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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To want to Dress like Londoners

87 replies

TheSuze · 12/07/2016 15:50

I have found myself getting more and more frumpy since i moved out 18 years ago. Whenever I visit the capital everyone including people of my age (mid 40s) looks sleek, expensive and classy in style.

Aibu to want to dress like Londoners, Parisians and New Yorkers.

OP posts:
wobblywonderwoman · 12/07/2016 15:52

I dress like a frump too.

Need some tips

AnchorDownDeepBreath · 12/07/2016 15:53

I spend half my week in London and half in the Midlands. I honestly don't think they dress differently in either place. There's more suited people in London around commuter times because most people are there to work, but I certainly wouldn't say that it's generally classier. Expensive is a moot point, things in London cost more but costing more doesn't mean it's better.

Is it just a way of wistfully looking back at something you miss?

Do change your style, if you want too, but I don't think it's possible to dress "like a Londoner" - that could be any style, at all.

winkywinkola · 12/07/2016 15:54

Gosh. Whenever I go into London, I am struck by how relaxed and sometimes scruffy many are.

When I go home to the north of England, I then notice how very groomed everyone is up there.

MissHooliesCardigan · 12/07/2016 15:54

You've obviously never been to Peckham Smile

BillSykesDog · 12/07/2016 15:55

Cover yourself in glue and go to a Save the Children shop. Roll around in the stock room. Let your children cut your hair with shears.

Congratulations. You are now a hipster.

AdoraBell · 12/07/2016 15:57

There are threads in Style & Beauty with good tips about looking "expensive"

I also prefer the way I look when I go back to the way I dressed when I lived in London.

pippistrelle · 12/07/2016 15:57

I m disappointed to find that this is not a thread about the Pearly Kings and Queens.

But I think you're just noticing the elegant people and screening out the scruffers. That's fine. Just emulate the sleek people, if that's what rings your bell.

DameDiazepamTheDramaQueen · 12/07/2016 15:57

Do you mean city workers? Generally Londoners wear whatever they like ,I miss the most mash of people's styles now I've moved away.

ItMustBeBedtimeSurely · 12/07/2016 15:58

Be thin.

Razorlightnight · 12/07/2016 16:00

I'm from London. Working in the city. I look like a frump.

WorraLiberty · 12/07/2016 16:03

How exactly do you think we dress here? Confused

This is a typical London crowd.

To want to Dress like Londoners
cosmicglittergirl · 12/07/2016 16:04

I'm wearing black leggings and massive t shirt. (In London). I agree with the pp who said everyone looks relaxed. Do you mean city workers?

pigsDOfly · 12/07/2016 16:07

Admittedly it's been a few years since I moved out of London, but I never noticed that everyone was well groomed and chic.

In my experience most workers in London tend to dress in cheap suits of one type or another.

notagiraffe · 12/07/2016 16:19

Can you give an example of what you mean OP? London is full of every type of fashion sense in existence. I'd never noticed anyone was especially chic. What sort of look are you thinking of?

GabsAlot · 12/07/2016 16:20

what do u mean dress like a londoner

i was born in london but we wore what everyone else round the country was wearing

ra ra skirts and puffballs at the time

there is different sections of london with different people isnt that the same everywhere though

PastaLaFeasta · 12/07/2016 16:21

I think people in London (and Paris and New York) are slimmer than average but I'm not sure they dress much different, perhaps I've been here too long to notice. I do see the similarities between teenagers and some mums on the school run - converse and skinny jeans with maybe a baggy top or hoodie, is that fairly typical elsewhere?

TragicallyUnbeyachted · 12/07/2016 16:21

I'm a Londoner and I'm definitely not sleek, expensive or classy. Just tell everyone you're dressing like me.

AchyMcAcherson · 12/07/2016 16:22

I'm a Londoner. I'm currently wearing a pair of grey tracky bottoms and a threadbare t shirt.
Oh and socks with watermelons on.
I don't think you want to dress like me op.

ILostItInTheEarlyNineties · 12/07/2016 16:26

I used to wear a lot of black living in London. Partly because the Tube was so filthy.

TheNotoriousPMT · 12/07/2016 16:29

I think I get what OP means... It depends where you're from originally. Lasses in Newcastle get very groomed for a night out, but.... A few years ago Gok Wan travelled round the country looking for stylish people in the major cities in each region. In Newcastle, he really struggled to find anyone Sad Going to London, I always notice that there's a much bigger range of styles of dress; people in general seem less scared to look different, they seem to have more confidence and flair. And there are a lot more shopping options!

StrawberryQuik · 12/07/2016 16:30

I'm currently wearing dancing tracksuit bottoms and a Harry Potter T shirt (greater London) Grin

What kind of Londoner....hipster, city worker, 'yummy mummy'?

TheNotoriousPMT · 12/07/2016 16:32

I guess also, as a visitor, you notice the people dressed differently-to-what-you're-used-to much more than the converse-skinnies-biker-jacket outfits, even if the Different clothes are a minority overall.

Delatron · 12/07/2016 16:32

I live in a small Home Counties town and see lots of frumpy dressing here. I go to London to remind myself what is fashionable. I think it's a dressed down, relaxed fashionable look. Do not like the over done, glamed up northern look and I'm a northerner!

BeautyGoesToBenidorm · 12/07/2016 16:35

I was scruffy as hell when I lived in London. I was (and very much still am) a jeans, fitted T shirt and skate shoes kind of person. Sometimes I'd wear a blazer or suit jacket with that combo, and I do have a thing for massive fake flower hair clips and tacky costume jewellery. I was never 'sleek'.

However, holidaying on the Costa Blanca, I felt like style fucking personified.

YouMakeMyDreams · 12/07/2016 16:36

I'm not sure they dress all that differently. I'm just back from Paris and while the Parisian women are possibly a bit more polished than a lot of women I know they weren't dressed all that differently.
The big difference was much less trainers. Even with jeans peopled wore sandals or shoes but ultimately very similar to most big cities. I think it's easier to be a little quirky in a bigger city. Far more choice of shops and I suppose you stick out a little less too.

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