What is dolled up
What does dolled up mean?
I’ve seen a lot of people use this term, and it seems to be one that as many startups still don’t fully understand. The concept is simple: “Dolled up” is an adjective that describes products that have been prettified to better match the perception of a consumer or user.
For example, say you hire a designer or photographer to make your product look sleek and professional in order to attract more customers to your business. What does it mean when your prospect says “Oh, I like how your website looks! It looks so polished! I think this is really nice!”? That’s what dolled up means: it makes the product seem much more appealing than it is at first glance, and will help your prospects feel like they have already made their purchase decision.
You should use this term whenever you can when describing what the product looks like on the outside (or on its packaging), but be careful not to overstate its importance. It doesn’t have to be everything you put into the design — just something that helps sell the idea of being part of a community or being part of a company which has done something right. For example, if you are a software company and focus on new features for developers, emphasizing how good your developer tools are will often make prospective customers feel more engaged with the company than highlighting all of your fancy new features would otherwise do.
Examples of dolled up
This is a great example of a one-sentence question that can be almost as useful as a full-blown intro. It’s a very simple and effective way to ask people questions in the form of examples, and it is guaranteed to get them interested.
The following sentence is taken from Dan Pink’s book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us (p. 5).
“So what do you think? Is it true that people are just more motivated when they feel like they have done something good, and less when they feel like they have done something bad? Or are there some other factors at play?”
Here we see two things:
• The use of the word “dolled up” (which means well dressed) to describe people’s motivation levels; and • The addition of the word “can” to explain what might be going on.
Similarly, here we see two things:
• The use of the word “Dolled Up” (which means well dressed) to describe how high-achievers feel about themselves; and • The addition of the word “Can” to explain how it might be possible for someone who feels “Dolled Up” to not be entirely comfortable with his or her performance.
How to use dolled up in conversation
This is a common question asked by people who are new to Slack and (oddly enough) by people who are not new to Slack. Often, the answer is something like “I don’t know what it means”.
It’s a great question, but I don’t think there is an easy answer (although I can certainly help you find one).
There are two ways of looking at dolled up in a conversation: as a pair of pronouns: “I dolled up […].” or “Dolled up […].” or as a noun: “I didlled […].”.
The verb used for each form varies somewhat, but in all cases it means the same thing: that you have done something neat or smart. The noun form is used when the thing done has to do with your own appearance and character — something that specifically pertains to you. It can be clothing, behavior or tone of voice.
Other things can be doled out. For example, we can say “Dolled up your hair on the red carpet last night?” which suggests that you have deliberately done something different with your hair than was socially acceptable when you were last at the Oscars. But most often it means something more general and slightly less specific — like getting dressed up for work or going out to dinner — when we use it in conversation with someone else.
We often see this phrasing coming from our marketing folks because they think this language matches the tone they want people to take toward us when they first interact with us on Slack (which isn’t necessarily true). In fact we try not to use dolled up in marketing copy other than when we want people to feel pleased about being in contact with us — then we use it as a noun meaning nice/good/best/professional/whatever-it-is-now-that-you-are-actually-talking-to us rather than as an adjective meaning like, good looking or cool (though I will admit that some marketers get carried away!).
One reason for this preference for nouns over adjectives is that adjectives are slippery; many words change their meanings depending on context and intent; while nouns are usually relatively fixed and consistent (the same word can mean multiple things depending on usage).
What does dolled mean? Well, let me illustrate with some examples:
1
Other forms of dolled up
In the early days of a startup, you’re pretty much just trying to get your product out there and see what people think of it. When your product is really good, you can take your time and let it sit and see how people respond to it. Some will love it and some will hate it, but most people have a few things in common.
They want to be more productive and feel more confident about themselves. They may be more likely to share their thoughts with others, perhaps even with strangers who they wouldn’t otherwise share their thoughts with.
They want a better relationship with their boss or colleagues both at work and in their personal lives. They are certainly less likely to hang out with the same friends for hours on end at night because they find themselves less motivated enough to do so.
They want a home life that has more variety in the way that they conduct business. This includes having different kinds of families; having different kinds of parents; doing things on holiday that are different from what they do at work; working differently than they do while travelling (for example they may learn new languages); working in different industries than those that they have always done (because this allows them to expand their expertise); and so on…
All of these things have an impact on productivity: better relationships make you feel better about the company you work for, making you more productive when you are at work; being able to travel around the world without feeling like you need approval from your boss before doing so makes you feel better about yourself as well as being able to go on holiday without feeling pressured into doing something else (remember: one person’s vacation is another person’s business trip). As we know from our own experiences, these are all things which increase productivity for us as individuals as well as for our employers when we are at work — not just in our current jobs but in other areas too.
