To think the average Londoner is better looking?

I live in a semi rural area a very long way from London and it's very obvious when I see someone 'not from here'. That's not to say people here aren't attractive, or well groomed, but the grooming (and tweakments) on people not from here are a different level for sure.

I went to an event a minor celeb was speaking at locally, and she looked like she was from a different planet! Her skin and makeup were impeccable and she looked - I don't know - more expensive.

So yes, probably money, and having different standards to live up to!

I thought it decadent then- to carry bottles of Evian, out of my student budget. But now- a lot of people I work with and know - in the Midlands- carry reusable bottles of water. We don’t have a work water dispenser and frankly I think it’s a good idea. Wish I did it too 😂

I disagree.

As the capital it’s only logical that London has the most investment. London carries the rest of the country financially.

In return we get cheaper houses, cleaner air etc

We are no longer in the days of going down the pit, or working in service 7 days a week. Unless you’re putting in 12 hour shifts 6 times a week, work is not ‘knackering’ and if people are overweight it’s because they’re not buying the cheap healthy food available.

It will be the Saffa's. There are a whole bunch there and I reckon tipping the scale in the looks department. 😂

I am not ashamed to say it, but South Africans are generally good looking.

Public school? I could bet public school kids gravitate to London where the money is to be made. So public school means controlled eating at certain times -not picking up trash drinks and crisps on the way home from school everyday.

Visiting Disney in Florida I saw some head turning obesity amongst Americans.

Goodness, yes.

We get "Love Island" looking girls in any Northern town I have been in on a weekend evening - Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield, Barnsley, Leeds.

My local small South Yorkshire market town has loads of hairdressers and they all do foils and bright colours.

London style is much less "done up" when going out at night than in the north or in places like Essex - the heavy contouring, curled hair, strong eyebrows look is not popular for going "out out". You can tell the Essex girls visiting for a night out for example. London night life style is much less "smart" and much more relaxed

But I'd say casual London is in general a bit more polished /fashionable (because generally younger and richer as noted). People wandering around on a Saturday in sportswear tend to be in monochrome smart leggings, top, jacket and nice sunglasses and looking a lot more put together than in a tatty joggers, big fleece, etc.

Plus where I live, there are lots of African families who have Sunday Best church clothes and look super smart at the weekend! Those women would never been in joggers and the kids will never be in a Fortnite hoodie.

I’m from Wigan, not very diverse place so you often see the same sort of body shape walking around. I think a comedian mentioned it once. London, like people have said = more money and then there’s the diversity. That makes for a more attractive population.

A lot of it boils down to affluence and ambition. If you go to New York, you will see well groomed beautiful people. Visiting Disney in Florida I saw some head turning obesity amongst Americans.
I think you will get the ambitious well groomed in London and cities generally. I've also lived in Manchester and if you are in town on a Friday night it is like a Love Island convention. Lots of shapely girls with glossy tresses teetering around on impossibly high heels.
These threads can only ever be about generalisations but just to decry another part of the population, I stayed briefly in a Cumbrian town and the hairdresser didn't even do foil colours. Just an all over tint, roots or nothing. I didn't see many head turning balayages amongst the locals.

I’m guessing she’s not from the townships in Cape Town.

Nobody anywhere carried water 30 years ago. It wasn’t a thing.

Agree! But I'm also from a small town near Manchester.. eek.
Every time i go to london (only ever central) my head is constanlty swivelling! So much more diverse and I swear everyone is taller

I bet not so many Italian men have beer bellies and plumbers cleavages.

@ElleintheWoods yet on the Style and Beauty threads where out of towners want to visit London and ask for style advice they are told that they will stand out if they are smart as most Londoners dress very casually all the time.

The few times I've been to Italy/Venice I've been stunned by how beautiful, beautifully groomed/handsome the men are. Probably the women, too but I was too busy looking at the men. Ordinary men were walking around looking like film stars. I remember a policeman was just standing on the street corner doing not very much, but his uniform was immaculate and he was devastatingly groomed and handsome.... you get the picture.

@DollydaydreamTheThird

I hate London. Everyone is so rude. If you dare to talk to a stranger they look at you like you've just curled one out on the pavement in front of them.

Try substituting "London" for "Leeds/Bristol/Birmingham/Manchester/Glasgow..." and people would rightly jump on you for being a bigoted snob. Why is OK to slag off a city of millions of people? How can every single person in a city be "so rude"?

