Handsome Women

Maybe Tilda Swinton is considered handsome?

Glenn Close.

Lindsay Crouse

.....

Kate Hepburn, older version (not ancient) especially

Here's one.

Colleen Dewhurst

Joan Crawford

Using "handsome" to describe a woman traditionally had nothing to do with their having masculine features or in any way unfeminine features.

It is merely an older usage that has gone out of favor to describe women in favor of other adjectives.

[quote]Definition: having an attractive, well-proportioned, and imposing appearance suggestive of health and strength; good-looking

R2 That's rather stretching handsome and women.

Evan Rachel Wood Rachel Griffiths

I am frequently called handsome. I have a firm jaw and a lean face, which is probably why.

Amal Clooney.

Everyone always calls me "handsome", for some reason

Angelica Huston

Brook Shields

Agreed on Angelica Houston! I'd also use "ethereal beauty"

Bea Arthur

Good example r18

R17 Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but Angelica ethereal?

Maria Callas

Bea Arthur was really striking when she was young.

r20 she has a light that follows her wherever she goes!

Irene Pappas

Glenn is not handsome. She’s unique.

R8: Joan Crawford was beautiful.

What about mee????

Maria Callas

r28 speaking of, I saw her in Masterclass. Well, not her, but someone playing her. She was magnificent! Well, the actress/singer playing her.

[quote] Brook Shields

She is someone I would consider beautiful/pretty more so than handsome.

Eve Plumb. Cutting her long hair has given her a less "beautiful" look, but she certainly has transformed into a handsome woman.

Irene Pappas

Tilda Swinton was strikingly beautiful when younger and is more "interesting" now. I would never use the word handsome to describe her.

r33 sort of "alien" ish. Like Benedict Cumberbatch. He's not handsome, but...

Judi Dench was quite handsome in her young days. Most heterosexual men would not necessarily be attracted to a "handsome" woman like this, yet a clean, sensible look would be admired by many women.

Mariska Hargitay

Ali MacGraw, both now and when she was young.

R13 thank you for the laugh.

R33 thanks, I agree with you more now you made me think about it. Definitely interesting.

R63 I find Mariska to be beautiful.

Marlee Matlin?

What am I, chopped liver?

Gwendoline Christi?

Charlotte Rampling

I think a “handsome woman” is a beautiful woman who does not have delicate features or a cherubic demeanor. She’s not “pretty” or “cute”.

Annie Lennox

R2- Marlee Matlin is pretty, cute and very delicately beautiful. Mariska just reminds me of Callas, Pappas etc.Just not the "cherubic" kind of beautiful.

Judi Dench looks like one of the pig people on Twilight Zone.

Anna Magnani Saw her as a little kid. Never forgot her.

Anna Magnani again.

kd lang

Helen Mirren is a combination of both handsome and sexy.

Handsome = old, yet not looking like a monster

Most of the wmen featured in our recent popular "Women With BDF" thread could be considered "handsome."

Luann from nyc housewives.

Fiona Shaw

Aisling O'Sullivan

I think a handsome woman is one who looks presentable, but who is more attractive because of her perceived emotional and intellectual strength than her appearance.

Emma Thomson Glenn Close Helen Mirren Diana Rigg (when younger) Glenda Jackson (in her film-starring heyday)

Comedienne Leslie Jones

Khloe Kardashian of old. Try to look beyond her clowning ways. I did think of Diana Rigg but I used to watch the Avengers and I thought she was amazingly beautiful. Too beautiful to be handsome.

R28 Agree about Marlee. I think she is beautiful. Not so much your Khloe contribution!

R48 I think that picture does HM no justice!

R41 She is definitely handsome (very attractive!)

R55 Erm, sadly handsome is being too nice.

What about Danielle Cormack? Famke Janssen?

Helen Mirren young and way too beautiful to be handsome.

Don't want to be mean but a sad "no" to Leslie Jones. Handsome also implies a sort of quiet dignity, don't you think?

Laura Dern.

Wow, HM was hot! Sheesh.

Famke Janssen to me is one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. There's another picture of Helen Mirren I could not link to, but try the first page of Google Images. OMG, really.

Maybe Khloe at some finishing school? Haha don't say it, I just thought that myself...

Helen Mirren

I OWN this thread, bitches!!

I have had a major crush on Famke ever since seeing House on Haunting Hill starring Ali Larter. Everyone thought Ali was the best.

R58 / R28 Only one thing about HM is that she is blonde. Sigh!

