British style, or lack of it

[Sarcelle]

I haven’t been abroad for a while (annoyed with the whole palaver of flying and just been holidaying in UK.)

Recently went to Mallorca and spent a day in Palma. What struck me is that compared to a lot of Europeans, with exceptions, we dressed so badly compared to them. And we are less fit. Since I got back I have been really noticing, it’s like we don’t care, yet in the main we have a lot of the same shops as them.

This is an observation for both men and women and when I say British I mean every age and demographic that makes up modern Britain. We seem to wear a lot of easy clothes - sportswear, stretchy stuff. In Palma they were wearing great shirts, dresses, fitted trousers, great accessories. I was sitting next to a Spanish guy at lunch, plain blue shirt, well cut trousers, clutching a book - he just seemed to exude style in an effortless way.

I know there are exceptions but it just strikes me that the average British person just does not dress that stylishly. I include myself in that btw. Sometimes I do dress well, but never with the same casual elan, and it always gets a comment along the lines of - ooh, you look smart, where are you going, even if what I am wearing is very simple. Like I S this be doing something extraordinary to warrent dressing a bit more smartly.

We buy a lot of clothes in UK but perhaps that is the problem. We buy a lot of cheap clothes and don’t accessorise well. I don’t think money or lack of it is the reason. Lack of will and perhaps a bit of self-respect?

I am sure I am going to get flamed for this post but what do you think?

Here are a few Instagrammers, I tried not to get the shop ones but some of them are shops because I think they can still give ideas:
erealouro
Petiteyol
Caborojoconcept
Barbaragoenaga
Andreaamoretti
Dressandshop
Rebecagomezpolo
Veronicags87
Zubidesign
Hendayestyle

And the best handbags ever, boxdonostiass

I'm in Italy at the moment and I do think the women that I've seen dress stylish. It is mostly dresses and sandals. However, they dress for one climate but we in the UK can have 4 seasons worth of weather in one day. Much harder to dress stylish and appropriately for imo

That's not correct, both in Italy and get very cold in the winter, not in the south of course, but in the northern regions and inland. More so that in the UK.

Kione

Even in the South. I remember running around (as a little kid) and covering trees etc because it was snowing. On Easter. (Mountains of Southern Italy.)

And not just a little snow. We had a genuinely white Easter. ;)

Sorry should have said I am basing that opinion on summer, and summer clothing. It's been hot every day at the moment, one can throw on a dress and a pair of sandals. This is not a sweeping generalisation of the whole of Italy merely my humble opinion of what I have seen these last couple of weeks whilst on holiday.

I kind of agree with Redact. I** moved to Spain a few years ago and I am now struck whenever I come to the UK in the summer by how badly people dress, but I think it's partly just because they are not prepared for it - it doesn't make sense to buy loads of nice summer clothes when you barely need them.

I wouldn't say the people in this part of Spain are particularly more stylish, but they do dress better for the sun because they have so much of it. Since moving here I have vastly more and nicer summer clothes than I ever did when living in the UK (and I think I dress reasonably nicely).

(I am frequently embarrassed by the state of some of the British tourists I see around though )

I'm not convinced people dress any better elsewhere. I'm just back from Paris and didn't feel in awe of how the women were dressed. There was the same mix I see in my northern town, some women with money dressed very stylishly, some women with less money wearing cheap clothes that were not so stylish. Some men dressed well in suits, some men doing manual jobs wearing scruffy clothes. I did think there were fewer obese people but that may have been because we were close to the Sorbonne and so the social mix would be different to my town.

I think there are positives and negatives about everywhere. We are tolerant of our eccentrics, I know several people who have said they settled in the UK because they were allowed to be different in ways that wouldn't have been allowed in their home country. I think a few scruffily dressed people is a small price to pay for that.

French staff speak French to everyone. Like the British, they believe their own language is superior to any other. Lol

French staff speak French to everyone

I know .... I think you might have missed my point.

some women with money dressed very stylishly, some women with less money wearing cheap clothes that were not so stylish

The point I was making - not very well- upthread are the numbers of extremely affluent Brits who still dress as if they’re poor. I think if you were to see me in the street you’d probably think I was quite down on my luck; in fact I was brought up never to flaunt my “luck” which is of course an upper middle class euphemism for “rich”. Whereas in Tokyo and Milan, office juniors live in tiny prison cell flats with their parents but think nothing of commissioning handmade shoes and vicuna coats.