Such a palpably stupid comment....

It’s true and well-known. There’s lots of comedy about it (e.g. ‘He’s a Scarborough 10… or a London 6!)

Comes down to a few things IMO:

• Out of towners may get dressed up going into London, especially if it’s an event or important meeting. I certainly do
• Looking sharp is normal, it’s considered desirable in many work settings, many more professional jobs and jobs in industries where looks matter, pressure to look the part. In my northern town I hugely stand out with how I dress and look, in London I just blend in
• No driving everywhere so people get their step count in without trying too hard, thus much less obesity. Younger people also have small basic homes so often want to be out doing things whereas I find relaxing at home is the norm up here
• Attracts some of the most competitive and ambitious people in the world, so of course they’re competitive in the looks department and often obsessive about exercise
• Lots of single competitive people in their 20s, they all leave other places to go there
• If you’re in a wealthy area, access to the best fashion/ beauty/ … at your fingertips and lots of leisure time. It’s not quite the same in the poor areas of London. In Knightsbridge I have felt fat and ugly unless I’ve made an effort!
• Huge focus on consumerism in everything, which can of course manifest in tuning oneself

I notice such a big cultural difference between being in London and being in the north. I used to live in the wealthy conservative West London parts (Kensington) and my republican housewife look was absolutely fine there. Living in the north I look far too put together and colourful for here, people are generally very edgy and want to look like they don’t care at all how they look. It’s very uncool here to be open about caring how you look. Obviously you also have the more dressy culture of hair and lash extensions/ fake nails, but it’s a little different to how it’s done in London IMO.

Well said @CurrentHun

Little things too- no one carried a water bottle with them in the NW- at least not 30 years ago.

TBH I don't understand the obsession with carrying water around with you all the time. I don't, and I am well hydrated. I can get water from the water dispenser at work, and I am otherwise not usually out of the house all day every day - just a couple of hours to shop, and don't feel the need to keep drinking all the time.

Or put this question the other way around. Then it’s very easy to see how fucked the country is economically outside London after governments since the 1980s who have focused on London and the Home Counties.

When I go outside London, to the non-affluent small towns or to the non-retirement money and non-tourist money non-picturesque small towns, so many people who look knackered and ill and ground down. Only people who live there would ever go to these places. The poverty is causing obvious ill health and disability. Much of which a thriving local economy could have avoided.

These are the consequences of a very unbalanced economy towards London and the SE. The glaring lack of decent jobs outside of the expensive metropolitan areas. Plus the high cost of living applicable all over the country has really hit people who are least able to afford it.

Oh yes definitely. I left London and moved North-fatter and not so well dressed. And the attractive ones look very ‘done’. Saying that, I live near Manchester and the city centre always has attractive people.

I live in London and I am really ugly, so no, it's not true.

Oi I’m from Canning Town and I’m gorgeous! 😜

I lived in London for ten years at the start of my career. Everybody was young and slim
and vibrant. I remember seeing the lifestyle of people on Canary Wharf as they met for drinks after work.

I decided I would never afford my own home in London as a single person. About 12 people around my age all left our workplace at the same time to move back home too. There was always a high turnover of staff.

So all the ageing broke people don’t live in London any more. We are all in the sad rundown towns. (Not exactly as the town I live in now is lovely but with an older population. However the neighbouring town is shockingly awful with a lot of unemployment, homelessness, poor health and social problems.)

I would think the young and beautiful would be attracted to living in London with all its opportunities especially when they are young and building a career and social life. My profession attracted a lot of Australians and they were certainly healthy and energetic.

Yes we live in Devon and even though the area is fairly average and not the worst by a long stretch, the public are a bit depressing to look at tbh. So many of the kids wander around slightly overweight, pasty and wearing a Fortnite blanket hoodie even as outdoor wear.

Statistically more attractive children get attention from teachers - reflected in grades- and potentially earning power?
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167268123001567

I remember going home to NW town from a home county uni. It was shocking, and depressing when noted, how much more care and attention wealth let you give your looks and health. Little things too- no one carried a water bottle with them in the NW- at least not 30 years ago.

I think weight is a key part of it. On my school run most of the parents are on the slimmer side. When I go up to the E Midlands to see family I can’t help but notice that people are heavier overall, even quite young children and teenagers.