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’s a north/south thing, but Liverpool lasses take it to the next level. I’m a scruff by northern standards, but always end up overdressed going out in London.

DH is from Liverpool and so that’s where all the in-laws are. DH has been down south since he went to university 30 years, I am a southerner and we have lived in London/Surrey for past 25 years. It’s deffo a thing that ladies are very well turned out and polished in Liverpool. My SIL is always dressed exceptionally well with not a hair out of place. I don’t think I have ever seen her dressed down in joggers or even trainers in the 20+ years I have known her. DD and I regularly see girls with rollers in while shopping in Liverpool One.

I'd love to know why it appears so specific to Liverpool.

I’m from (and live in) Liverpool but I’ve lived in north Wales and Manchester too. Definitely a bigger deal here. When I moved back from living in Manchester my self confidence dropped again everytime I went to Liverpool city centre during the day because everyone always looks immaculate!!!

Me and OH are now in an argument about whether or not Essex is more ‘glamorous’ than Liverpool. He thinks Essex is and says there’s no way to prove it either way which is a load of bollocks IMO!

More common in Liverpool and Newcastle, Essex. Some places are known for it. I wouldn't say it is a particularly northern thing as not as common in places like Manchester or Leeds.

I like it, always makes me want to up my game.

Definitely a thing, and coats are not required in winter, very hardy! I looked very out of place the first time I visited my friends after they moved, I know now to bring a dress and heels

I’m a Mancunian and Saturday night dressing up used to be big here. I think it is much more London-y now, more casual.

But it’s still hard wired into my friends and me that whatever you are doing on a Saturday....you just get dressed up!

Liverpool is spectacular in its dressing up stakes...long may it continue

@LadyEloise I’ve wondered the same thing. I’m typing this still in my PJs with hair I washed on Thursday. I’d love to have some of that magical ingredient.

Genuinely LOLing at the idea of it being because Liverpool is a patriarchy.

@ladygracie

We are in Cambridge too & my daughter and her friends get dressed up. But wear trainers or converse with their gorgeous dresses so it’s a mixture! And they don’t do it every time they go out.

Yes, exactly. If you look at the queue outside Lola Lo's on a Friday night nearly everyone is wearing converse/trainers. Ds will wear a shirt with jeans and trainers to a club but if he's going to the pub he will wear a t shirt rather than a shirt.

DS's ex girlfriend never wore make up even when they went clubbing but she always looked stunning - she was beautiful with amazing hair which helped. His current girlfriend occasionally wears make up when they are going out but it tends to only be mascara and lippy.

Having lived here for all of my adult life, it’s definitely a thing, although less so amongst students and people (like me) who aren’t natives. A few reasons - it’s always been famous for its clubs and nightlife, if you have a job you’ll have lots more disposable income, as house prices and rents are lower and hair/beauty treatments are vastly cheaper than in the south. For the PP who spoke about Pupil Premium kids, you would not be able to tell this from what a lot of teenage girls wear. The girls where I teach who are PP are often extremely glam in terms of hair and nails. The cost of taxis, drinks and club entry are also a lot cheaper. It’s pretty normal for women of all ages to have their nails, hair and, in days of yore, tans done on a regular basis. Yes to the devoting of all day Saturday to getting ready and it is normal to see women in rollers all day and pyjamas on Sat ( although these are often a pair of ‘going to the supermarket’ pyjamas, not the ones that were slept in). However, if you aren’t into high-maintenance beauty then there’s no problem going out dressed down- no one makes you feel bad. It’s a very welcoming and friendly city and I love seeing how fabulous people look when they’re ‘out out’ here but you will also see this on the school run, at a 6.45 gym class, in a supermarket and at work.

@ifailed absolutely not. If you have ever been to liverpool you will know that the women are all powerful. There's a very matriarchal culture here.

It's very indevidulalist and all about self expression. As a PP said it doesn't matter what style you dress in, but it's always immaculate. Scousers are less self conscious than the rest of the country and will dress to express themselves.

