AIBU to think in the UK women generally dress in quite a frumpy way and to wish we wore period clothing.

[NCJaneDoeNut]

Just that really. People don’t seem to make an effort and if you do you end up looking ‘overdressed’.

The reason I say UK is because that’s where I’m based and other places I’m seeing as a tourist or on tv, so maybe not a realistic impression. Not that they are worse than anyone else.

Hmm. A barrister I follow on Twitter has said how incredibly hot his court garb is the moment the weather starts getting warmer. Actual period clothing would have been roasting.

Where I came from, everyone from toddler up wears jeans and a hood and anorak. Old people wear pastels and beige. It's ugly and depressing to look at all the time.

Have you, and the OP for that matter, tried getting a grip?

I think it’s just a lot of people don’t know what suits them.

Total myth that Europeans are all stylish mind.

OP just wear what you want to wear!

I often rock up to school in a skirt, heels & an up do if that's what I've had on to work that day & I'm overdressed for work as the other girl wears jeans & flats most days but I don't give a shit because I like what I wear & I'm comfortable in it... my boss told me I was trussed up like a Christmas turkey one day - he was politely told to fuck off to the far side of fuck!

I wear a pair of period boxer shorts when I have my period over the top of my granny knickers. I keeps the sanitary towel(s) in place. I say period boxer shorts because they are from the noughties.

*It keeps

I agree with the Op to a point, I've seen more bingo wings and corn beef legs today then I have all year. Sport Soccer seems to be doing a roaring trade.

People always seem to assume that "period" costume (of whatever period you choose) is really beautiful and glamorous and elegant. They forget that every period of history also had frumpy clothes, comfy clothes, elegant ones, plus women with money and women without. Just because the stereotype young slim 50s woman wore a lovely little blouse with a shoulder cardi and a big skirt and petticoats and cute little bow shoes and a nice pretty haircut, doesn't make the fat old woman in a grubby pinny and a headscarf any less real.

I do think that certain places have their own style - in a general sense.

So I'm from the North of England - you can never be over-dressed there - full face of makeup, heels, fabulous dress and accessories and that's just for a BBQ with the next door neighbours!

I lived in London for years, clothes and 'look' for going out was generally much more casual; jeans and a top - though places like Hoxton and Shoreditch pioneered the hipster/alternative look (I remember going to a bar there and a man was wearing a pair of child's shorts as a hat ).

I currently live in Germany, not sure which 'other places' OP is referring to but here everyone dresses very, very practically. So a lot of the time people look like they are on a camping holiday in those trousers that zip off into shorts and hiking trainer type things, perhaps accompanied by a water bottle attached to a belt and a rucksack for carrying other essentials. They also love their own version of period clothing 'Tracht' (=Dirndl & Lederhosen).

I love any embrace elements of all of the above - and have a chuckle at how other elements are not at all what I would choose.

But I really can't actually understand the OP's point. What 'other places'? which 'period'?

Frumpy is time-dependent. The long Edwardian dresses with corsets that the OP probably admires were still worn by older women in the 1930s. They were considered frumpy then.

I have vague memories of extremely aged great-aunts when I was very young (1970s). They still wore inter-war fashions, which are now considered very glam and elegant: high-necked sack dresses, shoes with an ankle strap and a mid-height heel, cigarette holders, lorgnettes, shingled hair. We didn't think they were glam then, we thought they looked like eccentric old ladies.

I pass through Camden market very often. Believe me, visitors from other countries are NOT stylish!
I remember when DH and I first started going to Italy about 25 years ago. We loved how they looked, they were well dressed and groomed with nice accessories. After a while we decided it was very boring because, stylish though they were, they all looked the same with little individuality.

I dont think its scruffy, more unco-ordinated and not stylish. Average if you like.

It doesnt help that Brits are generally pale and then go red in the sun. Then theres our liking for loud prints.

The worst thing for me is seeing so many people wearing black and white when it doesnt suit them. Ive seen so many today.

This is a bit of a stealth boast isn't it OP? You're so smart with your heels & updo whilst everyone else is so scruffy

It doesn't help that Brits are generally pale and then go red in the sun
Funny, most of the Brits I know and see around me tan very well. There's loads of people in my town that have already got deep tans and thats only after a few days of sunny weather. The people that don't tan and burn easily seem to have got the message about wearing sunblock by now.

