# What's the earliest age that adult attractiveness can be predicted? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 7, 2014, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-earliest-age-that-adult-attractiveness-can-be-predicted/680749 "2014-02-07T13:08:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-earliest-age-that-adult-attractiveness-can-be-predicted/680749/21 "2014-02-09T22:31:23Z")
> [@rhubarbarin](#): > > It’s not easily predictable, because some people’s faces change a lot from childhood to adulthood, and some don’t. I’ve certainly seen cute/pretty children that turned into strange looking adults, there are a lot of child actors that are good examples. > > Presentation does count for a lot. Kids who know enough to have a sense of style and present themselves well at 10, will likely retain and refine those skills into adulthood. Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years" ) was very pretty as a child. Danica was adorable in The Wonder Years with her bangs. But as an adult, not so much. Of course, it could be just because Danica stopped wearing bangs. [![](http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/32300000/The-Wonder-Years-the-wonder-years-32390583-531-411.jpg) ](http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/32300000/The-Wonder-Years-the-wonder-years-32390583-531-411.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-earliest-age-that-adult-attractiveness-can-be-predicted/680749/22 "2014-02-09T23:00:40Z")
I may be alone here, but I think Danny Bonaduce is looking better as he ages than David Cassidy. I never saw that coming. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2014, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-earliest-age-that-adult-attractiveness-can-be-predicted/680749/23 "2014-02-09T23:28:17Z")
After some more thought, there was a young girl two doors away from me who was devastatingly pretty when she was around 8~11. Family relocated but my youngest daughter still sees her occasionally and says she is no specially attractive anymore. She was a dreadful whinger and whiner, hope she has left that behind too. Also my next door neighbour. Her daughter was very pretty until she hit her teens. She isn’t ugly now but you wouldn’t give her a second glance in the street either. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-earliest-age-that-adult-attractiveness-can-be-predicted/680749/24 "2014-03-08T01:33:22Z")
> [@Rachellelogram](#): > > It’s easier for a guy to look kinda weird if his face does weird things as he ages, as in the Haley Joel Osment example above. Guys are supposed to have short hair and can’t cover any part of their face up, so bone structure and proportion are a lot of what defines their attractiveness. On the other hand, girls can have long hair. They can also use artful bang-styling to cover for a weird forehead or too-wide face. > > Haley Joel Osment is just unfortunate in that his face is essentially the same size and shape as it has been since he was 6 years old. But now it looks squished in the middle of an adult-sized head. Reference [Exhibit 1](http://i.imgur.com/EOjVfHl.png). If he were a girl, he could have hair that came down and covered the sides of his face and would probably be very cute. Ah, but a guy can have longer hair. And cultivate a beard. Reference [Exhibit 2](http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/4abf2230cc/the-liarist-with-haley-joel-osment). Evens things out pretty well, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-earliest-age-that-adult-attractiveness-can-be-predicted/680749/25 "2014-03-08T03:23:03Z")
> [@Susanann](#): > > Danica McKellar (Winnie Cooper on The Wonder Years" ) was very pretty as a child. Danica was adorable in The Wonder Years with her bangs. > > But as an adult, not so much. Of course, it could be just because Danica stopped wearing bangs. > > [http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/32300000/The-Wonder-Years-the-wonder-years-32390583-531-411.jpg](http://images6.fanpop.com/image/photos/32300000/The-Wonder-Years-the-wonder-years-32390583-531-411.jpg) I don’t think that’s the most flattering photo of her as an adult, but even there she doesn’t look bad and in other photos I’ve seen of her she looks lovely. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-earliest-age-that-adult-attractiveness-can-be-predicted/680749/26 "2014-03-08T03:39:50Z")
I have a cousin who was unattractive as a child. She had a round moon face and tiny eyes. As she grew older she lost her baby fat. By the time she was in high school she looked like a completely different person. Now she is as cute as a button. People are floored when they see photos of her as a child. Classic case of an ugly duckling, I suppose. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-earliest-age-that-adult-attractiveness-can-be-predicted/680749/27 "2014-03-08T04:30:11Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I don’t think that’s the most flattering photo of her as an adult, but even there she doesn’t look bad and in other photos I’ve seen of her she looks lovely. [I agree.](https://www.google.com/search?q=Danica+McKellar&espv=210&es_sm=91&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=5JsaU43_JOeuyQG4iICoBw&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1912&bih=935#facrc=0%3Bdanica%20mckellar%202013&imgrc=_) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-earliest-age-that-adult-attractiveness-can-be-predicted/680749/28 "2014-03-08T11:44:13Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > All babies have that adorable little button nose. I’m trying to picture at what age the nose starts really having a shape, and then at what age someone ends up with big ugly honker… > > I think the big schnoz may only really develop when you’re a teenager? I was pondering the same thing. Big noses run (ha!) in my family. Mine is pretty big. My sister’s maybe even bigger (proportionally). My wife has a small button nose, though. I’m hoping that our daughter got the shnozz genes from her side, not mine. Certainly at age two and a half she has a cute little nose (and is generally absolutely beautiful, though I may be a tad biased 😉 ), but I wonder how long it will be before we can tell whether she’s got daddy’s nose after all? ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-earliest-age-that-adult-attractiveness-can-be-predicted/680749/29 "2014-03-08T12:00:43Z")
Adult beauty is itself ephemeral. Run a couple of babies through a woman, or let a guy build out his paunch and the beautiful college student is yesterday’s dream. On the other hand, some late bloomers are fabulously more stunning as they get older. It’s hopeless to predict beauty at an early age, although I agree ugly is a lot more predictable. For example, very few fat kids turn out high on the pulchritude meter. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-earliest-age-that-adult-attractiveness-can-be-predicted/680749/30 "2014-03-08T14:48:46Z")
I would say puberty is the earliest. There are lots of features considered cute in children, which are unattractive in an adult (just look at poor Macauley Culkin), and the reverse is also true. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-earliest-age-that-adult-attractiveness-can-be-predicted/680749.md?page=1)