can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

Idioms  

1. Be unable to turn something ugly or inferior into something attractive or of value, as in No matter how expensive his clothes, he still looks sloppy—you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. This expression was already a proverb in the mid-1500s.

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Example Sentences

Koeman will say you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear and that he is doing the very best he possibly can with what is available to him.

From BBC • Sep. 22, 2021

My mother told me you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

From Reuters • May 21, 2011

Even an actor who has portrayed Moses can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

From Time Magazine Archive

"The plan makes a wonderful scapegoat if the school can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear," says Principal Miriam Burton.

From Time Magazine Archive

But you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, as he told his mother very early, with regard to himself; much to her mortification and chagrin.

From The Rainbow by Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)