How much younger did your braces make you look?

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#1 Post by **Evelyn** » Sun May 28, 2006 10:45 am

Hey!

Yeah, so today wasn't quite such a good day. I went out to the paint store to get a gallon of paint and the sales guys there were really annoying and talked way too much. One of them asked how old I was when he saw my car keys, and I told him 17. They looked at eachother and kind of laughed and the guys said to me, 'Wow, if you hadn't told me I would have thought you were 14' and then they proceeded to keep talking about how young I look for the whole time that my paint was being mixed.

It wouldn't bother me so much if it was a one time thing...but it's not. It happens all the time, and honestly I can see why. I'm 5'5 and 100lbs-I'm just naturally small. I've tried gaining weight so many times but it just doesn't work-I was born small and my parents are both small, and I have a lightning fast metabolism.

I'm sure it also doesn't help at all that I have braces-fully fledged metal braces. When people see braces on a youngish looking person, they automatically think preteen, or in my case, 13 or 14. Great.

So there was a point to this post, and it was to ask all of your experience. I got my braces on 4 years ago, when I was 13, and then it really didn't bother me that they made me look younger, and since it was so long ago i haven't been able to make a comparison from before and after as to how old I look. So I was wondering, for all you high school and college kids on these boards, how much of a difference did it make when you got braces in how old you looked? If you have them off, did that make a difference?

Please reply, I'd really like to know if there are others out there who struggle with the same issue...

Thanks, Eve

#2 Post by **Dark_angel** » Sun May 28, 2006 11:39 am

Hi eve, i know how you feel.

In the Uk you have to be 16 to put the lottery on. I've just turned 18 and id won some money so i went to collect it from a supermarket and i got asked for ID. I mean fair enough if it was to buy a ticket but id already had it and it was to collect my winnings.

Im 18, 5'2 and 47kg. Alot of the time i dont wear make up and i wear sports clothes as im a trampolinist. I hate looking so young so before i go to uni im going to make sure i get a new hair cut and a bit of a make over. Im hoping it'll make me look older and fit in a bit more.

I could keep blabbing on but i wont.

#3 Post by **perfectangel818** » Sun May 28, 2006 5:39 pm

I'm 24, almost 25, married with two small kids. I also have braces and glasses. I hardly ever wear makeup, and at my job, a normal day involves wearing something casual like jeans or shorts or khakis. So if I go to buy alcohol or cigs, I always get carded. This guy I remember from high school (we had classes together) doesn't remember me from high school (i've lost about 40 lbs since then) and also thinks I look like I'm 15. So this happens a lot, but the one that drove me nuts was that my son recently had his tonsils out. My mother in law was visiting at the time and went to the doctors appointment before hand. The doctor and the nurses kept directing thier questions at her instead of me. Finally, I told my son to come to mommy, and the doc finally got it. Made me SOOO mad!

#4 Post by **ingyandbert** » Sun May 28, 2006 9:38 pm

Actually, it may not have anything at all to do with your braces. When I was in my early 20s, I was routinely mistaken for a 13 year old. I'd go to get a haircut and would be asked what grade I was in or whether my mom was going to pick me up. Now at 45, most people think I'm 30-32. My husband is 4 years older than me and when I first met his friends, they teased him about "robbing the cradle" because they knew he was 48 and but thought I was in my late 20s. When they found out I was 43, they couldn't believe it. Don't be surprised if when you get your braces off, people still think you're much younger than you are. (And someday, that will be a great thing!)

Website · #5 Post by **alexa** » Sun May 28, 2006 9:51 pm

I'm 24 (just barely..yesterday was my birthday!

) and people routinely mistake me for someone around 14-16.

Prior to braces (I got them on a couple months shy of my 23rd birthday), people thought I was in the 16-18 range, so it is my opintion that braces did in fact knock a couple more years off for me.

I know how frustrating it can be. I'm so sick of people mentioning how young I look and then pointing at the braces. I'm sick of people carding me for movies, cigarettes and alcohol. Most of all, I'm sick of people telling me how I'll appreciate all of this one day. Just so they know, someone mistaking you for a 14 year old is NEVER a compliment.

Well, unless you're 11.

At any rate, there's not much to be done about it...just know that you're not alone in the land of the perpetually carded...

#6 Post by **ingyandbert** » Sun May 28, 2006 9:54 pm

Alexa, you might change your mind about that someday. I'm one of those people (as I posted above) who at 23-24 was mistaken for 13. I know it can be frustrating because you feel you're not being taken seriously. But trust me, it won't be a bad thing when you're older. Voice of experience here!