What about Toni Collette? (attempted to add an image)

Big masculine jaw. But then you have this:

Vanessa Redgrave

Candice Bergen

Anjelica Houston

Kathleen Turner

Jamie Lee Curtis

What R67 said.

Vanessa Redgrave is the first face that comes to mind.

Is the rumor about Jamie Lee Curtis being a hermaphrodite true?

White women are mannish.

R73 No.

Yes, Toni Collette. But handsome women are always handsome, probably from childhood from what I've seen Kathleen Turner, Lauren Bacall and Candice Bergen were all drop dead gorgeous in the conventional sense.

Even Ali McGraw was very beautiful when young.

No can say for sure about Jamie Lee. It's a very old rumour.

Sarah Lancashire (Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax). She has a cleft chin and square jaw. I think it's usually women with a square jaw (like Laura Dern and Jodi Foster) that are more handsome than pretty. Anybody feel like posting a pic of her for me?

Gillian Anderson

Edna May Oliver

Margaret Rutherford

Mary Nash

Moi.

Justine Frischmann. Or is she jolie-laide?

r76, I've always thought Candice Bergen was "handsome", even in her first movie, "The Group". There is a masculine beauty to her, not a soft beauty.

Shohreh Aghdashloo

Brenda Fricker

Brid Brennan

Ann Coulter

Marlene Dietrich

Cate Blanchett

Dame Judith Anderson

Maybe a woman, who is very attractive... but, isn't pretty in a delicate, feminine way. They are very striking in a stronger way.

Gisele

Good example R93..

I would consider Gisele beautiful.

Chloe Sevigny

Watching Charlie's Angels.. I think Jacqueline Smith is classically beautiful. Farrah Fawcett is leaning a little toward the handsome side, and Kate Jackson is handsome.

Handsome has always meant attractive but unfuckable. Was never a compliment.

R98-I wanted to say that. But I wasn't sure how to say it.

Like Indira Gandhi R98?

Does this one count? She looks male an female, black and white.

Mimi Driver

Another Indira Gandhi. Handsome is not ugly but Gisele is not handsome, she's just one of the most beautiful women in the world. It's a je ne sais quoi. But you wouldn't call an outright ugly woman handsome.

Is that Andrea the Cosby killer?Yeah, she's a handsome woman.

R89 wow , I never realized before the resemblance beteeen Marlene Dietrich and Ann Coulter

Vita Sackville-West

Eleanor Bron

Tallulah Bankhead

Dorothy Zbornak!

Mary Astor

Amelia Earhart

Coral Browne

Paloma Picasso

"Handsome Women"

Très tragique!

Silvana Mangano

Dat's Giada's Nonna ^

Lindsay Crouse is still better looking than her daughter Zosia.

[quote]R20 Angelica ethereal?

In her modeling days, sure.

Kate McKinnon

R2 I think the word you were looking for was heinous, not handsome.

ditto,Colleen Dewhurst

Isabella Rosellini

Brenda Vaccaro

[quote]R26 Joan Crawford was beautiful.

Joan Crawford got scary pretty f-ing fast!

What about me?

Isabella was gorgeous, before she became handsome

Anouk Aimee

Could you have found a more unflattering photo, R121?

Anouk Aimee was gorgeous, not handsome.

Most of the suggestions are women with large noses and short haircuts.

Phyllis-era Clorets Leachman

This thread is making me LOL. And also wonder some more about what “handsome” means to me.

I still think it means beautiful and well-made but not endearingly cute or adorable. More admirable and something men wouldn’t automatically fall for.

Jane Alexander

Katharine Hepburn, Angelica Huston, Katey Sagal

Ok some of these replies are just beautiful women. Vanessa Redgrave? Kathleen Turner in her prime? No.

I've always thought of a handsome woman as one with a pretty face and a manly haircut.

Ahem...

Here R77:

R136 is Camryn Manheim.

Sorry, but these surprise clicks are tiresome.

oh come now boys, surely you remember me?

I think of a distinguished looking woman generally with more angular, less feminine features, and a thin but fit frame, tallish, over 45, dignified with a presence. I’d consider Bea Arthur a handsome woman, and also Catharine Hepburn, Elaine Stritch. Attitude has a lot to do with it IMO.

R77 - I kinda developed a gay man crush on Sarah Lancashire after seeing her in both series. Now I know why. She's a handsome woman. Not to mention really talented.

Eve Arden at R139.

Yes Sarah Lancashire. I also have a crush on her.