In my experience, very dressed-up Brits are usually lower income lower middle class people on a night out or on holiday. The really rich dress very shabbily for everything except weddings and race meetings.

And even then not particularly well. I've seen the outfits at some posh weddings and they are not good!

Too true, Samantha. But top marks for effort are still due! Englishmen have the advantage of morning dress or uniform on those occasions, instead of the usual posh dressdown of holey combats and shapeless polo shirts

old monied Eueopeans, specially Italians are amongst the best dressed, they look so effortless like they were just born that way. It never felt ott or try hard.
I'm French and I think the French , Spanish, Italians , Germans are not too-ostentatiously obvious in displaying wealth . I don't think I've seen a wealthy French women head to toe In logos for example. ofcourse everyone dreams of a closet full of Chanel but wearing it all at once ? no!

Also I don't think wearing expensive clothes means looking better. I've seen a famous person in the papers yesterday wearing gucci everything and she looked awful.
I have a friend who only wears high street brands mostly massimo dutti, and she always looks incredible,

I agree. I consider myself and fashionable and trendy person but honestly it’s difficult to wear nice outfits when it rains on and off, or it’s extremely windy, or it’s pitch black when you leave work :( Unless you driver everywhere of course. I live in Zone 2 London so it’s more practical to walk or get the tube than drive as it would take my longer to get to work. It’s just much more practical to wear jumpers/sweaters, long coats and ankle boots. This is why I’m upset that summer is over as I can’t wear most of my clothes, so many missed great outfit opportunities

Apologies for all the mistakes!

The really rich dress very shabbily for everything except weddings and race meetings.

I think this is a pervasive idea (along with the ancient motor that's long since seen better days), that isn't entirely true.

I can't imagine a 20-something upper class gel going out for Sunday brunch or meeting up with friends looking anything other than effortlessly immaculate.

Besides, any period drama - or photo/footage from past eras - will put paid to this idea.

I have to say that as much as the British might arguably lack style, that doesn't mean there aren't a lot of stylish British people.

We spent a fair bit of time in central and NW London in the middle of the heat wave, and there were a lot of well dressed people out and about.

British tourists overseas might not look their best, but that isn't a representative sample.

There was quite a bit of this on the 'how to look expensive in the summer ' thread. However I do think it's where you go in Europe. Cities tend to have more stylish people (Same in the UK). We went to a French beach resort in the summer that's primarily a French holiday destination and it was the same as here. Vast amounts were wearing bright, gawdy cheap clothes and there were definitely a lot of the French equivalent to chavs.

Thus I don't think style is by country but by area

I think it depends on how old the money is, surely, Dowager? There’s definitely a ‘Made in Chelsea’ style vibe in prosperous parts of London but the posh kids in that are mostly arrivistes. The genuinely posh - not the “Daddy is loaded” crowd - are wearing their school lacrosse hoodies to lunch on the river, not the Bluebird.

...all of which probably returns us to the PP who said school uniform was to blame for our bad dress sense.

a few weeks ago i visited a Eurocamp site in South of France, it was blazing weather and i honestly couldn't work out who came from where which surprised me as it is usually easy to spot british. everyone looked like they'd shopped in h and m (women) or was wearing generic cargo shorts, flip flops and polo shirt combos (men).

"In my experience, very dressed-up Brits are usually lower income lower middle class people on a night out or on holiday. The really rich dress very shabbily for everything except weddings and race meetings." @MM18 but this is what @Sarcelle and I said earlier that there is jealousy amongst what the Brits wear, and that they make it a sport to look shabbier or poorer than they actually really are. Why would you suspect that well dressed Brits holiday are of a lower income?? Would you apply that to all Brits that you meet abroad or anywhere on holiday (at the coast, in the valleys trekking, etc etc etc)? It's odd to automatically make that assumption. Would we assume that say Italians on holiday here who are well dressed are of a lower income?

I did say “in my experience”, which isn’t exhaustive but fairly substantial given my age . I’m pretty acute to these things because I’m a class changeling. I’m a daughter of the Shires, but married to an Establishment chap not upper class but not far off.

There’s implicit snobbery in the word “smart”, even. It’s said admiringly by posh folk to their friends when they get their designer handbags out, but it’s synonymous with being socially gauche.