se faire + adj.

[alan gould]

the dictionary says this is used to mean "to get, to become".  It gives the examples: 

se faire beau - to do o.s. up

se faire vieux - to be getting old

in the first case, you are actually acting on yourself, making an effort.  "se faire" makes sense in this case.  but you are not passively "getting" or "becoming" nicer looking.  you are grooming yourself.  therefore, i would think "devenir" would be used to say "she's getting nice-looking" or that there would be a reflexive verb.  

in the second case, i'm assuming that "se faire vieux" does mean "to become old."  however, you can say that a person makes himself/herself old -- "because you don't sleep enough, don't exercise and work too much, you're aging prematurely" or you can say "your clothes makes you (look) older."  

so, are these set expressions and are there others?  are they commonly used?  

merci d'avance 

[Vedas]

Hello,

you know that the verb faire is a catch-all word so yes these expressions are commonly used.

se faire : pronominal form + adjective or noun

you're right se faire vieux means to become old, if someone is no more able to do something you would use the phrase:

 Je n'arrive plus à tenir le rythme de la course, je me fais vieux.

In your example about clothes you would say Il fait vieux dans ses vêtements or ses vêtements le vieillissent which is no longer a pronominal form.

you can find expressions like:

 se faire discrète,se faire conciliante, se faire petit, se faire menaçant, se faire l'avocat du diable, se faire moine,se faire mal, se faire injure, se faire l'écho , se faire violence....

[Davenne Marc]

'se faire' simply means 'devenir' in French  : a verb that you can translate in different ways in English depending on the sentence.

se faire beau : do several actions that will make you become pretty

se faire vieux : indeed, to become old literally translating by to get old

Yes it is commonly used

ah!  je me fais vieux.