If only she knew . . . she would dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Carole Radziwell at R144.

not "pretty" by conventional standards, not a starlet, certainly not a bimbo or cream puff. composed, confident, interesting, perhaps "striking" in an understated way. would draw an eye across a room,

that old "je nais se quoi"

I wouldn't consider Bea Arthur handsome or attractive in any way, but I would agree that Katherine Hepburn is handsome.

Sigourney went from beautiful to handsome in her older years.

some would disagree R147

Patrick Stewart

Bea looks handsome there, R149.

Blossom Rock was also very handsome in her younger days.

Yoo-hoo!

i'm damn handsome

Christine Baranski is probably the best current example.

Oh, Blossom, you're so.... er... handsome.

"Handsome Women"

"Helen Lawson!" And that's ME, Baby!

Michelle Williams is a good example of a woman with a short haircut one would consider more cute than handsome.

It's the jawline. Very chiseled and noticeable.

"Handsome women" are usually grown-up versions of teens whose grandmothers told them repeatedly that they had wonderful personalities.

Grayson Hall

. . . coupled with her elongated, wide eyes, R159 -

Ann B. Davis

R148 Sigourney was the first person I thought of. But I disagree I think she’s always been handsome.

Coretta King

Anne Bancroft Frances McDormand Elizabeth Perkins Joan Cusack Thelma Ritter

Sadly, some women never even rise to "handsome", no matter how well groomed they try to be.

The actress from Broen, Sarah Boberg.

maybe 10% of the women on this board are handsome> I'm drunk, g'night sigourney weaver yes

Look at Maria Callas carefully. Charisma, talent, beauty, haughtiness, that kind of thing.

[quote]Brook Shields

It's BROOKE bitch, and just remember, for a few years there in the early 80s I was the most EXQUISITE creature on the planet!

Shields was indeed lovely....

Jane Lynch ?

I don't think handsome is the same as ugly or homely. Some of these women have lovely personalities.

Another vote for Tilda Swinton.

Only my opinion, Bette Davis was handsome. Whereas, Joan Crawford was more of a beauty. Allison Janey is borderline.

Julianne Marguiles

R2's picture looks like Robin Williams.

How about me?

R44 LOL Exactly.

Daniela Sea.

Angelica Huston was always fug like.

r150 was he supposed to look like Kellyanne Conway's doppelgänger?

R178 I wouldn’t call Bette handsome. I think she was cute in a way despite being quite odd looking, diminutive with big, expressive eyes. To me even when she got older, she generally had a brash but still feminine spirit.

And even with all the drag, I’d consider Joan a handsome woman.

Handsome.

Disney queens were handsome.

There is a handsome woman underneath all that drag show glam.

Maybe not all of them.

Saying that a woman is HANDSOME is the very OPITOME of throwing shade, honey."

“the very OPITOME”

Oh, dear.

The term handsome used to simply mean “attractive,” and it was applied equally to men and women without denoting any particular qualities. As it became associated primarily with men as time passed, it’s likely that young people heard older people refer to some attractive older women as “handsome,” and that created a new sort of meaning that younger people associated with older, dignified women who probably had been pretty or beautiful when young and had evolved into attractive but not conventionally pretty older women. So that would make older versions of Joan Crawford, Isabella Rossalini and others mentioned here fit the bill.

Alice Faye

Dame Maggie Smith

Dionne Warwick

I would say that Queen Elizabeth was a handsome woman. Not quite pretty, but not unattractive, either.

Charlotte Rampling might be handsome now, but she was gorgeous in her youth.

Sigourney Weaver was never conventionally pretty but she was more than handsome.

R118 Kate is beautiful to me, she's super unique with her eyes.

R119 Tilda probably gets more sex than a lot of people who are labelled as 'pretty'.

Patricia Neal..

Lauren Bacall, in her later years..

meeting her demise now,in "Strangers on A Train" on TCM

I was thinking that, too R202..also watching the movie.

Barbara Bel Geddes

I think it essentially means “sexy ugly.” The epitome of which is probably Angelica Huston.

Geraldine Fitzgerald, meeting her demise early this evening in "Three Strangers", also on TCM

Jeanne Moreau

Good noir movies on TCM tonight. Bette Davis, on next, in The Letter. She's also handsome.. lol.

I don't know about you, but when I was a kid, calling a woman "handsome" was kind of a back-handed compliment acknowledging on one hand that a woman was attractive but lacking femininity. It was usually applied to middle-aged matronly types or women who had a mannishness about them. So, women like:

Margaret Dumont (I think she best fits this description)

Bea Arthur

Ethel Merman

Isabel Sanford

Wallis Simpson?

Barbara Bush.

