Getting dolled up. North-South divide?

[Getabloominmoveon]

Hot on the (high) heels of the 'airport outfit' thread, I'm wondering if there is a real North/South divide when it comes to the average level of doneupness expected to leave the house. I'm from Liverpool, where a Sunday night at the local pub demands full regalia, but now live in the South where I rarely see Aintree Ladies Day levels of preparation in local bars and pubs. When we go back to Liverpool, my husband (posh, foreign) is amazed at the swishy hair, heels and eyebrows surrounding him. But maybe I just go to the wrong places in the South?

Ha, abacus, I remember it well and all the in-comers. It was horrible there in hindsight.

Oh god all these bars are local to where I work and yes, I couldn't agree more re Abacus. Urgh, what a meat market. At least Madison is slightly classier.

NE here, I served a guy on holiday with his family from London and he went on and on about how pretty the Newcastle women were - not me obviously..I married in. And how they look like they should be on the telly. So I'm guessing the Geordie Shore look is the norm here now. Unfortunately he didn't see the girls at midnight in Bigg Market covered in kebabs and hoying up on the pavement. But yeah, we don't wear coats

Liverpool on a wet Sunday night is a thing of wonder .

We visit a lot ( DH originally from Anfield ) and the eye lashes, the tans, the hair!!!!

One time there was a fire drill at around 10.30pm in our hotel and there were so many girls on the courtyard in rollers who hadn't yet gone out for the night.

I recently moved along the south coast from the South West (Plymouth) to the South East (near Portsmouth) and have really noticed the difference in style. Although the dressing up to the nines was becoming more usual in Plymouth over the last ten years it was still absolutely the norm to go out in skinny jeans, heels and a top and blazer. Going out in Portsmouth is rather more 'dressy'. The girls here will be in dresses, with HD brows, tans, hair extensions etc. I'm going out on Saturday and I know that I'll feel like a frump.

I think it probably used to be a class thing decades ago but now as pp said it's very much a generational thing and media led. If you weren't from London you wouldn't imagine noone dressed up because all you see is a constant stream of photos of celebrities at clubs and bars there dressed up to the hilt. You wouldnt see one of the girls from Made in Chelsea for instance out at a bar in jeans and trainers. The media set up people like the kardashians for instance as the ideal for a young person to look like hence the Kylie and Kim look of fake tan, fake hair, fake lips that all the young girls now seem to have. You hardly ever see any girls with short hair any more. They all look v similar, I find it quite sad that there seems to be very little individuality

90% of the time I'm artfully dishevelled but I do enjoy the transformation process on occasion. The thought of feeling obligated to look 'done up' every single time I stepped out of the house would take away that pleasure and probably make me very depressed.

Forgot to say, I live in Cheshire but please don't judge me

XiCi
You absolutely would see the Made in Chelsea girls out in jeans and trainers!
The actual cast have very carefully curated Instagram accounts, because they are milking their sponsors
But look at their friends' accounts, and you'll see what they wear to the pub...

I live in Manchester and would definitely say it's a socioeconomic class thing. Go out in town to the edgier, cooler cocktail places or eateries (as they prefer to call themselves), and there's nary a fake tan or stiletto heel in sight. Go out to a big brash bar or chain restaurant and a woman will feel very out of place in jeans and a blazer.

The division between the two types of bar is strongly along the lines of class: hipsters and foodies with PhDs on one side, versus proud working class glam on the other.

It's easier to find the places with high levels of glam because they're in more obvious central concentrations (Deansgate, Printworks, etc). The non-glam places can be harder to spot (little alleyways all over town or in the quieter spots of the Northern Quarter rabbit warren) but there are lots of them.

I'm not sure it's a "north/south" thing. Back in the day, you did your face, for going out. Washed your hair and did your nails if it was something very special. Now, it's a full on drag queen look. It's a massive industry and our society is obsessed with youth and beauty.

I'm from Liverpool but study in Leicester. The difference between the two nightlives is huge. Liverpool is far better but obviously it's a much bigger city. In Leicester hardly anyone ever dresses up for a night out, especially not the students. I can't dress up because I don't want to be the odd one out and have people stare but I miss it a lot!! I have never ever had my nails done though, or a fake tan, and the only time I had my hair and makeup done was for my wedding day. I do think it is partly a class thing though too. I grew up in a lower-middle class area, most of my friends came from lower-middle class backgrounds, we didn't tend to go to such extremes as in my opinon more of the working class people did. They look amazing sometimes but I just cannot be arsed.

Also lack of coat is practical if you're in Liverpool, you don't tend to stay in one place all night, and if you had to be checking coat in and out of cloakrooms all night and paying for them all it would be a right hassle.

