How to look 'cool' London Look

[DotCottonsFag]

I dont know whether thats the term ... but how does anyone replicate the 'look' of some of the women who take the tube?

Their hair looks uncombed but stylish
They wear either black and white, maybe grey
White trainers or black boots
They look done but without being done IYKWIM
Where do they get it from? I want it!!

@StrongArm

Also people don't really care in London. I couldn't tell you what anyone else was wearing on the tube this morning because I didn't look

I'm wearing a bright raspberry pink cardigan today so it's not all black and white !

I agree with this. I've lived in London my whole life and I honestly don't notice what people are wearing on the tube. Unless it's something really unusual I guess. I don't really get the idea of a "London look". Maybe I just don't notice it because it's all around me but I don't think women dress differently in London compared to other UK cities. I suppose the only difference is women get more dressed up for nights out outside of London.

Flat boots or trainers
Big bag for lugging everything in from zone 4 (tote or leather backpack)
Coats aren’t too heavy because it’s always hot on the tube
Air pods
Minimal jewellery
Not usually heavily made up
Mix of high end with ASOS/Zara

Corporate look is natural understated but immaculate makeup and well cut hair. It looks effortless but takes a lot of time.
Neutral colours for office clothes and yes footwear changed in the office.
Unless you have a cool job then you wear what you want.

@ambereeree

Corporate look is natural understated but immaculate makeup and well cut hair. It looks effortless but takes a lot of time. Neutral colours for office clothes and yes footwear changed in the office. Unless you have a cool job then you wear what you want.

Definitely no neutral colours in my office. We love a bold colour. And not much footwear changing (unless it's from trainers to flats/boots). (I work in Financial Services in the City). And it doesn't take a lot of time either. If you live in London and you're taking a lot of time to get ready, you're doing it wrong.

@HundredMilesAnHour Funnily enough I was walking through Liverpool st & Broadgate the other day and saw one women in high heels. She stood out in a way that just wouldn’t have happened a few years back. Compared to everyone else in flats or trainers her gait looked odd and uncomfortable, and my immediate thought was that the heels made her whole look appear dated.

Last year everyone was wearing either an arket puffer or a Ted baker wrap coat. This year I think it’s going to be one of those olive diamond puffers, I’m seeing them everywhere already.

The thing about London is there's no mud.... all the pavements are shiny and the tubes are warm. You can get away with wearing nice shoes and coats.
I've lived in the country for 10 years now and were all just so muddy 🤣
I haven't worn nice shoes for years.., just muddy Nike airs

God I miss London

[quote PurpleIndigoViolet]@HundredMilesAnHour Funnily enough I was walking through Liverpool st & Broadgate the other day and saw one women in high heels. She stood out in a way that just wouldn’t have happened a few years back. Compared to everyone else in flats or trainers her gait looked odd and uncomfortable, and my immediate thought was that the heels made her whole look appear dated.[/quote]
That's hilarious. I wonder if it's the same woman all 3 of us have seen.

@ponkydonkey

The thing about London is there's no mud.... all the pavements are shiny and the tubes are warm. You can get away with wearing nice shoes and coats. I've lived in the country for 10 years now and were all just so muddy 🤣 I haven't worn nice shoes for years.., just muddy Nike airs

God I miss London

This is so true. I'm from the North originally but have lived in London for a very, very long time. When I travel back up North, I always notice that from the Midlands onwards, everyone is very sensibly dressed in anoraks and boots. I might snigger quietly to myself.

And then I arrive, and it's cold and wet and windy - and muddy! And I realise why everyone dresses in anoraks and boots. And I'm completely unprepared as I prance around in rain and mud trying not to ruin my cashmere overcoat and Tracey Neuls shoes. What an idiot! This has happened to me so many times that I now keep a waterproof coat and my wellies in the boot of my car at all times.

I work in London but have been WFh (rural location, outside London) since March 2020.

I accept that heels are out when I return to the office, but does that mean ALL heels? Are smaller / chunky / block heels still ok? Is it just stilettos that are out? I’m confused!

@Thepurpleturtle

I work in London but have been WFh (rural location, outside London) since March 2020.

I accept that heels are out when I return to the office, but does that mean ALL heels? Are smaller / chunky / block heels still ok? Is it just stilettos that are out? I’m confused!

A heeled Chelsea boot or a block heeled loafer is fine- but courts or stilettos are out

@ponkydonkey

The thing about London is there's no mud.... all the pavements are shiny and the tubes are warm. You can get away with wearing nice shoes and coats. I've lived in the country for 10 years now and were all just so muddy 🤣 I haven't worn nice shoes for years.., just muddy Nike airs

God I miss London

But there’s no mud in Leicester, Hull or Peterborough. Central London can actually be grubby enough in an urban way — black snot, and your hair gets filthy etc, and although the tube is warm, that just means that in cold, wet weather you need to layer so that you aren’t suffocating on the Piccadilly Line and freezing when you’re at street level — but I think ‘no mud’ isn’t exclusive to London.

In fact, one of the things I noticed when I moved out of London to a village in the Midlands was how almost everyone dressed less practically/weather-mindedly because they drove everywhere, and might only throw a raincoat on the back seat to dash to the door of wherever they were going. People also used completely different types of bags, as they tended to transport things in their cars, whereas I had a lot of cross-body bags, backpack laptop bags, and big totes from lugging work stuff around London on public transport.

I only realise how shabbily I dress when I make a rare journey into London. Ill think I'm dressed reasonably well and then end up feeling like a country bumpkin in aunty Mildred's clothes.