Farah Pahlevi, Empress of Iran

Christiane Amanpour

Raisa Gorbacheva

Gail Patrick

Geraldine Page

i defined "handsome", admit it

surprised I'm here, bitches?

Ingrid Thulin

Step aside, bitches.

Marlene Dietrich owns it.

Maria Falconetti, "Joan of Arc" 1928

hmm, I think Marlene was too beautiful and glamorous to be mere "handsome",.... except sometimes

Mary McCarthy

Dietrich is too beautiful.

Cherry Jones

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

Angela Lansbury her whole life. Even as an ingenue, she looked old bit well kept.

I’ll agree Dietrich was beautiful and glamorous (and handsome), so here’s my strictly handsome choice.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Nadine Gordimer

Kiki Ginsburg, my psychoanalyst went to school with her. She is amazing.

Susan Sontag

Wow R230 wish I could hear stories.

Went to see RBG last night. Thank God for Kiki Ginsberg.

Katy Jurado

A most handsome and beautiful woman. Both for sure. Yes.

Rachel Weisz.

Valerie Jarrett

[quote] "Angela Lansbury her whole life. Even as an ingenue, she looked old bit well kept. —Anonymous"

Angie was a well-kept woman? Kept where? Kept by WHOM, R227?

Handsome is not the same as “not pretty,” or “not beautiful”. Some of these examples are of women who are just undeniably “plain,” R229 and r225 for example. OTOH, Amanpour R213 is a perfect example of handsome.

Handsome is adjacent to, but not the same thing as “striking,” Irene Pappas, for example, was so compelling looking that you would not call her just handsome, but striking.

R146 hit the nail on the head:

[quote] not "pretty" by conventional standards, not a starlet, certainly not a bimbo or cream puff. composed, confident, interesting, perhaps "striking" in an understated way. would draw an eye across a room

There you go, OP.

Diana Quick

Gillian Anderson.

Someone with a more masculine jaw or long or strong face; lacking a feminine softness or “prettiness”. But they must still be attractive... so no Virginia Woolfs or George Elliots

A younger Angela Lansbury type

Princess Alexandra is a handsome woman who would never have been called pretty (here giving side eye to Princess Michael).

Gillian owns this thread

The late Barbara Bush.

Dame Gladys Cooper

I don’t think the term handsome is a compliment for females. It was the female equivalent of the term: “Confirmed bachelor.”

A.k.a. Don’t plan on marrying this one off, circa 1971.

The incomparable Miss Margaret Dumont

HaHa is that the “hold me closer, closer” lady? “Madam ,If held you any closer I’d be behind you?” From the ship movie?

ROSAMUND PIKE

You fags call me handsome, and I’ll kick you all in the cunt.

Fran Lebowitz is a handsome woman. She’s brilliant.

Juliet Stevenson

norma shearer

Brooke Shields in her early twenties?

try to keep up

To me, "handsome" also connotes a certain attention to grooming, dress etc. You wouldn't usually say "The Welfare mom, a handsome woman, engaged in a brawl at Walmart."

Frida Kahlo

Lena Headey

This seems to have some merit, at least as to the word's initial usage...

The "new & improved" Alanis Morisette

Mrs. Danvers

The word does have a sense of expense to it....as in "it fetched a handsome price," "she was handsomely dressed," or "they paid handsomely."

Try to keep up R260

R91

Linda Ellerbee June Allyson

Florence Pugh, will like become handsome as she ages.

The term is not used anymore because there are now only ten words in people's vocabulary: money, fuck, marriage, piss, shit, fugly, work, job, race and iphone.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Anjelica looks like Travolta in Hairspray.

Well they both looked good once.

i was most handsome

zzzzzzz

and i was beautiful

Queen Elizabeth I : The Virgin Queen a.k.a. Gloriana

R247 According to IMDB it was Esther Muir who said that line in A Day at the Races although Margaret Dumont also had a role in it.

Sit down bitches, I own this.....the ol' whore is here Jeanne Cooper!

I don't think "handsome" is a backhanded compliment, pertaining to women. It's a different kind of beauty, not necessarily conventional, but there's an attractiveness/appeal there.

and me...

Oh, R276 -- you hit the nail right on the head. Thread closed!

I am nothing if not handsome.

There was nothing ever handsome or arrractive about Rand. Hideous human inside and out.

Ingrid Bergman when she was older.

Shame on all of you.

Some of you are confusing "handsome" with "look like a man". Handsome still means attractive.

Agree that Christiane Amanpour, Anjelica Huston and Vanessa Redgrave are perfect examples of "handsome" women. Vita Sackville-West also looks textbook handsome in the image at r105, but I have no idea if that's a true-to-life picture of her.

