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?

Agree with this. The cool locals aren't drinking in Greek Street & City Square! 😂

Fellow Midlander. Jeans and a nice top? 😂

Didn’t read the whole thing, but I’m in the central belt of Scotland. Didn’t go “out out” for about 5 years, then went out last week and oh my god I looked like an old lady. The “younguns” were all dressed in trainers, jeans etc, and there I was like mutton dressed as lamb (although I think it was maybe mutton dressed as mutton, tbh!) wearing a dress and heels!

And I’m only in my mid 30s, which is depressing.

You should go to Newcastle 😂 it can be literally freezing in the middle of winter and yet women wear bits of string and the men are in short sleeves.
coats are for soft southerners.

Long, long time ago since I was occasionally out in clubs in northern cities, but at the time, no coat was partly because you weren't particularly cold (yes, drink helps), and partly because using cloakrooms was a major faff at the start and end of the time you spent in a club, and you might want to move on or start your night without having to queue (queue again - as you queue outside to enter for a good while).
Even anything larger than a very small wearable purse with you was a bit of a pain to have, as there's nowhere to leave it safely, really.

I grew up in Nottingham and it was the same there. Perhaps less make up than further north.

Even living down south now, I don't wear a coat. Us northerners don't need them.

As for not wearing one, what's the point of getting ready for 2 hours and wearing a killer dress and heels, only to cover it up with a coat? No one would see how fabulous I looked, plus the cloakrooms are a faff, and I would lose it because I would be smashed by 10pm. You don't spend that long getting ready to cover it up.

This thread reminds me of how I go about my daily business down south, and then on a night out/ wedding/ annual ball (e.g. school), I will revert back to northern mode and basically go at it like it's my wedding day. Everyone is always really shocked at how I can scrub up.

It is very typical for a young northern girl to go out without a jacket or coat. I remember going out during a blizzard once (blizzard started during the night out) and I didn’t have a jacket with me. I wouldn’t dream of doing that now though.

I’m 53, I moved down south from Liverpool 30 years ago and I still can’t help dressing up at the weekend when I go out 😮😁

I don’t get why Southerners haven’t noticed it’s a right arse taking your coat on a night out and that bars and clubs are usually quite warm places.

i fucking love a coat

Stereotyping isn't a bad thing necessarily. And I don't think anything I said/agreed with is insulting. There's nothing insulting about the term "working class".

Oooo I’m out in Liverpool on Saturday. The pressure is on. 😂

I grew up and went to uni in Liverpool and equally darted between the glam and the alternative and even managed to pull off an outfit where the two collide.

I’ve since lived in London, New York and many other places globally and heard the same discussion about “bridge and tunnel” etc when in Manhattan.

this narrative has been alive and well for 25 years of my adult life and it was boring in the 90s as it is now.

You do you and let other women be.

My ex used to go out every Friday night or possibly Saturday to Maidstone when he was home from Uni. I'd be expected to wear a brand new outfit, high heels and quite a bit of makeup. Clothing was usually club skimpy. I was shocked how everyone just went out and descended on the town wearing their finest. All the pubs had bouncers and entry rules. Not a Northern thing but not something I'd been brought up with either.

Give me London casual anyday

I'm Northern. I generally don't get that dressed up for a night out but I almost never wear a coat.

It's has to be really, really wet and cold for me to wear one.

Yes, it's Northern and always has been like this. Cultural difference.

I have only experienced this on clothes reselling sites because the photos are from the outfit so the woman look made up for the red carpet as a night out but also noticing a lot of plastic surgery too The beauty standard now would be very intimating so there’s a part of me that loves all the dress up but I am kind of relieved that I am not under pressure to look so hyper beguiling to the extreme.
It’s the same for me going to Westbourne grove lots of young with a lot of extreme surgery and dressed to be seen but the clothing is more casual. It’s the plastic surgery so widespread on very young people that frightens me . The social media aspect has created a lot of body dysmorphia and facial reconstruction in very young adults.

Because you will spend significant amounts of time outside ;walking to and from the tube/bus, sitting outside a pub or restaurant, going from one to the next.

It is cultural, parents of teens all over the South East have a litany of " where's your coat ?", " you need another layer", " it's going to be cold tonight".

“Because you will spend significant amounts of time outside ;walking to and from the tube/bus, sitting outside a pub or restaurant, going from one to the next.

It is cultural, parents of teens all over the South East have a litany of " where's your coat ?", " you need another layer", " it's going to be cold tonight".”

Oh yes clever Southerners again! Northern parents do this too but young people on nights out aren’t bothered, taking a coat is a hassle and despite what everyone’s grandma told them nobody ever caught their death because they stood at a bus stop without a jacket on a night out. We’re also all in taxis because there isn’t any public transport….

Every time there’s a thread on mumsnet about “Northerners” people behave like we’re some sort of unusual and exotic but ultimately backward tribe with their faux questioning “Oh goodness, why do they do that? Aren’t they strange and so interesting? Of course I could never do that with my refinement and intelligence so it’s hard for me to understand” Yawn.

London is definitely a casual city but it’s so vast and spread out

I always feel self conscious on the tube/train dressed up for a night out and I certainly never do thr red carpet look by any stretch

Northerner who went to uni down south then moved back up. I remember taking my Southern male friend out for a night out in my home town and his jaw dropping at all the gorgeous women.
Yes the girls dress up here although these days it’s little dresses and trainers so thankful that the heels have at least gone.
Liverpool is the most extreme. Manchester has gone more the hipster/London way. You will always have a more fun night out in Liverpool though. They are too busy having fun to worry about being cool.
I do love dressing up so love it to an extent. What’s the point of having pretty dresses etc in your wardrobe if you never get to wear them. Wear the dress. Life is too short not too.

Every time there’s a thread on mumsnet about “Northerners” people behave like we’re some sort of unusual and exotic but ultimately backward tribe with their faux questioning “Oh goodness, why do they do that? Aren’t they strange and so interesting? Of course I could never do that with my refinement and intelligence so it’s hard for me to understand” Yawn

I know. There's always a lot of people with a lot to say about things that don't exist or are not the norm outside their tiny imaginations.

Greek Street bars on a Saturday night are no more a representation of most Leeds people than Harrods is of Londoners' shopping habits.

I agree entirely with the comments made that the cool locals are not in Greek Street. Leeds is very expensive. When I go for a night out I get dressed up if I’m with other women and going into the centre. Out with dh to see a band in the student area, no, casual comfortable more student type individual look is what I’ll be wearing.

Every time there’s a thread on mumsnet about “Northerners” people behave like we’re some sort of unusual and exotic but ultimately backward tribe with their faux questioning “Oh goodness, why do they do that? Aren’t they strange and so interesting? Of course I could never do that with my refinement and intelligence so it’s hard for me to understand” Yawn.

But people generally aren't doing that on here @taybert people are mainly commenting on something they have observed and many people seem to be agreeing there is a difference. OP actually was actually very complimentary about the people she saw in Leeds.

I have seen men and women out at night in light clothing when it was snowing in Newcastle. Something I haven't observed in the South or South West.

You have highlighted this difference yourself wondering why Southerners do take coats. Because they don't want to get cold I guess? You might not "catch your death" but it can be unpleasant for some but obviously not for all.