Style Definitions: RATE - YouLookFab Forum

Category

General

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Style Definitions: RATE

amiable

Veteran

I know RATE means "rough around the edges". But I'm wondering, what elements make a piece, or an outfit RATE?

So far, I've come up with: An absence or minimization of "Polish". (Is that accurate?) But then that needs it's own definition.

Here's some examples I can think of, for both.

RATE:
- boots with metal buckles
- leather?
- cool, dark colors? (gray, navy, black...)
- "industrial"

Polished:
- matchy-matchy
- patent leather
- Most jewelry/bling
- White
- Bright colors (in particular when colorblocked or matched) ?

Wanna help me out? What makes an item or an outfit RATE, or conversely, polished. I can mostly recognize when something is one or the other, but I'm not sure why. And it seems that some of it is not in the item itself, but in the combination of items.

General

54 replies

Latest reply was from Jenni NZ

Joy

Veteran

I'd also add a well-worn look like distressed jeans and leather. Hair and makeup don't look done or polished.

catgirl

Veteran

When I initially posted about this I used "rough around the edges" to mean "not quite finished" - like hair not neatly brushed, nails not done, shoes scuffed, etc. But it has taken on new life with regard to style and has come to mean deliberately as well as not deliberately roughed up. Hence some buckles with patina, distressed leather, faded jeans, choppy hair, frayed or raw hems, exposed seams, destroyed sweaters... not necessarily messy but a little bit undone.. Lots of DIY options as well as just plain "life happens and makes me RATE"!

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Una when RATE meant not deliberately rough / unfinished I put myself on team polish (I remember the original thread). Now because as you say it means more of a deliberate effect, I put myself 80% in this camp.

Current meaning:
- loose or deliberately tousled or messy hair
- chunky vs. refined footwear
- denim over a pencil skirt
- chunky/earthy jewelry rather than sparkly jewelry
- more Rock & Roll than Kate Spade

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Nice, Denise

Amiable, I am polished - but do not wear matchy-matchy outfits nor do I ever wear jewelry - least of all bling. I do NOT wear finger nail polish *ever*. I am not RATE by any stretch of the imagination. It would be very unnatural for me to look RATE. I am an extremely neat and tidy person with everything that I do - so outfit polish comes to me more easily than creating a RATE look.

Polish is more about a sense of refinement, perfect fit, outfit neatness, simplicity, and high level of grooming. Polished people always wear a little make-up, and look naturally shiny like an apple. I can spike my hair, wear Docs, scrunch my sleeves - and STILL look polished. I hope that makes sense.

Anonymous

What Angie says.... I wear close to no makeup, my hair is always "not perfect", I seldom have a manicure and I still look polished.... Not fair!

Basically, I have zero chance at RATEness.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I have seen you, Zap. You are naturally polished, You wear just enough make-up to look polished and your hair is ALWAYS polished. It's also in how your clothes fit and how you put them together.

amiable

Veteran

Interesting.... This isn't as simple as I was originally thinking.

First, there's intentional RATEness and unintentional RATEness to consider.

Then, different things are polished on different people and in different styles. Something I noticed about myself a few weeks ago is that when I'm going for a polished look, I first off, feel "fussy" and somehow over-done, and second am still RATE, just unintentionally so, because I miss so many things. Then I look silly and sloppy. I'd rather be intentionally RATE than sloppy. I have lots to learn either way.....

Alecia

Veteran

Interesting. I want to think more about where I fall. I've been confused about RATE vs. polish for a while. Is Emmanuelle Alt RATE?

amiable

Veteran

Alecia - I do think of EA as RATE. But obviously intentionally so.

Until this thread, I didn't know that RATE was originally unintentional - perhaps I should be calling it something else?

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I don't think of EA as RATE. She is definitely polished with hair that is RATE. She bats for both Teams.

amiable

Veteran

Hmm... so What is that quality called - that "rocker chic" vibe - the just a bit of bad-a** feeling - like I can take on the world, and kick your butt - even if I won't.... and "I'm not afraid to get down and dirty in these clothes and do some real work"....

I can't even put my finger on it right now.

deb

Veteran

This is such a helpful thread. I can now see that I am naturally 'polished'. Wow,looking back at pics, I am even polish in deer hunting gear, lol.

Anonymous

Mo has that rocker chic vibe. I dunno, maybe her luscious hair plus that rebel streak we all love about her, makes her rocker fab?

amiable

Veteran

Just occurred to me that maybe the word I'm after is the "Warrior" in UWP....

rachylou

Veteran

EA is a real test of the system! I would tend to put her in the polished category, although there's that certain relaxed quality - it's just a smidgen - about the way her clothes hang and her hair.

I think maybe I'd call Betsey Johnson RATE. Even though her outfits are compositions, she isn't totally composed. There's a point where she just lets it fly.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Rachy's onto something (as usual).

