I have always admired scruffy styles....my first favourite style icons were Deborah Harry and Stevie Nicks ...I love Debbie Harry's urban scruffy looks. While I have straight hair that could look polished, I just dont put in the effort because one i like hair that looks a bit messy on a lot of people and 2 )I've never got into the habit of it. I never go out without foundation and mascara tho and can be quite fussy about my clothes.
I do agree with Annie that as you get older you need to take more care to look a bit more polished. However there are always exceptions and I have seen some very attractive older people who pull off the messy look.

I think team polished. Hair is done every morning, but it is an easy style. Basic make up, Have just found MaxFactor lip stain which is great, last's ages and just needs lip balm on top. Never leave the house without a blast of perfume.
LOL Mind you by the time I get to work the british winter has rearranged me a bit!

Sally, Debbie Harry is a perfect example of a cultivated, not polished look. I've been thinking about our own forum member Jean (Green Gloves), whose edgy style is groomed, gorgeous, intentionall, but I don't think she'd describe her look as polished......

@Aunty, I can relate to your 'weathered' look - it's still way below freezing in Copenhagen so gear goes over the top of everything. Ah, well, no need for blush when it's so cold - just lots of tissues for the runny nose!

Definitely RATE for me. I just can't quite handle staying polished for more than, oh, two seconds. I don't think I even quite managed polished for my wedding. Polished doesn't really fit my lifestyle nor my personality, so I'm perfectly content with being a little rough.

Marley, I'd say you're definitely Team Polished!!

*cringing at the thoughf of Angie seeing this thread*

At least I know she always delivers scoldings with kindness! And I'm sure she'll come up with the right term to juxtapose "polished".

AJ, You are a perfect example of polish with little to no make up, and your curly hair looking natural, yet controlled.
I honestly think some women don't need make-up to look polished...Like beautiful you!
I think Maya looks polished too..Pretty and very pulled together

Hmm. RATE for me. I'm more polished on the days I'm working but haven't ever got the detail down. My nails are kept short as they fidget me when they're too long, but they're cut/clipped normally - rarely filed and hardly ever buffed, hair is brushed, but eye brows haven't been touched for ooh dear a good 15 years. It's on the list to get into this year, though!

My clothes are ironed and my shoes mostly (but not always) polished. I suppose I aspire to be Team Polished in some ways, but Team Polished doesn't seem quite to fit in with hands on gardening, housework, and muddy dog-walking, which are a large part of my life.

As I was getting ready this morning, I thought more about this question. I don't associate "polished" with prissy or even "high maintenance", as it can take a lot of effort to look tousled for some people! Nor do I think of RATE as somewhere on the road to polished, as long as it's a deliberate choice.

My climbing partner is a vet, a mountain biker and a gardener and deals with very messy situations all day, yet she is DEFINITELY Team Polished. Her make-up is always done, even when we are out hiking, and her outfits are never wrinkled or half-tucked. On the other hand, I would also describe her style as a bit dowdy or out-of-date. So I think it's possible to be polished without being stylish, although all the POP YLF gals are both!

The other person I was thinking about was Audi. She is very edgy but not necessily RATE - I would consider her style quite polished, actually.

Maybe "Sharp" vs. "Blurred Around The Edges"?

I agree that Audi fits my idea of polished, and edgy, while I would call Jean edgy, and..... (insert the word we're looking for here :D).

So one who puts a lot of effort/time/consideration into all those small details would be polished, regardless of whether the final look is one of "polish"? (Such as a deliberately touseld look which, as others have said, can actually take time to produce.)

No, I think one can put a lot of effort in to be "unpolished" - the bedhead look is a good example. What do you think?

Inexplicably I gravitate toward distressed-ness in all fashion choices but strive for polish in my personal appearance (hair, make-up, nails). I don't actually feel that I achieve polish, either because I am always rushing out the door with something left to be done or because, I don't know, actually, what the problem is.

Then we're talking more about the appearance of being polished versus the actual act of polishing one's look, whatever the desired outcome may be? (See my confusion? >< )

That's a good distinction, and I think I meant the latter (do you aim to appear polished)...

