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

“It follows the old adage that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear,” Adams said.

From Washington Post

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

As the saying goes, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

From US News

Photograph: Rui Vieira/PA According to the old adage, you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. sought to prove that you could in his fourth .

From The Guardian

But you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, as the saying is, and you can't turn a negro or maroon into a true fighting man that will never say die.

From Project Gutenberg