# Mirrors **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 2, 2003, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mirrors/199103 "2003-09-02T10:56:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CuckooBridget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/45deac/32.png) [@CuckooBridget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuckooBridget)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mirrors/199103/1 "2003-09-02T10:56:07Z")
Hi can you tell me why I look worse than I am when I check in a mirror? ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mirrors/199103/2 "2003-09-02T11:02:11Z")
I don’t know. But did you know that there are exactly twelve ways that you can fuck up before breakfast? ---
**Author:** ![green\_bladder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@green\_bladder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/green_bladder)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mirrors/199103/3 "2003-09-02T11:03:30Z")
I always thought I looked better in a mirror. ---
**Author:** ![CuckooBridget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/45deac/32.png) [@CuckooBridget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuckooBridget)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mirrors/199103/4 "2003-09-02T11:07:57Z")
Gladfly thanks for info, sorry to here your day started badly, it can only improve. ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mirrors/199103/5 "2003-09-02T11:09:27Z")
It’s the first day of school. So, no improving here. ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mirrors/199103/6 "2003-09-02T11:24:28Z")
I think I look better in a mirror than I do in photographs. I have never been able to figure out why. A facial expression that looks good in the mirror looks stupid in a photo, for example. ---
**Author:** ![Gadfly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gadfly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadfly)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mirrors/199103/7 "2003-09-02T11:25:32Z")
You look better in a mirror than you do in a photo because there’s no way to adjust what you look like in a photograph. ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mirrors/199103/8 "2003-09-02T14:44:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by OpalCat \* > \*\*I think I look better in a mirror than I do in photographs. I have never been able to figure out why. A facial expression that looks good in the mirror looks stupid in a photo, for example. \*\* In addition to what **Gadfly** said, the other reason you don’t like the way you look in a photo is because you are not used to seeing yourself the right way 'round. No one’s face is perfectly symmetrical. You are used to seeing yourself one way, with your hair parted on the side you see in the mirror, then when you see yourself right way 'round you go “WTF???” When I do portrait photos, I always print two sets of contact sheets: one the right way 'round, the other flipped to the mirror image so that the sitter can see their faces the way they see themselves in a mirror every morning. Helps relieve some of the “OMG, do I always look so stupid?” anxiety. Hold a photo of yourself up to a mirror, it won’t look so bad. (Note: This post does not account for any lens distortion that makes your nose and chin look bigger than in real life, or straight-on flash that makes you look “flat”.) ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [September 2, 2003, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mirrors/199103/9 "2003-09-02T15:55:44Z")
I don’t know what you mean by “there’s no way to adjust what you look like in a photograph”… I’ve put a camera next to a mirror so that it’s as close as possible to having the same view I do… and it still comes out looking dorkier than me. Also, I’ve done mirror images of photos to see them from my “usual perspective” and they still don’t look as good. ---
**Author:** ![superstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f4b2a3/32.png) [@superstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/superstar)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mirrors/199103/10 "2003-09-03T01:11:00Z")
Mirrors are evil! If I have a feeling that I might look good on a particular day, then there is no way I’m going to look in a mirror to check… and ruin my perception. ---
**Author:** ![CuckooBridget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/45deac/32.png) [@CuckooBridget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CuckooBridget)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mirrors/199103/11 "2003-09-03T15:16:41Z")
superstar, I believe youv’e crack it.