You know who gets uglier by the day?
Me.
Well, I’d say in my case both things happen because I totally lose my objectivity. It’s the familiarity.
I’ve dated a few guys who were quite handsome, but as I got to know them I always saw the interesting character in their face, not the handsomeness. I’d forget and be surprised when someone flirted with them or mentioned how attractive they are.
Same with friends and coworkers–I tend to see what I love about them, not what they look like. Two of my coworkers each lost 50 pounds last year, and I didn’t see it. I just didn’t see it, because I never saw their weight, even as I knew they were losing. It was actually sort of weird.
Oh yes, this definitely happens.
Back when i was in high school, I’d just switched schools and at my new school were two sisters, one my age and one a year younger. I could not tell them apart for anything, and I didn’t think either of them were very attractive. As I got to know people at school, I ended up being friends with one of the sisters, and the more that I was around her, and got to know what a completely awesome, special person she was, the prettier she became. Likewise, the more I got to know her sister, and found out what a selfish and downright weird person she was, the uglier she got. I look back at pictures of them now and don’t see how I ever got the two of them confused.
I just re-watched Enchanted Cottage the other day. What a great movie! The whole idea of being beautiful to the one who loves you is so true. My husband and I think each other is the hottest thing since electric blankets, but that’s just cuz we’re crazy about each other.
I only ever saw Mr. Rilch as handsome, even though when we met, he was convinced that he was not. When we’d been living together for about three years, we had the following exchange:
Him: I’m so glad I’m getting my weight down. God, when I met you, I was 298.
Me: I didn’t realize you were that big.
Him: You didn’t realize?!
Me: Well, I noticed you were kinda large…
Him: How could you not notice that I was pushing three hundred?
Me: I just didn’t.
Him: 
But I swear, I never thought of him as “the fat guy” or anything like that.
Conversely, when I was a freshman in college, I met a guy who was just stunningly, dazzlingly handsome. I thought at first that I could never like him, because I’d been dissed by preppy-looking guys of his type before, and not just once. I got to know him better, though, and found out that he was a genuinely sincere person who just happened to come from a good gene pool. So he became both more and less attractive. Sort of the opposite of DDG’s church friend: he became more accessible and less intimidating.
I once read a quote (heck if I can remember who said it): “Familiarity is cruel to beauty but kind to ugliness.” I don’t like to think of anyone being ugly (I prefer the term homely, unless I’m referring to someone who’s nasty inside and out, like “Tammi”), but it’s true.
Oh, and one other thing. At the same college, I knew a guy who had an elongated jawline. The first day we met, he casually referred to himself as “ugly”.
Bad idea. Until then, I hadn’t had any sort of problem with his appearance; I’d even thought he was kinda cute. But the minute he said that, it became impossible for me to think of him as anything else. As a friend, I later warned him to never, ever say that to a girl he was interested. Or to anyone at all.