How will that attitude go with say over weight people? Or people that don’t feel comfortable in tighter clothing?

My younger sister is on the heavier side 18-20 and she finds it so hard to hard to find clothing that’s comfortable but also ‘trendy’. She’s in her 20s so she has a harder time. Knowing that someone could be judging her is fucking shit considering how badly she judges herself.

I think OP is just a misogynist finding another reason to pick on women. Their post is sexist, ugly and mean spirited. One might say not in the spirit.

I would like it to stand so OP can't go back to sweet as pie poster under this name.

Style does not necessarily go with trendy or fashionable.

Where I live, large numbers of people wear trackies or skintight leggings. Everywhere.

Court, job interviews, funerals, weddings, hospital appointments and christenings.

Once, even relatively poor people had at least one 'good' outfit for formal occasions, which may have been the family 'joke', but they were halfway smart when dealing with people outside the 'normal' social circle.

There are plus size sections in charity shops with opportunities to build a basic 'capsule' wardrobe which can accessorised with scarves and brooches.

When I was unemployed and a size 22, it was stil possible to dress smartly when necessary.

What people thought of my size, I have no idea, but I could dress appropriately for job interviews and family funerals.

Which period? I'm not wearing stays in this heat.

Ugly OP, very ugly.

Fwiw i'm wearing my fur bikini as it's dinosaur hunting season here (not UK).

Where i am pretty much everyone is in identikit Zara and H&M. Good for them.

This is me earlier having a diet coke break:

Thinking about it, I have no idea what shades of beige people around here are wearing - because I don't give a toss

Some people care far too much about what others are wearing, and not enough about the actual person, their qualities and abilities. I'm not a particularly attractive looking person, but it really doesn't bother me, because looks are very temporary. Stupid, however, is generally forever.

I love to be comfortable and always have - the type of clothing you mention tends to be very uncomfortable unless you can afford the top end / bespoke side of it.

I was thinking the other day that it's interesting how wearing comfy clothes is seen as "not making an effort"or slobby, and trying to understand why asa society this is a common feeling. Why at work on a normal day we wear business attire which is very "old fashioned" and way more gendered than on dress down day when most of the men and women are in jeans tshirts trainers...

The only conclusion I could come to is that when getting "done up" maybe it's related to the thing of trying to emulate the people who have the money to wear these clothes easily becasue they are made for them and so fit and are in non scratchy fabrics. So it's a sort of aspirational thing.

Be interested to hear other views of why comfy is seen as an eyesore and "smart" is usually not comfy.

For me, although I am a comfy person, I really enjoy seeing people who "make an effort" - well at least if it's got a twist and is done for joy. When I was young I used to go to the goth clubs in london sometimes and the outfits! On men and women just amazing. Ditto I get a real kick from seeing people in vintage gear. At work, when a man goes the extra mile and has a snappy suit and a just so tie and so on, I will always pay a compliment, and the women who take the idea of a work dress and push it just enough into bold / eccentric. Love seeing unusual hairstyles / chaps with exoticly styled facial hair.

All good and if I saw someone on the school run done up and looking so happy to be in their swishy 50s dress or whatever then I would feel happy too. Small things in life.

If they can't appreciate that not everyone enjoys getting done up in clothes like that then they aren't just doing it for them, they are gaining a sense of superiority as well and in that case they can fuck off quite frankly. Live and let live is the motto here IMO.

I have family in Germany and to generalise I’d say people dress practically and sensibly for the weather. A lot of young women seem to go for a natural look, no makeup and casual clothes. There’s s lot of Greige amongst older people just like there is here. S

If you like to dress stylishly with full makeup etc you should go for it OP. That’s the great thing about the UK, people dress how they like.

Personally I’m not up for period clothing as am 5’ 0 with short, fine thin hair and look like an amiable hobbit so I don’t feel I would do it justice.

We've just had an invitation to DH's best friend's significant birthday party. It's black tie. I'm very tempted to decline for this reason (but probably won't)

Ah Davros but black tie is the best! The chance to pretend you are a (more feminist, kick-ass) Bond heroine and wear the silky floor-length sheaths you never get to wear in real life.