Anyone who describes Marlene Dietrich or young Isabella Rossellini as "handsome" really needs to get a dictionary. Or glasses.

And Tilda Swinton, while undeniably striking, and attractive in her own way, looks too alien to be called "handsome" IMO.

Carol Eve Rossen.

Bonnie Franklin.

Mariette Hartley.

Anne Murray.

Angelica Huston is atrocious.

The word handsome when used to describe a woman does not mean masculine beauty, or a square jaw, or any of the other ridiculous explanations given here. It is just a word that means attractive and has fallen out of use by most people, particularly in America.

Bea Arthur.

There are already 2 photos of her upthread, but the first one I thought of on seeing this thread title was Colleen Dewhurst. She was very attractive and was probably never beautiful even when young, but if you had a picture in the dictionary describing handsome woman, it would likely be hers. I think handsome woman has connotations of well-dressed, self-possessed, slightly stout, probably somewhat upper class and probably being upwards of 45. It reminds me of characters in Henry James or Edith Wharton novels. It might have been a compliment in the early 20th century, but is certainly out of date in this century. (Even though she is one, I don't think Christiane Amanpour would like being called a handsome woman for example, whereas Colleen Dewhurst might not have minded.

I believe Verushka would be considered handsome back in her day, because she was too tall to be considered beautiful, and her features were too strong to be considered "pretty" by any conventional standard:

Maria Von Trapp

Not exactly, R289. Yes, handsome means attractive (not masculine) as applied to women, but there has been a longtime distinction between women described as handsome verses pretty. Handsome was meant to suggest strong features and an imposing figure (e.g. tall) whereas pretty suggested delicate features and a daintier figure. The classic distinction is Katharine Hepburn verses Audrey Hepburn. The word sort of evolved to suggest a woman with masculine features who was still beautiful, or an attractive woman who ages into more masculine features, but I think that's just a by-product of the pop culture evolution of "masculine" verses "feminine" traits, some of which are very different than they were 2 or 3 centuries ago.

This blog post points out that Jane Austen has Darcy describe Jane Bennet as "the only handsome girl in the room" and she is regarded by all as a great beauty. But it also notes there were diverging opinions then and since on whether a "handsome" woman would be considered classically beautiful.

R235, yes. And I mean it as a complement when I say that in that photo she resembles Trevor Noah.

"Anne Bancroft"--no, she was beautiful.

Kristen Scott Thomas, now; though beautiful when younger

Harriet Walter, actress

Leontyne Price

The Afghan Girl (Sharbat Gula).

Frances Sternhagen (when she was younger)

Maria Casarès. Chloë Sevigny,

Thread winner.

Michelle Obama. Pearl Bailey

I think of a strong, square jaw, a solid stature, taller than average, serious looking but with a good-natured sense of humor. Bea Arthur, Laura Bennett from Project Runway, Katey Sagal all come to mind. All of these women are feminine in presentation—they wear glamorous dresses, makeup, etc., but they’re solid and sturdy looking and they have strong demeanors and embody confidence.

R301 Sevignt isn’t my idea of handsome. She’s ugly-pretty or modelesque, but she doesn’t have the stature or the broad facial structure to be “handsome” in my mind. She is too delicate looking. I would put Claire Danes at the intersection of handsome and pretty.

Franka Potente is a young handsome woman.

Alice Krige

Famke Janssen

One of my grandmothers was 4’11” and delicate, and the other was 5’9” and very solid. One was always told she was pretty and one was told she was strong and, occasionally, handsome.

Charles Busch

How could you bitches forget about me?

Fannie Flagg

Glenn

Some of you are just posting pics of lesbians.

As for tough beauty and swagger, consider:

Frances McDormand was quite pretty when she was young. Now, she is a handsome woman.

Alicia Coppola

Lindsey Crouse was pretty.

Joan Crawford was just mannish. Beautiful, but mannish (but a beautiful woman, not a handsome one). Growing up, I didn't get why I didn't like her looks - finally realized her face wasn't that feminine. But it's not being masculine or feminine that defines a handsome woman. I think it's probably a strong face, strong bone structure, but not particularly refined.

Katee Sackhoff

Jeanene Fox

Anna Torv

GARBO

R317 I disagree. Crawford wasn’t inherently “mannish” looking. She had distinctive features, but younger photos show a distinguished looking young woman, not a masculine looking young woman. She was styled that way later in her career as a personal trademark, a way of marketing her. She wore oversized shoulder pads, drew on thick eyebrows, and exaggeraged her most pronounced features. She wasn’t a manly looking woman when she wasn’t styled to be so over the top.

