Do people dress up more in Liverpool?

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

Just watching the news and they are reporting on Liverpool re Covid. The footage shows people out in bars and pubs and they are incredibly dressed up, especially the women.

My DC are in their early 20s, so similar age to those being shown. When they and their friends go clubbing they all tend to wear jeans and the women might wear a slightly smarter top but often not.

The report showed women in amazing dresses and heels, plus hair, make up etc all immaculate. Is it a "thing" in Liverpool or is it just that my DC and their friends are ultra scruffy? I live in Cambridge and am fairly sure that younger people here don't on the whole dress up like that unless it's a particular "special" occasion like a 21st birthday. Not just for a regular Saturday night out.

It depends on the club and the place surely? Where I live all the mid-20s girls are wearing either floral tea dresses or 'mum jeans' and skimpy tops with DM style boots or trainers to go out.

Yes, that’s true to some extent. DD lived in Liverpool and there are music venues that would have a more relaxed dress code. I don’t think those are the kind of clubs we’re talking about here, though.

When was the last time you went to a club?

I think it was 1989 .

I’m going on what my DD told me about going out after work when she lived in Liverpool (until 2019).

Scouse ladies are Uber glam. When I meet up with old uni mates from around the country I’m the only one with lashes and nails done. I have teeth whitening, veneers and Botox too, and you know what ? I don’t give a shiny shit whatever anyone else thinks

I love going out in liverpool, I can go all out on bright clothes like leopard print and pvc and feathers and sparkly eye makeup, spend all day pampering and look like the 'me' that's in my head, not the me covered in play doh or in clumpy unisex work uniform 😁
I remember going out with my sisters friends in cambridge (she went to uni there) and I felt like such an overdressed twat . I did feel a bit sorry for them that they were missing out on an opportunity to be flamboyant though.

I’m from Liverpool and had a whole response typed out to this thread but I decided to delete it because I feel there’s no point in trying to address wannabe wags and patriarchy comments.
We get dressed up for a night out. So? It’s fun, we feel good and we have a good time.

I've just realised that I don't think I've ever been to Liverpool! Unless maybe as a child that I don't recall. I'm a little bit scared to venture up there now though lol. I remember my first time through Milan. My God but I fell fugly. They were all like models. Oh well. I've found that my fashion changes with where I am in my life. If I'm unwell (I suffer from depression at times), then I can be seen in grubby, unwashed, unironed clothes, rattling around the place like something out of One flew over the cuckoo's nest. When I'm well, it's full make-up, carefully selected and ironed clothes and the absolute must - high heels.

@CandleWick4

I’m from Liverpool and had a whole response typed out to this thread but I decided to delete it because I feel there’s no point in trying to address wannabe wags and patriarchy comments. We get dressed up for a night out. So? It’s fun, we feel good and we have a good time.

This.

Though I will say that DSD spent an absolute fortune on a going out wardrobe for uni and wasn’t having it at all when I told her that she wouldn’t need it. She went out once and understood what I meant.

Scouse women dress up, not because they are beholden to the Patriarchy but because they enjoy it and have a love of style and glamour. It's from a pride in themselves and the city. Don't knock the Scousers, have had many lovely times there with generous, warm people. (Glasgow lassie down South).

@Macaroni46

I'm glad they have the time and money to do this. Personally I don't get it but each to their own. What I did notice when I was in Liverpool was that it was the women who were dressed up with the men in football tops. Which I thought smacked of misogyny.

That’s not my experience of the men in Liverpool. Sounds like a bit of an outdated stereotype. You’ll be saying they all wear tracksuits next.

When I'm looking at men, I admire well groomed men. Doesn't mean I'm a matriarch. That a woman makes the most of what she's got, doesn't mean that she's under the thumb of men either. A dowdy depressed woman is far more likely to be taken advantage of by this 'patriarchy' than a well groomed lady.

