or good looks are.
But ugly defies such classification. Does it have anything to do with the shape of the nose, or the proximity of the eyes, or the definition, or lack thereof, of the chin? Is it our posture, the shape of our skull? What are the characteristics that make you less pleasant to look at than others?
It is not even possible to suggest such determinants without being offensive, although it might be okay to go far back in time and cite, for example, the Hanoverian antecedents of our royal family, which were known to be ugly.
Apparently being ugly is more than being unhappy in appearance (stock photo of a woman applying makeup)
Many men who are spectacularly successful, both sexually and professionally, are considered ugly (stock photo of business people)
Ugly is the adjective that dares not speak its name. But despite all this, even though ugliness is said to hamper life’s chances, there is another factor: gender.
Many men who are spectacularly successful, both sexually and professionally, are considered ugly. This may have caused them to put in much more effort to hone their skills, as they knew from the start that they could not rely on their appearance.
The same is not so often true for women. But while golden girls and boys, whose self-confidence comes from a dependence on beauty, will inevitably suffer its eventual fade, ugly people suffer no such fate.
Maybe ugliness, whatever that is, isn’t such a handicap after all.
My race to fix the white house
It’s now 18 years since my partner and I moved into our house and the poor thing is showing its age, with new cracks, holes and broken this and that every day.
Still, my attitude about this is similar to the way I deal with my own aging, which is to ignore it for as long as possible and then consider what non-invasive cosmetic updates can be done to avoid major surgery.
Homes, like people, suffer from ‘coups de vieux’, those moments when they suddenly look many years older, and what once seemed fresh and modern looks worn and tired.
Pictured: Alexandra Shulman sharing her race to fix the White House
When we moved in, we painted the entire house white, including the now gaping floorboards. But today my Instagram feed is full of examples of beautifully wallpapered rooms, exotic curtains and colorful tiles.
While my friends and I once exchanged information about the pros and cons of Not Totally White from Papers And Paints versus the Quiet White, now it’s all about Brunswick Green from Edward Bulmer and Haags Blauw from Farrow & Ball.
While we were all determined to knock down every wall possible, now it’s all about creating cozy and cozy attics.
Since some innovation is probably no longer inevitable, I’m tempted to go for this new, more fashionable color palette.
But similarly, I have my doubts about cosmetic fillers on my face or diet shots in my stomach.
Ultimately, I know I’ll stick with what’s already there. And hope that in a few years it will be completely hip again to walk into a glistening white house, hopefully without any cracks.
Portrait of a strong, captivating beauty
Last week I watched a preview of Sadie Frost’s documentary, Twiggy. Many of Twiggy’s old collaborators and friends were gathered to talk about the model (including myself, although I never worked with her) and the result is, unsurprisingly, entirely celebratory.
British model Twiggy (Lesley Hornby) in a pale pink mini dress and large ‘trinket’ earrings in 1966
This might have meant that the documentary was too sappy to be taken seriously, and I would have liked to have heard Twiggy and others challenged more on the issue of very young models – her own career started at the age of 15 – and the issues surrounding the body image.
But the beautiful images Sadie Frost unearthed not only showed what a captivating and charismatic beauty Twiggy was, but also, far from being a vulnerable Twiglet, she was revealed as a strong young woman, determined to seize the opportunities life presented her with. and she succeeded in everything she did. Including that I am now a seemingly satisfied, humorous and wise 75-year-old woman.
The pleasures of a crème caramel at an altitude of 10,000 meters
The Lady Glenconner industry is roaring ahead with the republication of her Picnic Papers, a collection of memories and recipes from friends of the grande dame author, such as Princess Margaret and the writer Patrick Leigh Fermor, with newer names added, including Graham Norton.
As I was browsing through the content, my eyes darted to Arabella Boxer’s entry – A Picnic For The Air – as she was Vogue’s food writer. What a great idea to bring your own food on a flight. Better than a Pret A Manger sandwich, or having to endure the contents of the cart.
Unfortunately, as delicious as it sounded, Boxer’s contribution was clearly written before the current restrictions on liquids at the airport, as a bottle of creamy leek soup would no longer be possible. Also, I’m not sure how the proposed crème caramel, baked in a porcelain oeuf en cocotte dish, would get past current security.
Now Primark is guilty of a cover-up
The slogan We’re With You appears in the window of a Primark branch in east London, along with a poster montage of characters.
One is a heavily tattooed trans boy proudly sporting breast removal scars. Yet all biological women depicted have their breasts covered. I’m confused about the posts here. Primark is certainly not ‘With Me’.