I don't know about that, R322.

Watching the Project Runway season 3 marathon on Bravo now. I would call Angela Keslar handsome-pretty.

R323 She doesn’t look like a man to me at all...just a distinctive looking woman. Later on, she definitely had a very masculine (and handsome) quality. I think she was a terrible actress but had a deliciously handsome magnetism.

R55 There's nothing pretty or handsome about Leslie Jones. Her SNL co-star Kate McKinnon is a handsome woman.

Sarah Silverman

I would consider Tina Fey a handsome nerdwoman.

R305 when did Claire Danes grow a square jaw like that? She must have gotten fillers there the last few years.

Maybe she thought it would balance out her nose?

R329 She’s always had a big square head. This is from Stardust, 2007.

Depending on the hairstyle Betty Gilpin looks a handsome woman at times. Other times she looks like an alien freak.

The jaw was less pronounced in 1996 because she was still a teenager and also softened by baby fat.

R327 When Sarah was at her peak of popularity (slim as it was), most hetero bros into jewesses thought she was a BABE. Not handsome. A pretty chick they would gladly FUCK. I agree.

Funny, now, 10 years later, Jimmy Kimmel got much prettier.

Princess Diana

Princess Stephanie

R333 she still looks the same facially she’s just gained weight and for Hollywood is almost unforgivably untoned.

True. And Jimmy Kimmel went through a major upgrade, to quite fuckable. He is at event horizon for Botox however.

No, Kate Sakoffi is also beautiful. That's a raw-looking image with no make-up, but her bone structure is refined.

Yeah, I'd put Gilpin as a handsome woman. Don't know why. Seems like she has the ingredients to be a hot babe - pretty face, bomb ass body, but there's something "off" all around and it comes off handsome.

Agree that Glenn Close is the poster child.

Tina Fey is a pretty woman. Kate McKinnon is a pretty woman. Handsome is a hard thing to find in leads. They're usually supporting.

Eve Arden

I think Kate Winslet is handsome and stunningly beautiful (but not exactly pretty) in equal measure.

Gillian Anderson, who could probably play a good Joan Crawford if she tried.

[quote]Yeah, I'd put Gilpin as a handsome woman. Don't know why. Seems like she has the ingredients to be a hot babe - pretty face, bomb ass body, but there's something "off" all around and it comes off handsome.

There's something off with her appearance. She's not butt ugly. But, she's creepy looking in handsome way. It's only matter of time before she ends up playing a serial killer in horror film with face.

Angela Bassett with short hair looks more handsome than pretty.

Kind of OT, but the other thing about Gilpin is even though I think her acting is absolutely terrific in "Glow", I don't care about her character. It bothers me, because I think - well, is it a feminist thing - I'm uncomfortable with her dislikeable side? I don't think so because I've liked a lot of female characters who could be assholes - still stayed in their corner. Her, I don't particularly care, even though she's talented.

British actress Ruth Wilson ("The Affair"). Her trout mouth and broad nose ruin her face.

Ruth Wilson photo No# 2.

The two Frazier women (Peri Gilpin and Jane Leeves) were handsome.

Rock icon Patti Smith.

I love Jane Leeves’s face. She, Kate Winslet, Kate Bush, Elizabeth Hurley, Emily Blunt have what I would consider strong and beautiful English features.

Gorgeous, sexy, handsome Nigella.

I kind of see this as the female equivalent as BDF ( Big Dick Face ) Something is very attractive or sexy there , but overall they aren’t classically pretty . Usually have a stronger look .

Although she could glam it up, I always thought actress Norma Shearer was more handsome than beautiful.

Another photo of Norma Shearer.

I think a handsome woman has a much greater lasting value than a classically pretty one, if we are going to objectify people like that. If I were going to propose to a woman without knowing her (which will never happen for many reasons but just go with me here), I’d imagine whose face I’d be loving into old age and I would want that face to be a Joan Crawford type of face. Or even (honestly) Bea Arthur. Someone whose face conveys strength and wisdom, not cuteness and fragility and naivety.

Mrs. Robinson herself (aka Anna Bancroft).

Bianca Jagger

First Google image result...would not have been my first thought but I agree.

Actress Shelley Winters was a handsome broad.

How anyone could have thought that Mae West was beautful is beyond me. She was a handsome and feisty gal.