Me and OH are now in an argument about whether or not Essex is more ‘glamorous’ than Liverpool. He thinks Essex is and says there’s no way to prove it either way which is a load of bollocks IMO!

I'm from Essex and dressing up wasnt a big thing when I lived there 30 years ago. However we lived in North Essex, on the Suffolk border, which might have made a difference.

I'm from Lancashire and nights out even midweek were a very dressed up affair. When I started going for weekends away with a boyfriend in different parts of the country, I often felt way overdressed.

I like it, always makes me want to up my game.

Same. Embarrassing admission but I was really rattled by the appearance of a colleague who was seconded to our London office and wore a dress and heels every day. Her immaculate appearance was an outward expression of her total competence and it was actually quite intimidating.

When Covid is over I want to go to Liverpool - although I won't dare go out on a Saturday night, I'll be far too scruffy 🤣

Laughing at the patriarchy comment. It was a group of scouse mums who chased Tommy Robinson’s sidekick up a tree when he tried to spew his nonsense

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.

Absolutely. Weird how the not so thinly disguised snobs on here are likely to be so admiring of neatly dressed French and Italian women but take a completely different view of people they think they’re entitled to look down on.

And as one famous Scouser might say, “Patriarchy My Arse”

It sounds suffocating to me, the pressure must be immense, surely the women in Liverpool are not so different to the rest of women in the UK, that they'll be lauding spending hours and hours on grooming as a mark of achievement.

*Coming from someone with ASD who doesn't fully understand the massive importance on appearance.

I don’t think spending hours and hours on MN is helping either .

[quote Fifthtimelucky]@inchyra : thanks. I certainly wasn't suggesting that Liverpool was all deprived, but surely there is still some deprivation there as there is in most areas.

According to some figures I've just found, 35% of primary and 43% of secondary pupils in Liverpool are eligible for Pupil Premium so I presume their parents don't have vast amounts of disposable income. [/quote]
Scousers have a kind of confidence that I haven't come across in many other parts of the UK, keeping up appearances is an important aspect of that. So even if you're on the bones of your arse you try not to show it.
It's why, going back a few decades, the front parlour was often kept for best and rarely used, even if that meant squeezing into another room for normal use.

DS's ex girlfriend never wore make up even when they went clubbing but she always looked stunning - she was beautiful with amazing hair which helped. His current girlfriend occasionally wears make up when they are going out but it tends to only be mascara and lippy.

Ah, the natural beauties comment. I was waiting for that to come. How did you keep a lid on it for so long OP?

There are lots of wannabe WAGs in Liverpool! Lived there for many years - football rules!

Am from Belfast originally and it's definitely a thing here, though not to Liverpool standards.

I don't see the problem. Bloody good on them. Looking extra well for an event is a great boost to the confidence.

I think people sneer because it's a working class thing, isn't it, originally. Like keeping an immaculate front step. It's all very well to swan around in your old Barbour when you've enough family money to sink a battleship, but most of my family years back worked jobs where you got dirty and grubby as fuck, or you were cleaning up after a crowd of kids. So damn right you were going to go all out for your weekly visit to the dance hall or whatever. You need something to look forward to and something to dress up for.

It's piss all about patriarchy, it's about dignity and taking pride in what you do have. My great grandmother had nothing, no education, worked in a rope factory, but her house and children were immaculate, well run, and well mannered, and her lipstick went on practically before her eyes were opened in the morning. If she was a young woman now she'd have her nails done every few weeks for sure. If you don't have standards for yourself then what do you have? Obviously those standards will differ according to background and circumstances. But you can only control your immediate environment.

Crack on, Scouse girls, bloody good for you.

MrsFezziwig i hope your comment wasn't including me. I was comparing them to the French and Italians as the snobs tend to admire those but look down on Liverpudlians for doing the same thing. I can see it from afar having no skin in the game either way.

Oh I want a night out in Liverpool now! Sounds amazing. I used to get really dressed up when you get and it’s a shame everyone is so casual these days.