巧妇难为无米之炊 – “even the cleverest house wife cannot cook without rice”.
“You can’t expect pears out of an elm tree” or “No le pidas peras al olmo”
Isn’t that more like “you can’t ask an elm tree for pears?”
And even more literally “don’t ask for pears to the elm?”
Probably the closest in Irish is “is deacair olann a bhaint de ghabhar” (it’s hard to get wool from a goat)
“You can’t put lipstick on a pig” was popular for about a year in the US, circa 2007
If I understand the original idiom, the nearest French expression would be “you can’t make a race horse from a donkey” (“tu ne peux pas faire un cheval de course d’un âne”).
“Even if you give an ape a ring, it’ll remain an ugly thing.” -Netherlands.
A golden ring specifically
You can’t paint the Mona Lisa with crayons.
Kind of related to yours, “You’re putting lipstick on a pig”
