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?

I live near Leeds, I also think a lot of the Saturday night visitors are from other areas and come in for hens and stags and are dressed to impress. I see them in droves on a Sunday lunchtime with their overnight bags going to the station. That said they’re often from Manchester, Newcastle or Liverpool so other northerners.

I agree that Liverpool is a different level, and the curlers in the hair. literally years ago I went for a weekend and was astounded at retail staff working the afternoon shift in Liverpool One with rollers in their hair. Now I wouldn’t turn a hair.

That's not what I said at all. I was just amazed at how glamorous they all were and how much effort they'd put into it.

Greek Street has lots gong on 😀

The square was probably City Square

Years ago I was sent to Nottingham for a work thing that involved a low key night out , all men apart from me (London) and another woman (Newcastle) It was Jan/Feb and bloody freezing.
I arrived to the meet up wearing Jeans, jumper, boots, coat, hat, scarf - the lot. The other woman was wearing a black sleeveless dress (thin straps!) high heels & no tights!

The north/south divide was commented on.

It's exhausting and pressureful. Much better in the south where women can just "be"

Some do, some don't. I'm in the North and never worn what you describe nor have my friends, but I definitely see it around.

I'm Northern, I've found we dress up way more when we're going out in a bigger city (Manchester centre, Leeds etc). We don't dress up if we're going to our own locals typically.

Not all northerners, my 19yo DDs don’t do this. Some people in some cities do.

@nancy75 that would be me! Last night I was in jeans, boots, nice blouse (with vest underneath) and puffer jacket. I felt a complete slob.

It’s also a generation thing. The young in the north do glam up. But the more mature people and couples, 40 plus, tend to dress casual. But everyone rubs along nicely, with no judgemen5 either way. And you do find the northern ‘cities’ such as Manchester and Leeds attract the glamorous/dressing up type. Other smaller towns not so much….

I think it's stereotypically a Northern thing but can apply everywhere.

I was born in the North but have lived in the SW since I was 2. In my clubbing days in the late 90s/early 2000s all the young women in my friendship group went out without coats in the winter because it covered up our outfits. And pretty much everyone started out the night in pubs with no cloakrooms so you were carting around a coat or worried about leaving it while you danced.

I vividly remember a night when there was snow and ice on the ground and I wore open toed plastic 4 inch heels. Spent most of the night outside on my arse. But they were my new night out shoes and I wasn't not going to wear them.

I did regret it.

This. I wouldn't call that look glamorous.

I'm not the one saying women look like tarts.

And yes, I did grow up in a working class Northern town, yes I did dress up and didn't wear a coat and no. Nor did I feel dressing up doomed me to a life of strict gender confinement - it's just clothes.

And when I moved to London, I didn't find a feminist route out of the patriarchy with a pair of jeans on a night out 🤷

@Desecratedcoconut 🤣🤣🤣

It sounds like you were near Greek Street and city square which are the pretty mainstream drinking/bar areas and probably where a lot of people on a big night out/trip to Leeds would go. Not disputing that a lot of women do dress this way, but in a different part of the city or in some of the suburbs like Chapel Allerton or Headingley you would probably find more low-key style/vibes.

I'm from down south and went to uni in Newcastle and then lived/worked there for a few years after, you could always tell the southerners on a night out as they would always have coats! When I was a teenager/early 20s which was around 2002, I always made a big effort on a night out, no matter where I was or where I was going!

Yes, just like the Daily Mail are in awe of the 'glamour' in their coverage of Ladies Day at Aintree 🙄

In my experience this is more of a thing in Nottingham than any other cities I’ve lived in/visited (including Manchester and Leeds)

@OnAFrolicOfMyOwn your comment made me laugh as an ex Londoner who moved North when in my twenties many years ago I much prefer it here.

Agree with others - the part of Leeds around City Sq and Greek St is v dressed up but also lots of people visiting Leeds for nights out go there/hen and stag etc - you see them arriving at the station through the day. Other parts of the city are much more low key - as are the busy suburbs like Headingley.
I think Liverpool is another level - Manchester can be very dressy too - but again I’m sure some areas more than others. I’d say Nottingham isn’t much different to Leeds (I’m from Nottm but have lived in Leeds since uni)

There's often/usually a certain sneering at Northern girls who glam up for a night out... all that 'ooh no coats or tights' 'I'm a jeans and jumper sort or girl and so are my daughters'.

All sounds so superior.

Let's not pretend this is anything other than Northern oik bashing 🤣
You were very much in the going out on Saturday night part of Leeds, it's the most obvious area to go for a dressed up night out. If you'd ventured up to areas around Merrion street/upper Briggate for example you'd have found the laid back cooler bars. You could even pretend you were in London in some of them 😁

Yep definitely a thing. We are from the SE and DD moved up north to study. She was shocked at how glammed up the girls are not just on a night out but also walking around a city centre on a absolutely freezing cold Saturday afternoon with not much on!

North Bar @FoxBaseBeta ? 😄

They can’t just “be” though, they have to “be” in an equally pressurised way that’s different. I find “effortlessly cool” infinitely more difficult and stressful than getting tarted up.