I'm on Team Angie and Zap. Polished all the way. I love to muss my hair up punk-style and wear Docs and even distressed denim and/or leather. But it doesn't matter. I look polished anyway. And, like Angie, I wear almost no jewellery, no nail polish, minimal makeup. It's just how I was made - spic and span. So I figure I'd better work WITH it rather than against it, and try to increase/ refine the level of polish. Otherwise I don't look right.

Anonymous

I think the grass is always greener in some cases I would LOVE to look polished, and indeed I am often drawn to Urban Prince style blazers etc. but then I get stumped because I think it would look too incongruous with the rest of my RATEness.

L'Abeille

Veteran

I'm with Ceit and Amiable, the opposite of Angie and Suz. Once I recognized I was RATE I decided to quit fighting it and go with the flow.

Here's a couple of ways discovered I was RATE:

When I made up my Wii avatar, the nearest hairstyle I could find was a bun/chignon with multiple chunks of escaped hair all around the edges. When I protested, my daughter said "Mom, look in the mirror!" (I ware my hair longer then and it was always up)

One day I wore a black blazer and white shirt with jabot for a desk day at the office. In no time at all I had dampened one of the cuffs (tea was involved) and so I pushed back the sleeves and folded the cuffs back and suddenly felt more like "me".

I discovered that after a night on call, my hair actually looked better if I stopped looking for a hairbrush and just ran my fingers through it.

I read a tutorial online about how to roll up your BF jeans with a little tweak to make them look not-perfect. As if!

So I don't think I am intentionally or unintentionally RATE. I think I was born that way and that influences my style preferences, same as my IT shape or high-contrast colouring does.

catgirl

Veteran

I'm also ironing-averse and have been told, rather snidely, that I "pull off the wrinkled look well"... I feel my MO is often (deliberately or not) that I look as though I may have slept in my clothes.

rachylou

Veteran

I am hopelessly RATE. The ways are myriad. But it starts at the top, beginning with a cowlick, and goes all the way down. I definitely do not iron. And once the clothes go on, that's it. I'm not gonna primp or be careful or anything. I'll hug the dog and leave with fur all over me. Haha.

amiable

Veteran

You and me both Rachy and Una -
Except for me, it's that I hugged the kids, and got food (or snot or play dough) wiped all over my shirt, or pants, or both. When I do my closet edit for fit and fabric, tough-to-clean fabrics are gonna have to go. I may like them, but they're not for my current lifestyle!

My kids actually do sleep in their clothes. And it shows. And I don't mind.

cciele

Veteran

I'm definitely RATE. I can try to look neat and tailored, etc. but always end up looking RATE. I think it's a combo of my body shape, face shape, and hair more than it is what I am wearing.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

Yes. Along with the idea that you are what you are, I am hopelessly RATE. Even as a young girl I remember being asked why one sleeve was pushed up and the other down. Half my pictures show one pants leg tucked into my booties and the other not. My hair never looks the same twice. Nonetheless, I do love shiny pointed shoes, white and I am sure other things not typically considered RATE. And my nails are always short and clean (but unpolished).

Vix

Veteran

RATE by nature, "controlled RATE" by nurture.

Sarah A

Veteran

Great thread! As i am working to set my specific style goals this is so helpful. I adore the urban prince look, always have. I actually dont mind the ironing (although it has seen a bit of neglect lately) and feel totally at home in a crisp collar. But... with all that said polished, crispness seems to allude me most days. Could be I skip the makeup, and my hair looks the same whether I brush it or not business... which is why it gets a hat half the time. Plus no one wears hats anymore and I like being eccentric that way But I dont feel the incarnation of RATE as clothes as my comfortable place. More to ponder...

Adelfa

Veteran

I'm confused! I think I'm RATE. But I blow dry my hair, wear a full face of makeup, keep my nails manicured, and I love to iron. For clothes I gravitate towards sleek classics.

I still think I'm RATE. But I'm not sure why.

amiable

Veteran

I'm starting to think of RATE as a synonym to disheveled. Only maybe in a good, planned way (sometimes). Maybe it's only disheveled when it's not planned.... ?

Glad I'm not the only one who's confused Adelfa!

L'Abeille

Veteran

What if we think of it as the opposite of "polished"?
An uncut gem isn't messy or dishevelled. But it is rough edged, natural in its beauty.

Vix

Veteran

I like L'Abeille's distinction. To me it's about less-cultivated (or uncultivated) vs very controlled?

Naturally it's subjective but to me there is -- or can be -- beauty in both.

[wild ferns vs bonsai]

This post has 2 photos. Photos uploaded by this member are only visible to other logged in members.

If you aren't a member, but would like to participate, please consider signing up. It only takes a minute and we'd love to have you.

12