Commonalities I see are that for most of us it seems to come down to a penagonally shaped face, a squarer jaw, broad and pronounced (sharp, not soft) cheek bones with a nose that isn’t delicate and broader chest and shoulders. All of the women posted here are not “ugly” by standard measures—they have good and smooth complexions, straight teeth, full heads of hair, no wonky eyes, etc. They’re well groomed and have above-average aesthetic appeal, but not classically feminine and in fact most of them share the specific traits (broad jaw, thick neck, etc.) described above.

Silent screen actress Theda Bara looked like a man dressed as a woman.

....

Diane Keaton

Barbara Stanwyck

Shirley Maclaine

She is probably the best known Italian actress but Sophia Loren was always more handsome than beautiful looking to me. I think Gina Lollobrigida was prettier than Sophia.

Tony Little. I especially love the come hither look.

Female Body builder Nicole Bass.

Handsome Judy Holliday

With the right clothes, makeup, hairstyle and lighting she could be sexy but Jane Russell was more handsome than beautiful.

Every Disney villainess

Myrna Loy.

This witch

Actress Jessica Tandy.

Italian actress Alida Valli.

Some may find French actress Anouk Aimée beautiful but I think she's a handsome woman with a lot of sex appeal.

Debra Winger was a handsome woman.

Nancy Marchand Vanessa Redgrave Lauren Bacall

It's that big-boned, strong-jawed older waspy woman look (yeah, I know Lauren Bacall was Jewish but she looked WASPY).

She may have had cheekbones that could cut glass but patrician Katharine Hepburn would never be anything but handsome.

R380 Hepburn is the definitive handsome woman. She can’t be described as pretty or (arguably) beautiful, but her attractiveness can’t really be denied, either. If the term “handsome woman” didn’t exist, I’d call her “mannishly beautiful.”

Actress Glenda Jackson.

Where is Sela Ward on this spectrum?

I've never thought Mary Tyler Moore was a great beauty but she was handsome in her own way.

The Maloof hoof is handsome under all the drag.

Sela Ward's Sisters co-star Patricia Kalember was a handsome woman during that show.

One of these might be described as handsome.

Faye Dunaway

Faye dun away with her career by playing handsome woman Joan Crawford!

Claudette Colbert

Lizabeth Scott.

Supergirl Helen Slater

Handsome young Brit Marling

Sarah Polley

Brie Larson

Carmen Miranda.

She has her moments of beauty but for the most part, Cate Blanchett is a handsome woman.

Call her beautiful, call her handsome, whatever you call her, she’s a natural stunner!

Actress Mercedes Ruehl.

Edie Falco, Dorinda Medley, can’t quite tell, but they’re equally handsome!

Amanda Plummer

I win.

Ally Sheedy

Elizabeth Moss (aka Offred the Handmaiden)

Sean Young. Sigourney Weaver.

The ultimate handsome woman, Lady Di. Tall, athletic body, strong Roman nose but still very feminine and classy.

A lot posted here are not handsome, but are pretty-enough to look at. Handsome can mean she isn't "pretty" in the conventional sense or isn't too "womanly" but obviously is a woman, often a bit mature, very well put together and not repulsive. "Stricking" comes to mind, sharp features, not a woman you must fuck on sight. Often has big, wide-set features, a "manly" look but not at all "masculine". Some can be quite stunning in photographs, beautiful.

Queen Latifah.

Lucy Liu is handsome and as hard as nails.

Gong Li.

And Capucine, Liv Ullmann.

A handsome trio - Christine Baranski, Meryl Streep and Julie Walters.

R410 - I agree about Capucine but definitely not Liv Ullman. The Nordic beauty was luminous even without makeup.

R410 - Now, Liv Ullmann and Ingmar Bergman's daughter Linn Ullmann is handsome.

Pure purple prose stanning. Ullmann was never a luminous beauty.

Good features, totally not sexy or sensual.

And most Chinese people considered Gong Li an attractive cow.

Liv Ullmann was lovely.

Luminous and lovely Liv.

So easy to press these buttons!

Katharine Hepburn is the definitive answer. Most of these posts are really off, though.

Faye Dunaway? In her prime she was absolutely gorgeous.

And Amanda Plummer is just...unfortunate all around.

Close is a pretty good example, too.

Robin Wright

R421 that’s a really interesting example actually, because by no means was she handsome when she was young (circa Princess Bride, Santa Barbara), she was udeniably beautiful. But I agree she has the handsome look now.

Maybe 80 percent of actresses just age into handsome no matter what they looked like when they were younger? Except for someone totally “cute” like Sally Field...