So, we should talk about how all these things affect productivity by talking about “Dolled-Up” — a term I first heard from David Allen — which refers specifically to the lifestyle choices most people instinctively make which actually improve their productivity when done consistently over time: living differently than everyone else, making decisions based on experiences rather than self-doubt or peer pressure (which can lead us down dead-end paths), taking risks which extend ourselves beyond what is socially acceptable or easy; spending time outdoors; learning new languages; driving cars using
How to spell dolled up
What does dolled up mean? Well, this is an interesting question as well. It’s a little like asking how many pairs of shoes you own: one person might say “I have one pair of shoes, and that’s it”. Another person might say “I have hundreds of pairs of shoes. And that’s it.” A third person might say “when in doubt buy a new pair every time you need to wear them!”
In this case, the question is fairly abstract but let me try to get some clarity on the term in use:
dolled up: a little fancier than usual
What does dolled up mean? I think there are three distinct meanings here:
1) I am dressed in fine clothes
2) I am dressed well
3) I am dressed for a specific function or situation – maybe out at an event or a party or an interview (although the fact that these things are formal events doesn’t make them more formal than events where people may be more casual) – but they are all different interpretations of the same thing. In other words, what we call ‘dolled-up’ might be taken as something quite different by someone else.
In terms of clothing, this can mean anything from fancy evening attire to smart casual attire to even business attire depending on context (which of course varies across cultures). In some contexts (such as interviews), it would be more appropriate to refer to dress casually (as opposed to dressing well, which is not exactly the same thing).
2) What does dolled up mean? This can have several meanings too – for example:
3) You are receiving a compliment on your appearance; or perhaps you are feeling particularly nice about yourself and would prefer not to take offense if someone else said something negative about you. In other words: ‘what does dolled up mean for me? This can only be understood by those who know me really well and/or who know what kind of atmosphere I am trying to create around myself with my appearance. It also depends on context – like whether there is a specific occasion when someone wants me to look nice but desires me not look too fancy; or whether they just want their mother and father to see them looking nice so they don’t feel like they have failed them when they come home from work; and whether other family members want access to
How to pronounce dolled up
Something that is “Dolled up” is a term that refers to the clothing, accessories and other items that are associated with a particular person, place or event. It may be used in a derogatory sense.
The term has two meanings depending on when you use it:
• What does dolled up mean?
• What does dolled up mean?
In the first sense of the word, it is meant as an expression of appreciation and respect (like what you get when you buy something going to a fancy restaurant or paying for your loved one’s wedding). In the second sense of the word, it is a generic term for any expensive outfit or accessory that “looks nice” (i.e., looks beautiful).
The difference between these two meanings appears to be a matter of degree. For example, if someone asks me what I am wearing or what I have done with my hair, I am likely to say “Dressed up” rather than “Dolled up” (even though both are accurate descriptions). If someone asks if I am wearing anything that costs more than $30, I would probably answer “Dolled up” in the first sense but not in the second sense. So which meaning actually matters?
And yes… they are both correct!
Famous people who are dolled up (examples)
I don’t think I need to explain why this is important. But if it makes you feel good and/or you are looking for a good example of who is dolled up, I can point you to this post by Daniel Sieradski (one of our users) on the subject:
“Dolled UP: A Tour Through the Beauty Industry” – Daniel Sieradski
This is what people really mean when they say someone is “dolled up.” Most people assume a person is only this way because he or she has a lot of money. But that’s not what it means at all; it means the person has a lot of money, but still doesn’t have enough to look the way they want to look. It’s that whole “yuppie” thing — we all want to be young and beautiful, but we don’t want to pay for it. So instead we buy products that say things like “I’m young and beautiful” and “I’ve got money.” We spend tons on makeup, hair products, clothes and accessories, etc., but we’re not really trying for a real transformation in ourselves. We’re just trying to fit in with our peers who didn’t have as much as us growing up. That’s not even the half of it; we also have all these expensive beauty products that make us look tired or tired-looking or tired-looking-yuppie. And those are just some of the physical things that make up this whole industry!
The beauty industry is one place where there are no rules about dolled-upness — or even about how much money you need to spend on things like hair extensions and hair replacement caps — because there isn’t much competition. At every salon, every barber shop and beauty supply store, there are two types of people: those who already have lots of money and those who don’t yet have lots of money… which means they get their hair done faster than anyone else! So if you’re planning on doing your own hair in five years’ time (assuming you haven’t married someone rich), it might be worth spending on something more than just your hair extensions since they’ll probably last longer than any other product that doesn’t require constant maintenance! This post isn’t meant to be an ad for beauty products; our intent was simply to get some attention for an awesome idea from one customer who did his own thing instead of buying from someone