As pps have said, its a Liverpool and Newcastle thing - not a northern thing generally. If you're in Leeds or Sheffield or Manchester for a night out; jeans, a top and Converse are standard. Yes there are areas and certain bars where people dress up more, but I've lived in these three cities for most of my life and have never felt out of place for not wearing heels, fake tan, and a dress.
Dress-code wise, a night out in Manchester is much like a night out in London, IME. Much more of a "straight out after work" culture rather than a "prepping all day for out out" culture.

Definitely agree with Liverpool and Newcastle ladies being really dressed up. 🙂

I can't comment on Liverpool but in Stoke the men spent as much (if not more) on their clothes than we did.

There was very much a certain way that a man would dress which also involved certain brands.

I was regularly dragged to Manchester to go shopping with my boyfriend at the time because that was the closest place that sold the brands they wore.

@FamilyOfAliens But your DD is IN Liverpool where those dress codes apply in some clubs, because they can, because people there dress like that.

OP, myself and many others on this thread are in different places where our clubs don't have that expectation of glam because the general population don't comply with it.

The fanciest club here used to ban trainers on a weekend but have since relaxed as so many punters turned up in them, they'd have been empty if they hadn't adapted. Clubs in Liverpool wouldn't have that problem, trainers being a night-out faux pas.

Men aren't backwards about coming forwards when it comes to using their assets. Why should women dress in crocs and unbecoming unflattering dowdy clothes? I'm a firm believer in using what you've got. If men can do it, so can women. You've far more power if you know you look good than if you look like shit and feel like shit. I'm all for the glam. Says the one who looks like she's been dragged through a bush backways right now.

Liverpool is Liverpool, but it's definitely a bit of a North-South thing. I haven't had a chance to wear my going out clothes since moving down from the Midlands. It's even noticeable at weddings. For the same theoretical dress code (e.g. ordinary hotel wedding) hardly anyone wears heels or floor length if it's southern. The heels get noticeably higher you go north. My favourite one was going to an Eastern European wedding. The Londoners looked like underdressed scruffs, and the northerners fit right in.

I go to clubs in London all the time (well I did pre Covid) jeans, trainers and a T-shirt is all I wore! Never got dressed up - that’s how everyone is dressed - casual!

Your on your feet for maybe 6 hours - so heels would be stupid!

@CandleWick4 same. It's edging towards being insulting, isn't it?
I'm a scouse goth. I didn't do all the heels and so on but even the alt crowd did scrub up for a night out! Also scouse fellas sometimes look like a potato but they do like to groom, I'll tell you that! Designer shirts, jeans, shoes. Effort is made. Scrotes in footy tops don't get a look in.

Defo not a northern thing!! It's a Liverpool/Newcastle thing. Only In Liverpool have I seen woman in tracksuits at the shops during the day with a head full of foils and curlers, and massive fake eye lashes 😂 it must take a full day to get the look they want 🙈

I've been to Irish weddings and it's like Ladies Day at the races. Definitely head dress of some sort and absolutely high heels. Thankfully I was prepared knowing the usual dress code and also being a bit of a preening peacock myself at the time.

Yes it's a Liverpool thing. Complete opposite of London which is very dress down particularly at the weekends. I personally feel very uncomfortable being super dressed up but it just what you're used to.

I used to work in London and always wore what I thought was smart office wear, tailored dress, heels, makeup etc.
I then was seconded to the Liverpool office for a month. I felt so underdressed. The women wore what I would call ‘going out’ makeup and their hair was immaculate. Getting ready for work would take them hours.

it must take a full day to get the look they want 🙈

and what do you spend the day doing? criticising people you look down on?

I think the Scouse brow, thick tan and falsies thing is a silly stereotype just like the Jimmywig used to be.

Anyone who spends any time in the NW realises it’s not quite like that. The remarkable thing to me is that you can be running a farm in Croft and still insist on having your lipstick on.

Believe me, if any of you ever have the misfortune of suffering from depression where even the simple task of brushing your teeth is a task too many, you will realise where I come from when I say that I admire people well groomed. It's healthy to take pride in your appearance.