Agree with Robin Wright and Brooke Shields . They were very pretty and soft in their youth . They are still beautiful women who have stronger jawlines and more chiseled features . I’d consider both handsome .

Not just actresses I should say, but all women...

Annie Lennox

For some reason I think of inimitable Kitty Carlisle when I hear this phrase

Beautifully groomed, always well-coiffed, well-turned out, impeccable manners...

But not a sensual beauty

I don't think there are many "handsome women" anymore

Liv Tyler

Jane Leeves was beautiful. Peri Gilpin handsome, absolutely.

A handsome, noble woman

Rosa Parks

Katharine at 21. She didn’t “age into” handsomeness. I wonder if she was XXY or something.

Patricia Neal was a tall handsome woman in her day.

A handsome woman

I think Barbara Stanwyck owns this thread

Sean Young? Claudette Colbert? Shirley MacLaine?! Faye Dunaway?!!

Jesus Christ -- time to get this thread back onto the rails, for God's sake.

Blanche Yurka. There.

Linda Fiorentino - sexy as hell, but never beautiful.

Handsome Theresa Russell - trying way too hard to be beautiful.

Long before The Addams Family, Blossom Rock would have been considered a handsome woman.

Hilary Swank

Someone suggested Sophia Loren above. In her heyday she was considered stunningly beautiful and sensual--as far from handsome as you can get. Through the 60s and 70s she was many a straight man's ideal sexpot. Maybe now that she is almost 80 (or is she over 80?), she could be called handsome with all her plastic surgery, etc. but she was once considered extremely beautiful if exotic (i.e., not an American girl type natch). Liv Ullman was also considered a great natural beauty (not on a level with Sophia of course). In fact, she is still not in the handsome category as an older woman. Handsome means strong jawed and somewhat masculine looking, although sometimes very attractive. Hepburn was handsome but also beautiful in her 20s. Of current stars, I think Jennifer Lawrence falls in the handsome category--she has a strong jaw, a statuesque figure, but you would never really call her beautiful.

[quote], I think Jennifer Lawrence falls in the handsome category--she has a strong jaw, a statuesque figure, but you would never really call her beautiful.

Respectfully disagree -- I don't think Lawrence even falls into the "handsome" category; as movie stars go, she's very plain-looking.

Marthe Keller - She didn't have much of a career - but she did manage to hook up with Pacino. She was close to beautiful in her younger days - her features were just a little too robust.

Jennifer Garner falls into the handsome category IMO. Square jaw and mesomorph body type.

Some of the Kennedy woman were handsome...this is Eunice Kennedy Shriver.

Pat Kennedy

Jean Kennedy

Matriarch Rose Kennedy

I think Christine LaGarde from the IMF epitomizes this look. I don’t know how to post photos, but agree with the above poster that most of these suggestions are too pretty or glamorous to be handsome.

French actress Sandrine Bonnaire is handsome.

R447 - here you are CHristine Lagarde. Always chic but never beautful.

Even in her younger day, feminist and writer Germaine Greer was never a looker.

One of the handsomest French women ever - Simone Veil

Another handsome French Simone - this one is Simone de Beauvoir

Tall and with great facial bones.

The Kennedy sisters minus Rosemary were fugly rather than handsome.

The third Simone. She was fine when she was young but as she aged she became handsome. Simone Signoret.

French actress Capucine - heavy lidded, big lips, masculine jaw.

r322 Have you seen the unretouched version of that portrait?

^^ Sorry

That pic looks like Stormy Daniels

Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett, Jessica Chastain, Michelle Dockery, ...

k.d. Lang

Former Attorney General Janet Reno.

Actress Carey Mulligan.

Dame Judi Dench. This is a good photo of her.

Another Dame called Maggie Smith.

Imelda Staunton.

Actress Brenda Blethyn.

Actress Sally Hawkins.

Singer PJ Harvey

She has the height to be a model but Karlie Kloss is handsome not beautiful.

Courtney Thorne-Smith.

She's famous in France but Charlotte Gainsbourg is not a beauty.

I win this thread! Thank you!

R473 - move over little lady. Big Bea is in town and ready to compete!

That pic looks like Alex Trebeck in drag.

Actress Lili Taylor

She was lovely in her youth but Charlotte Rampling is just handsome now.

Another thread reminded me, Gabriella Sabatini.

Paloma Picasso.

Loulou de la Falaise.

Frances de la Tour.

Mrs. Richard Nixon

Right back at you, Mamie.

Barbara Bush owns this thread

Dolores del Rio owns this thread.

Holland Taylor

Toni Morrison