*nodnod* I think people are interpreting this both ways, and some of those who went with team RATE are probably actually on team POP, whether they feel like they're polished or not. I'm still placing myself in the middle

I am so surpised at how many think they are un-polished when I feel they are, AJ being a good example, or Rae, or Marley, or Scarlet.

I think either people are being too hard on themselves and see themselves as more disheveled, or that RATE is seen as more positive than Polish. Behind Polish are the following nuances: you have not succeeded in that very desirable goal of everything looking like effortless chic and/or, polish, and the process necessary to achieve it, is seen as more vain. The last negative about Polish, is that it could be seen as less cool than RATE.

I agree with poster (a new member, sorry I forgot your name!) who said that after 50, you almost have to go for more Polish. When in my 20s and 30s, I worked very hard at being RATE. I work a lot less hard now at being a little polished.

Cocolion, that was my thought too, which is why I said I don't think polished equates with prissy or uncool (think Gwyneth Paltrow!), nor does RATE equate with laid-back and effortless. And since this is Angie's forum, and she is definitely polished, I can't imagine most of us here think of that as less desirable than anything else.

Maybe I've created a false dichotomy?

Whether or not this is a false dichotomy is a good question.

I think polish means = deliberation and effort put into clothing & grooming resulting in an overall well-dressed appearance, regardless of the style. To me RATE means ... a non-deliberate look that is rough and disheveled resulting naturally from an activity. A construction worker at the end of his workday, or my brother who is a climber like you!, after climbing El Cap. (If you're curious): http://www2.thenorthface.com/n.....es-CA.html

In other words, the minute you work at looking RATE, you are on team polish to me.

But I think what everyone else is saying is that these two looks stand on their own whether deliberate or not. So you can look polished, whether deliberate or not, or you can look RATE, whether deliberate or not.

Did I finally get it? ; D

CL, your brother discovered Mallory's body?! That must be an amazing tale! I am not even close to El Cap level - the most I've done is an all-day multi-pitch climb... but I do love reading about other more dedicated climbers. Thanks for the link!

Denise your interpretation is what was going through my head as well and you said it perfectly: the minute you work at looking RATE, you are on team polish. So perhaps there should be a distinction between whether your roughness is deliberate or not. Though I suppose we could make the assumption that at least here on YLF it would be deliberate.

Well, all I know is that I really, truly WANT to be polished and put-together (and if that means being a little prissy, I can live with that). But honestly, I feel like most of the time I have my hair sticking up or a hangnail or something else untoward going on (turkey neck, anyone?) that puts me on Team RATE whether I want to be or not!

Mary, you're cracking me up with your imaginary untoward turkey neck! I would put you squarely in Team Polished in your style aspirations.

Actually, this was a very fun read and I didn't pass out.

Rough around the edges = Deliberately Unpolished. Kate Moss is hands down the best example to me.

There are many very polished ladies on this forum and it suits them to the tee. I adore the successfully deliberate unpolished gals as well - but that too is a style skill that can go horribly wrong. HORRIBLY wrong.

I bat for Team Polished all the way.

Taylor, I so appreciate your vote of confidence but I am NOT polished at all! I haven't had my brows threaded in over a month, my bangs look awful from all the self-trimming I have been doing, and the scraggly index for today was at an all time high for 2011...

I'm Team Polished to a fault...I take too long to get ready for the day and i know it. I "blame" it on the way i was raised. My mother is the ultimate high maintence woman and I was encouraged to always be put together before leaving the house.

But at the same time, I really enjoy it. So i guess that makes it ok.

I think I must be on team rough around the edges. My nails are in paint all the time, I like my boots and bags to be weathered, my hair is kind of messy, I like muted and matte textures. BUT... I love lipstick, eyeliner, shaved legs, manicured toes, pencil skirts, sheath dresses, sturdy heels and very urban and chic dress up clothes. I do not know what that makes me. My guess is probably still rough.

Jean, to me you look super polished in every photo you've ever posted!

Hmm, I think of Jean's style as arty/rocker and utterly gorgeous, but not necessily polished. I'm trying to think o0f other words for polished. Sleek? Neat? Heeeelp!

Teri was the original reason I pondered this question - she just always looks like she stepped right out of the ATL website. So, maybe polished is catalogue-photo ready!

I guess I think of "polished" as pretty much synonymous with "well-groomed," and to me Jean is totally that.