is this a Northern thing - Saturday nights out

[EmmaGrundyForPM]

We're staying in Leeds for the weekend, visiting DS who recently moved here. Fabulous city, loads going on.

We went out for a meal last night and I was amazed at what people were (or weren't!) wearing. The women were all amazingly made up and wearing incredibly skimpy outfits. I'm not criticising, but I was amazed that they weren't frozen (no jackets). They all looked incredibly glamorous.

The cities I'm used to are Cambridge, Nottingham, Bristol and London. My dc, now in their 20s, and their friends are in jeans, t-shirts, maybe a pretty top on a Saturday night. These women looked like they were going to a cocktail party but were only going to the pub.

The men also looked a lot smarter than I'm used to - they were in shirts rather than t shirts - but not as dressed up as the women.

I've got a friend who lives in Liverpool who is always talking about her daughters taking 4 hours to get ready for a Saturday night out, but I thought that was just confined to Liverpool. However, the women in Leeds look like they have spent hours getting ready. Lots of them also had a fake tan and their nails done beautifully.

So are northern lasses much more glamorous than us scruffy southerners? And if so, why?

Surely most teenagers are not going to want to dress like their parents on a night out? I didn't want to when I was young in the late 90s so young people tended to dress a bit scruffily deliberately, to separate themselves from a style which they didn't want to conform to. In the 90s your parents tended to dress smart for a night out, so young people wanted to do the opposite.

Then we've had 20 years of glam and those people have had children who are now starting to go out themselves.

So now you would think that we've come full circle and "anti glam" should be the latest thing amongst young people ie. wanting to dress completely the opposite to your parents' style. My 16 year old niece is certainly never going to dress in the Love Island style which does feel quite outdated now amongst teenagers. She definitely belongs to more of the "youth culture" which wants to be separate to their parents' generational style.

I think we are going to see a decline in glam over the next few years amongst teenagers and early 20s, in a kick back against parental style.

I'm from Leeds and have had many, many nights out there not dressed remotely like you're describing.

Surprised you describe the men as being in shirts. Usually a Hugo boss t shirt, jeans and a pair of Valentino’s or similar

Less a Northern thing than a 'townies' thing. Was ever thus. I have lived in Leeds and Manchester and never dressed like that.

This has always been the case, certainly was like this when I was a teen 20 odd years ago. I am a northerner who moved south as a child but spent my time commuting due to family being in both places. I have a lazy southern mentality who hates being cold. When I went to uni down south you could always tell who was northern and who was southern by who was prepared to take a coat to club, pay the fee to store it and queue to get it at the end of the night. I was no way gonna be cold but the northern girls were made of sturdy stuff and would never take a coat even in freezing conditions!

So now you would think that we've come full circle and "anti glam" should be the latest thing amongst young people ie. wanting to dress completely the opposite to your parents' style. My 16 year old niece is certainly never going to dress in the Love Island style which does feel quite outdated now amongst teenagers. She definitely belongs to more of the "youth culture" which wants to be separate to their parents' generational style.

Yes, my 17 year old and her friends consider this Love Island 'glam look quite dated.

I dunno I live in Bristol and I’ve definitely seen women dressed up like that in parts of town. It’s usually locals rather than students so I think an age demographic is at play rather than it just being a northern/southern thing.

Leeds on a Saturday afternoon is interesting, as the hen parties come off the train and totter up the street.

I knew before opening this post that it would mention lack of coats 😂 but yes, this is all v v normal! This hasn’t been my life for a while now (!), but my friends and I were always very dressy and never used to wear coats out. They just get in the way - what do you do with them when you want to dance?! Alcohol kept us warm 😂

I think that's correct. When we were students the glam crowd, with the body con dresses, tan and heels were known as townies or locals. Apparently that's still the case.

I can’t speak for OP, but in my comment upthread I definitely meant glamorous to describe the women I encountered on a visit to Liverpool and Manchester.

I actually don’t recognise the description of ‘cheap tarty clothes’ or whatever. The dresses looked expensive and well-made. Yes they were quite revealing and weren’t to my taste (scruffy Londoner here - note not ‘effortlessly cool’ or whatever bullshit is being thrown around to describe simply not dressing up), but they certainly weren’t cheap looking.

I'm originally from the NE and now live in the SE. The difference is huge. I think it barks back to women needing to impress the breadwinners/ men. Women who love the big cities up north with good careers aren't necessarily like that (I have friends in Newcastle who are a lot more casual) but a lot of the women on nights out are from the satellite villages and towns and still very 'traditional'.
Hopefully will change as things become more progressive and they won't feel the need to freeze their bits off or break an ankle!
I remember being out on NYE aged 18 stood in a taxi rank in the SNOW in stroppy sandals and no coat!

*harks not barks !

This book

Ah yes. I’m from a coastal town in the north. Very cold, very windy! I remember going out when the ground was frozen and it was snowing. What was a wearing? A one shoulder mini dress with sky high heals. If I remember correctly I fell over that night and broke my thumb! And even more mortifying… the false nail attached to the thumb!!

Many years (and children) later… Saturday nights are very different now mainly involving fleecy Pajamas and a dressing gown. I also have a job that doesn’t allow nail polish never mind false nails. The horror!!

But yes I remember visiting my friends in uni in London and while there where some very glamorous individuals in central London, it was on the whole a much more casual, and comfortable affair.

Matter of opinion. I grew up in the north and used to love getting glammed up for a night out, this was very much a thing in the town where I lived. 'Just being' doesn't necessarily have to equate to minimal effort.

This. The snobbery on threads like this is so tedious.

. Not everyone stays in and goes to bed at 9pm to get 'cosy' like some of MN would have you believe.
This is Mumsnet where half the people don't know their neighbours, won't answer the door during the day, and would go non-contact with a friend or relative if they suggested calling round for a cup of tea on their way home because everyone knows you need to have at least 2 days notice to have a cup of tea with someone you like in your house that is always 10 minutes away from being guest-ready.

@LolaSmiles

Youve totally just described me. Give me a night out though in a northern city over a boring, pretentious, expensive Southern one any day of the week though 🤣. The former is my kinda fun.

There are 10 million people in London. A lot of them are working class.

The lazy stereotypes work both ways. All Londoners = monied snobs who look down on northern peasants. So silly.

Yes, my 17 year old and her friends consider this Love Island 'glam look quite dated.

It's known as "Basic Bitch" or "Basic" for short. Young women where I live (SE City) definitely look down their noses at this look. I do agree it should be each to their own, live and let live.

@GonnaGetGoingReturns

Oh I loved a Cov night out in the mid 90s bet I know your friend 🤣.

Why would a ‘Southern’ night out necessarily be either boring or pretentious because it may not involve dressing a certain way, or might include coat-wearing?

I'm from Nottingham. Got invited to a Christmas party in a social club in Liverpool last year. So
I went in jeans and Christmas jumper. Everyone else was dressed up
To the nines. I was mortified!

So are northern lasses much more glamorous than us scruffy southerners? And if so, why?

You've never been to Essex on a Saturday night then?