# Women who got hotter as they got older **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 18, 2014, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131 "2014-01-18T05:13:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hector\_St\_Clare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5ac83/32.png) [@Hector\_St\_Clare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hector_St_Clare)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/41 "2014-01-20T00:23:07Z")
Beauty is inherently subjective. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/42 "2014-01-20T00:38:27Z")
> [@Jake\_Jones](#): > > Honestly and without double standards, people do not get hotter with age. Some say that men have it easier and that may be true. However, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a person who looks better in their 40s than they did in their 20s. I think Sela Ward just barely managed it. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/43 "2014-01-20T01:16:46Z")
Many women get hotter. There are so many that this is true for, but there are so few who’d like me to be the one pointing it out. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/44 "2014-01-20T13:37:52Z")
> [@Jake\_Jones](#): > > This isn’t to say that beauty is necessarily lost to youth, but I think it’s folly to suppose that anyone gets better looking with age after they’re fully into adulthood. Some women only acquire major boobage after having kids, so if you’re a boob man (or woman), there might be some things that get better with age (but then get worse again as gravity sets in, I suppose) ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/45 "2014-01-20T15:03:22Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > What women do you feel have gotten more attractive (physically) with age? > > I would list > > Julia Louis Dreyfuss > > [20s](http://resources2.news.com.au/images/2009/03/09/va1237358832456/Seinfeld-6520825.jpg) > > [40s](http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/05/03/julia-louis-dreyfus-headshot-by-melanie-acevedo-1--decf082b5ef93dfebda51f48bb3d4a06488a951e.jpg) > > Sarah Silverman > > [teenager](http://bimshwel.com/ears/xsm_sarah1.jpg) > > [40s](http://media1.onsugar.com/files/2012/10/42/5/301/3019466/27af20241b4bf3b9_SQUARE_SSILVERMAN/i/Sarah-Silverman-Interview-Wreck--Ralph.png) I don’t think that either of these women got objectively “hotter”. Rather, I think they changed career strategies, working with sexier material as they got older, as opposed to downplaying their sexuality as they did in their younger days. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/46 "2014-01-20T15:10:05Z")
[Goldie](http://www.hissandpop.com/celebrities/h/goldiehawn/photos/goldie-hawn-001.jpg) [Hawn](http://www.virtual-history.com/movie/photo/07/large/07031.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/47 "2014-01-20T15:14:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Every example provided so far features a bad picture of the younger woman and a better picture of the older woman. Well, of course the latter will look better. In the case of Julia Louis-Dreyfus you’re comparison an unflattering shot in which she is deliberately made up to look frumpy to the picture where she is deliberately made up to look beautiful. Give me the right photo and Photoshop and I can make anyone look better in their 40s. But **Wesley Clark** did not look at two pictures and decide that one was better than the other. At some point he decided that Julia Louis-Dreyfus was hotter now than she used to be, and went in search of pictures to prove his opinion. I agree that a lot of older women may look better simply because they have better stylists or lost weight or such, but that’s the whole point. I’m not looking at an actress and deciding how beautiful she is when she has no makeup on, I decide how beautiful she is based on the looks presented to me. And a lot of that is video that isn’t photoshopped to death. Personally, I appreciate a bit of age around the eyes, such as [Catherine](http://blindgossip.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/catherine-zeta-jones-2.jpg) [Zeta-Jones](http://www.wallpaperswala.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/wonderful-catherine-zeta-jones.jpg) and [Salma](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hHFGq4UawUc/Tr4xMVklZKI/AAAAAAAAAUM/ZK-Ib8x5n4g/s1600/Salma-Hayek.jpg) [Hayek](http://cdn.fusion.net/images/ABC_Univision/gi_salma2_020112_wmain.jpg) (don’t tell me that’s a super flattering picture of the current Hayek because it is not). ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/48 "2014-01-20T17:51:04Z")
As has been noted, this is an opinion forum and all opinions are entertained, including ruminations on the objectiveness/subjectiveness of beauty. How about we civilly discuss rather than castigate one another over each other’s opnions on the topic? ---
**Author:** ![Roundabout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/dec6dc/32.png) [@Roundabout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roundabout)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/49 "2014-01-20T20:12:34Z")
Sarah Jessica Parker. Anyone who says otherwise is full of shit. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/50 "2014-01-20T21:12:37Z")
I think it’s a combination of money and fashion. Old photos of young beauties are burdened by the fact that fashion has moved on. Also, money makes a big difference. I think JK Rowling is the poster child for this: [Then](http://www.snakkle.com/galleries/before-they-were-famous-stars-rags-riches-photo-gallery-snakkle-reveals-who-went-from-poor-to-rich-in-hollywood-then-and-now/jk-rowling-young-1993-photo-gc-3/) [Now](http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2013/07/24/j-k-rowling-explains-why-she-became-a-man/) ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/51 "2014-01-20T21:58:02Z")
> [@diggerwam](#): > > Honestly, as I’ve gotten older the young chickies don’t do as much for me as women more my age. I’m in my early 40’s and honestly modern women in their 20’s don’t do as much for me as a well put together woman between 35-50. There are obviously some exceptions (Selena Gomez) but for the most part as I’ve gotten older so has my tastes. Unfortunately, I’m sure that will stop at some point. ^^ This. Including the exception. ^^ I can easily imagine my wife being attractive for the rest of my life. Not because she’s looking younger, but because I’ll better see what’s attractive about a woman in her 70s. I mean, face it - if, God forbid, I’m widowed at 70 I’d _better_ find 70 year-olds attractive! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Idol\_Springs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/919ad9/32.png) [@Idol\_Springs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idol_Springs)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/52 "2014-01-20T22:01:06Z")
