USA middle & upper mc.. How do they compare to UK & Irish MC & UC

[Merryandbright1]

Big difference for me (have family on the East Coast) is the mc style in the East Coast is very preppy (Ralph Lauren, Kate Spade.. Plus Tommy Hilfigger for the teens), understated. And the children do very expensive activities.

US toffs much richer. Much.

My mc Dd hates sports. Wears grunge stuff. Is there such a thing as mc dress code?

She wouldn’t be seen dead in Ralph Lauren. Despises preppy look. Short messy hair. She looks cool as f .

@Supersimkin2 they so are. I'm picturing the family from the wedding crashers 😂

Are you in the USA?

No, in U.K.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow I meant the American middle class & umc kids & teens are much preppier than ours. You have proved my point. Mine (N. Ire) aren't preppy either.

I think US is much more conventional and doesn’t have as much street style as this side of the Atlantic.

I think NI/Ire/GB mc and umc are very different to each other! Irel/NI has more in common with USA in some ways. Have lived in all 4.

@Lightninginabox really do you think so? I guess in a way in Ireland & USA, outward wealth is very important.

There is pretty much a preppy dress code in the states. I do think that the middle and upper class there have more wealth though. Joining the right country club that your child swims at was seen as important.

It’s all lululemon leggings and other overpriced athletic gear in our umc area.

yes, the kids have lots of expensive activities. Mine hates sports, but she has art classes and science clubs.

With the U. S mc (very wealthy) families I know, it's all the "right" school, "right" neighbourhood, car, children's activities, sports, friends etc..
They are very polished families for want of a better word!
The uc /mc shabby, eclectic feral, unkempt look that passes here doesn't cut it on the East Coast & would probably be classed as "white trash"

They would be ignorant to identify quirky people as “white trash”. However, it is an American term and Americans have more of it than other places. Culture is entirely absent in the US.

Culture is entirely absent in the US

Excuse me?

My American mother said that one of the hardest things to adjust to was understanding that money and class were completely uncorrelated in the UK. They correlate very closely in the USA (she says, although she did leave 50 years ago…).

Europe rules where antiquities are concerned. The US appears to think wooden forts are historic. It’s most amusing.

You're all really talking about US upper middle class, which is more equivalent to the UK middle class

Of course not all middle class people are preppy, that's ridiculous

In fact the place is a cultural desert.

Preppy is so fake and try hard. Ugh.

Agreed.

US MC always seems so contrived and fake. It's more akin to the nouveau riche type here. All money and flash cars.

Like everywhere else it varies. My kids went to very middle class schools. one - a progressive private school - was anything goes. you could see people in kilts or three piece suits or goth or usual leggings and sweatshirts. one a traditional catholic boys school had a dress code that required a collared shirt and no demins so was all pastel vineyard vines for the boys who cared and khakis and polo shirts for everyone else. The third was as actual prep school. No one wore Ralph Lauren. legging and sweatshirts for the girls. Lululemon for the ones whose parents would pay for it (I wouldn't and lots of parents wouldn't).

Class in the US is wholly dependent on how much money one earns/accumulates.

Whereas, as an American I've read many, many threads on MN about class in the UK, and I still don't get it. Apparently it depends on what your ancestors did for a living. Strange to an American. Anyhoo, here in the US it's all about the $$.

I just love the way cam22 is jumping up and down saying "notice me!!"

You really don't understand the New England wealthy and how they behave if you think it is all flash cars and money. you've just watched a lot of tv.

Wow, to describe the USA as a cultural desert betrays a truly extraordinary level of ignorance. Have you actually spent meaningful time there?!