You seem to understand the concept of active vs. passive voice. And the example you offered regarding Jane is correct. So this brings us to your sentence about Brizet and his lab coat. The basic sentence is: Brizet looked presentable. The rest is all embellishment. I suspect your critic is confusing transitive vs. intransitive verbs with active vs. passive voice. There is a list of verbs, look being among them, that are intransitive and which are still in the active voice. So now you need to decide how much you want to argue with the critic. Good luck!