Well, my mum certainly ain’t that sorta person, that’s for sure, she started getting uglier from 2009 onwards! ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/53 "2014-01-20T22:55:05Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Every example provided so far features a bad picture of the younger woman and a better picture of the older woman. Well, of course the latter will look better. In the case of Julia Louis-Dreyfus you’re comparison an unflattering shot in which she is deliberately made up to look frumpy to the picture where she is deliberately made up to look beautiful. Give me the right photo and Photoshop and I can make anyone look better in their 40s. > > What about her has changed, physically, since her 20s to make her more beautiful? Nothing. She was absolutely gorgeous in her 20s. That’s just a photo where she’s trying to not look gorgeous. > > It is possible to look better later if in fact there is some substantial life change, like losing a lot of weight. I certainly look much better now at age 42 than I did five years ago, but I’ve lost 75 pounds. Absent that sort of thing, no, you don’t look better in your forties. The thing to take away, I think, is that people CAN look way, way better if they want to expend the effort. A person can dramatically improve their appearance by losing weight or learning to dress properly. No, I’ve seen pretty much every episode of seinfeld. How she looked in the earlier seasons was not as good as how she looked in the later seasons. That photo in her 20s was not a one off. I didn’t go searching for photos, I was basing that on how she looked in the earlier seinfeld episodes vs the end of the series. I don’t get why this is controversial, the idea that some women look better with age without people assuming it is due (solely) to increased wealth or photoshop. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/54 "2014-01-20T23:15:19Z")
> [@Jake\_Jones](#): > > I wasn’t “going on” about anything. I was responding to a specific post that wasn’t yours. Now, I’ll respond to yours: > > I’ve not been the least bit antagonistic in this thread. If you can’t handle different points of view without considering them to be thread crapping, you should probably unplug your computer and leave it so. > > If the OP had meant for this to be a zany, fun thread it should have been posted in MPSIMS. Since it was posted in IMHO, I felt free to share my OPINION. If you disagree with my decision, frankly, I couldn’t possibly give less of a fuck. No fucks given. Not only do I disagree with the idea that people can become more attractive as they age; I disagree that you haven’t been antagonistic. If the thread is opened with the express purpose of discussing people that are more attractive as they’ve gotten older, and you come in here to say that’s not possible; then I’d say that’s pretty much the definition of antagonistic. As for my contribution, I submit Diane Lane. I think she is insanely hot now; but do not find her younger self attractive at all. ---
**Author:** ![HoneyBadgerDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honeybadgerdc/32/1033_2.png) [@HoneyBadgerDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HoneyBadgerDC)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/55 "2014-01-21T00:36:46Z")
I thought about this quite a bit as I am more attracted to older women, I find them more attractive by a large margin. I can still easily get women much younger but have no interest. This is more of a composite of neighborhood women who I have watched grow more attractive as they age. ``` In their 20's they are ratlled by having babies, being broke and overwhelmed, they may put on some pounds and loose all sense of style. 30's a little more money comming in, kids are not quite as demanding and she starts to take better care of herself and it shows. 40's This is where a woman really starts to find herself, still young enough to wear the sexy clothes yet mature enough to command some respect. 50's she knows who she is, she knows what she wants and knows how to get it. Stays in shape and dresses to kill. This happens all the time. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/56 "2014-01-21T01:51:41Z")
I thought Mary Louise Parker in _Grand Canyon_ was quite cute. But Mary Louise Parker in _Weeds_… Great Googily Moogily. Of course, I am ::mumble mumble:: years old myself, so that is a factor. ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/57 "2014-01-25T16:41:43Z")
Mary Tyler Moore was hotter on her own show than the Dick Van Dyke show, but MTMS was in color rather than b&w and she looked better without the 60s bouffant. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/58 "2014-01-25T16:52:54Z")
> [@Walter](#): > > They say a woman ages like wine. My wife’s aging like milk. This [puppet](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Dunham#Walter) does not speak for me, I’m happy to say. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/59 "2014-01-25T23:31:09Z")
I graduated from high school more than 40 years ago, which means I’ve been able to track the looks of some women from their teens into their 60’s. Regular women, who don’t have stylists, photographers or Photoshop to change their looks. First off, the problem with looking at a 20-year old photo of anyone is that it’s 20 years old, with clothes, hair and makeup that were in style 20 years ago. That’s going to prejudice any kind of comparison. But more importantly, all of the women in my non-scientific, non-randomly selected group know how to dress to flatter themselves, and carry themselves better than even the most gorgeous ones did when they were 18. That’s the real difference. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2014, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131/60 "2014-01-25T23:58:10Z")
I knew a reference librarian in Redondo Beach who I think was around 40 in the early 1970s; I’ll call her Kimberley Mason. She was married; had dark brown hair and eyes; always well dressed and groomed; cordial and helpful in the library; I admired her, and she often turned my head, although she may not have had a Raquel Welch figure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/women-who-got-hotter-as-they-got-older/679131.md?page=2)