I also never had my clothes slagged off as a teenager, I remember some girls at school saying I was an emo and things (lol, those were the days), but never anything nasty or bad, and I was certainly no fashionista and was and still am I bit of a scruff in my day-to-day wear. I don't think any of my circle of middle class friends did, but DH who grew up in a working class area of Liverpool on a council housing estate certainly felt far more pressure there amongst his peers and there was more pointing and making fun of people's clothes there. Again I think it is class related, this latter part being really sad.

I am from the Wirral and live in London now.

Took me a while to get used to the whole change of dress codes etc. But I honestly feel more comfortable and confident down here even though the amount of effort I have made is 10x less.

I honestly feel it is for two reasons. One being down in London people go out a lot more and there social lives are more hectic. There is less time to get ready etc. but also things like going the pub etc. which are seen as more of an event up north require less down here as it is just standard afterwork practice mid week etc.

It is the different lifestyles...

But also I read somewhere once that it is basic biology "up north" there are far less men so a woman needs to make her self look her best to stand out. Where as down south the amount of men is larger than amount of women and there for less effort to stand out is needed. Of course this is all subjective and something we do un-subconciously.

Also I remember being in Paris a few years back and asking some lovely old gentleman in my best French for directions.

He laughed and asked if I was from Liverpool. He said he could tell because no other person from any where else would be walking around Paris in January in the snow with out a coat on..!!

Just to add I was only 18 at the time...would kill me now..

I'd like to see some evidence based statistics about there being fewer men per woman up north than down south. Yikes I snared a Yorkie as a Southerner. Am I even allowed up North.

You man-thief you! :o

I think it all depends where you go. I'm from the north east and the only time you will ever see me out in a dress and heels is if I'm at a wedding or a christening. I live in jeans, trainers, loafers, parkas - basic indie style clothing - and go to places where that's the norm. There are plenty of glamorous types too, but they aren't necessarily the majority

Northerner who has scousified taught my Southerner DH the importance of the night out prep. He was initially gobsmacked, and still bemused at the thought out in to it all but it's just the way things are done. We don't tend to go out that often so it's fun to make the effort. Make up wise, I'm absolutely shit at doing my own, but I can get a full face and lashes done by a qualified make up artist for the price is spend on one eyeshadow brush and actually look half decent for a change. Nights out with the girls, it's a must, it also elongates the night out by several hours just to get ready which is fun. I definitely feel massively overdressed in London, even when I've tried to tone myself down to go out.

I'm a southerner and I mourn the loss of glamour.

That makes me sound like Joan Collins, which is awful, but just you try being at a whizzy media party in jogging trousers, Vans and a t-shirt, and you'll hanker for the red foil pelmet the C-lister next to you is wearing too.

In London, it is a class thing - the editors and snappers and writers (mc) who make a party cool enough for the papers and thus the Z-listers to attend all look so awful we're called the Care in the Community crowd. This stems from the 'too cool to care' feeling of times past, plus the equally ancient idea that you'e supposed to be too highbrow to care about your shoes.

In reality, you're too busy to change. And you're still at work, talking to people who might be doing interesting stuff you can use. That takes priority.

The glamourpusses are rentahire, aren't doing owt else all day, and thus can dress up. Glamourpusses are either middle or upper class (eg Tara PT & celeb kids) or working class (reality tv).

I was once talking to a mental health nurse about a media project, having made a firm attempt to look together and professional in monochrome Helmut Lang & Margiela.

She told me her colleague on the ward would be more help and sent her to find 'that dreadfully unkempt lady'.

Beaufordbelle

Here you go...specifically mentions merseyside too and if you look at the maps.

www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2015/feb/18/england-and-wales-where-single-women-outnumber-men

I also snagged myself a yorkshire man down here too. Northers are taking over the south ;-)

Woah pixie wipes wine from screen. I snared a Yorkie in Wandsworth where women outnumber the men . Was 28 years ago, and involved a Diana style ball dress. It was love at first sight !

Also lack of coat is practical if you're in Liverpool

I really don't understand heading out on a Saturday night in October and thinking 'Nah, I don't need a coat'. Sure you may head from place to place and don't want to check your coat in, but who checks their coats in at bars anyway?

Shivering in a taxi queue at 3am because you've got bare arms and legs just looks stupid to me. And not very practical!

I'm from Liverpool go to Liverpool uni and my friends in uni are from Buckinghamshire, northampts Devon and Oxford, they are amazed by how much effort Scouse girls make on a night out even if it's casual as they tend to go out in flats and wouldn't dream of using an MUA unless it was for a wedding! I didn't realise it was so different