#7 Post by **Raspberry** » Mon May 29, 2006 7:29 am

I'm 25 and I get this all the time too... before braces too. I'm thinking it may have something to do with my underbite/underdeveloped bottom jaw. I find it gives me a child like appearance.

I went to have my ears repierced a few months ago, and the lady said to me "You need to have your mom or dad with you if are under 16", sorry, I'm 24! (at the time) She just blushed and said "oh".

On Saturday at work, I was chatting with some guy about work, and careers, and he says to me "It's ok, you're still a kid, you have time", when I told him I was 25, he looked at me in shock and said he wouldn't have thought I was more than 17. Even his 10 year old son agreed.

Your not the only one!

#8 Post by **Evelyn** » Mon May 29, 2006 7:29 am

Thanks for the replies everyone! I think I always will look young, just because I am small, and that's something that I guess I've just got to come to terms with. I honestly don't know if getting the braces off will make a difference...there's something deep down inside that's really hoping that it will, but at least even if it doesn't, then I know that I look 14 in all fairness because of my size and not my braces.

I just sometimes feel like I'm at a disadvantage when trying to look older, because no matter how old I look, people still see the braces and think 13 or 14 years old.

Ah well....roll on July 5, we shall have to see

Eve

#9 Post by **nvcarissa** » Mon May 29, 2006 7:54 am

Now at 45, most people think I'm 30-32. My husband is 4 years older than me and when I first met his friends, they teased him about "robbing the cradle" because they knew he was 48 and but thought I was in my late 20s. When they found out I was 43, they couldn't believe it.

This is how it has been for me as well. My husband is six month older than me, but looks much older than I do. I just turned 50 on Saturday and I invited a bunch of friends over to our house for my party. Person after person responded to my invitation that there was No Way I could be that old. All through my adult life people have thought I was 10-15 years younger than I am. In my twenties it was funny, now...I am grateful!!

#10 Post by **ingyandbert** » Mon May 29, 2006 5:40 pm

Yup! Exactly. LOL!

#11 Post by **jennandtonic** » Mon May 29, 2006 8:21 pm

I can definitely sympathize. I work at a job where I'm around people constantly, and inevitably people ask what grade I'm in. When I tell them I'm headed into my third year of college, a lot of people are astonished, some to the point of rudeness.

I'm sure having the braces doesn't help my case, but they still mistake me for the same age (about 15-16).

The worst was a few months ago when I went to the store with a friend who's younger than me. The store clerk referred to my friend as my mother! I politely told her I was older than my friend and she stared at me, telling me she thought I was lying.

It's just one of those things I suppose, I try to take it all in stride. The only time it bothers me is when a person is rude or keeps bringing it up in conversation.

#12 Post by **jcdamon3** » Tue May 30, 2006 10:42 am

A friend once told me "If you don't look 50 now, you will someday".

Website · #13 Post by **susieq182** » Tue May 30, 2006 2:06 pm

I ran into a friend from high school the other day I hadnt seen her in close to 6 yrs. She point blank told me I look younger now then I did when we graduated

so is it possible to reverse age? and if i got mistaken for a 15/16 yr old when i was a senior in HS does that mean now i look even younger>?
another thing I was pondering while reading all the other posts is: Do we look younger then we are or is it that so many young people are trying to look so much older then they are. I know my 18 yr old cousin looks more like 30. She takes it as a compliment when people think she is older then I am. doubt she will feel the same when I am 40 and she is 34.

#14 Post by **mackenzie** » Tue May 30, 2006 2:39 pm

Aww I'm sorry about those guys but they sound kind of stupid anyway.

I don't think it is totally braces that make people look younger because I'm 17, 5' 9" and 120 lbs with metal braces and I was at a ocean table around a bar on Saturday night watching the Pistons game and I asked for a strawberry daiquri and they brought me one with alcohol in it haha. It was a girl bartender too cuse if it had been a guy that might be different. Then on the other hand my 17 year old friend's dad wanted us to go to a comedy club where you have to be 18 and he looked at him and was like "you could get in" then kind of gave me a look like "yeah they'll card you though."

So who knows?

#15 Post by **Betty Bat** » Tue May 30, 2006 7:37 pm

I'm 53, have had braces for 7 months, and last week I was asked if I wanted a senior citizen discount in a store. So, I guess the "braces = look young" isn't working for me.

Seriously, being over 50 isn't bad and it isn't a crime. How about if we all respect each others' ages?