Saying that, when I first moved to the south west we went into the local town for drinks after work with some new friends. I was embarrassed I had my big bulky Barbour with me (outdoor work) and nowhere to stow it. Turned up to the "bar" and found it pretty much the local uniform

I'm always envious of the monochrome /beige brigade because they always look so elegant. I just don't think I have it in me, though that might be the copious amounts of dog hair that I seemmto drag with me no matter how many lint rollers I use.
I have got a pair of Stan Smith's though which I adore.

Anyway point of that: following the thread with hope and wistfulness.

@ponkydonkey

The thing about London is there's no mud.... all the pavements are shiny and the tubes are warm. You can get away with wearing nice shoes and coats. I've lived in the country for 10 years now and were all just so muddy 🤣 I haven't worn nice shoes for years.., just muddy Nike airs

God I miss London

You can’t really. If you’re not wrenching heels off or scraping stiletto shafts in pavement cracks, then you’re doing your back in slogging up/down tube stairs, running for your train, tip toeing over cobbled paving stones etc. I definitely wear far more sensible shoes relative to previous cities when I commuted by car.

I also saw a lady in 10cm stiletto heels outside the Lloyds building yesterday and was amazed! Haven’t seen anyone in stilettos for yonks. My own office is still anything goes, so most days are trousers, jumper/silk blouse & trainers for me.

People also used completely different types of bags, as they tended to transport things in their cars, whereas I had a lot of cross-body bags, backpack laptop bags, and big totes from lugging work stuff around London on public transport.

So very true. Virtually everyone on my train carries a rucksack. There’s mutiny currently at work in the London office as my company has switched from light/small tablets to much bigger/heavier laptops. The decision has been taken in a regional office where everyone drives to work

Can confirm re: places outside of London and driving everywhere! I live in a rural city and walk everywhere as I don't drive which means sensible shoes, a big bag for work, etc. One thing I often notice is how a lot of women wear extremely impractical shoes for work. Not necessarily high heels but e.g. little flats that would fall apart at the first sign of heavy rain. Because of course they drive. And those short waterproof jackets that would leave you with wet legs

The only people I see in daytime stilettos now are the younger Royal women and a couple of outliers in the office (outer London now) who drive in.

@SummaLuvin great YouTube links - thank you so much

Don't live in London and never have but, whenever I visit, I look out for this 'cool London style' and while I agree it's a thing, it seems to me to be largely confined to a few square miles and maybe one or two tube lines. The thing that always strikes me is how much variety there is and how West End style is very different from Shoreditch, which is different from Brixton, which is different from Wimbledon, which is different again from Wimbledon village a mile or so down the road. It's the variety that keeps me fond of London, despite its many annoyances.

Young relatives tell me they rarely go out in central London any more because the tubes are still stopping early. So they're going out in their local neighbourhoods and, because they're still working at home at least half the week, and it's just a walk or short bus/cab ride to the venue, they're dressing up more. It'll be interesting to see if that lasts.

As for how to replicate a look, this out of towner would just ask them where they shop.

I think no heels is more a daytime thing, if you head out in the evening to Mayfair or somewhere a bit upmarket there’s loads of heels.

Completely agree with Floisme and how different areas have different looks.

The 20 something East London girls I see on the Jubilee line around Stratford dress completely differently to the 20 something girls at Liverpool Street Station who have predominantly come into London from the suburbs on a Friday night. Different sorts of superglam.

I work in SE London so that's a different look again.

Designer dressing people in Mayfair dress differently to designer dressing people around the Canary Wharf/City bars and restaurants.

Soho/Covent Garden I find are very casual.

That You Tube street looks video was interesting but it seemed to be fashion people in a fashionable area. They didn't stop 50+ size 18 me outside Baker Street station in my H&M dress!

Why are people acting like London is the only urban environment in the country? I lived in London for years and now live in another big city. There's plenty of this look elsewhere. All this fawning over a basic look is weird.

@Neonplant

Why are people acting like London is the only urban environment in the country?

The OP asked about London, so presumably that's why people are writing about London?
Feel free to start a thread about how to look cool in Coventry, or wherever.

@Thepurpleturtle

I work in London but have been WFh (rural location, outside London) since March 2020.

I accept that heels are out when I return to the office, but does that mean ALL heels? Are smaller / chunky / block heels still ok? Is it just stilettos that are out? I’m confused!

To be honest - have lived and worked in London for most of my life but definitely stilettos have been out for a few years (unless you love wearing them, out for an event etc). The only places I've seen people wearing high heels have been in recruitment agencies, estate agents, bars etc - in and around certain areas of London and they've generally been women who're younger so don't care if they hurt etc. FFW a few years to my age, adding in back pain etc and I definitely leave high heels for special occasions.

Smaller/chunky/block heels are fine.

@AppleWitch

Completely agree with Floisme and how different areas have different looks.

The 20 something East London girls I see on the Jubilee line around Stratford dress completely differently to the 20 something girls at Liverpool Street Station who have predominantly come into London from the suburbs on a Friday night. Different sorts of superglam.

I work in SE London so that's a different look again.

Designer dressing people in Mayfair dress differently to designer dressing people around the Canary Wharf/City bars and restaurants.

Soho/Covent Garden I find are very casual.

That You Tube street looks video was interesting but it seemed to be fashion people in a fashionable area. They didn't stop 50+ size 18 me outside Baker Street station in my H&M dress!

Agreed with you re East London and Liverpool Street girls - just different levels of glam and definitely the East Londoners tend to tone it down a bit. But that's not to say some of the trendy East Londoners don't rock a high heel occasionally.

I actually don't recall that much difference between Mayfair/Canary Wharf/City dressing and yes Soho/Covent Garden are very casual but you do also get people coming to these areas from outskirts so they dress up.

An ex-colleague of mine who lives in Surrey, works Westminster and in mid 30s is quite 'glam' but the Ted Baker/Reiss type glam dresses etc. It suits her and she works out a lot so why not?