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!!

@blueshoes

I presume many people on the tube or in central London areas would be tourists. Not all are Londoners.

In fairness, you can tell the tourists a mile away.

@Mymycherrypie

central-liners are who come for a night out in town from the Home Counties

I know this exact look.

Yes @Mymycherrypie! See also the out of towners who get on the tube at Euston. What makes them stand out from Londoners is that they're groomed to within an inch of their lives - brows, fake lashes and tan, hair extensions, high heels etc etc!

@Mymycherrypie

I’m from London. I think I probably look a bit like this.

I recently started working in an office in Herts and I heard one of them say about someone else “she’s like Cherry… edgy”.

I don’t feel edgy, I just kind of walk tall in what I’m wearing.

Lol Stealth boast much..

@Floisme yes! It was so safe & boring overall.

I agree about New York too - I was really surprised by how conservative and plain the prevailing look was among what I assume was women of my sort of demographic. Not awful, just very safe and chainstore-ish.

They do have Iris Apfel though 😍

I do like London for the most part. Sone of my favourite people live there and I love the mix of styles and how you can go 2 or 3 stops on the tube and emerge into a different world. But I think the 'too cool to dress up' attitude is its least attractive quality. especially right now. So many threads where someone's had a shit year and they're going for a weekend there as a treat or a special celebration, and invariably someone pops in to tell them only country bumpkins dress up in London. It's a bit dismal at the best of times but really crass at the moment. Read the room.

love her @SocksAndTheCity

@Floisme

I do like London for the most part. Sone of my favourite people live there and I love the mix of styles and how you can go 2 or 3 stops on the tube and emerge into a different world. But I think the 'too cool to dress up' attitude is its least attractive quality. especially right now. So many threads where someone's had a shit year and they're going for a weekend there as a treat or a special celebration, and invariably someone pops in to tell them only country bumpkins dress up in London. It's a bit dismal at the best of times but really crass at the moment. Read the room.

I don’t think it’s usually mean-spirited. You get posts from people from elsewhere worrying about what to wear out for dinner in a London restaurant, or how not to ‘look out of place’.

And as a Londoner I actually do wish dressing up more was more acceptable as it's fun.
One of my parents is Irish so I do get the opportunity to go all out at family gatherings, which covid has ruined for now.

@semideponent you need to to wear your hair. I really mean this. It signifies so much - self acceptance, self knowledge, comfort in yourself

Please tell me more! You sound like you know stuff.

recently started working in an office in Herts and I heard one of them say about someone else “she’s like Cherry… edgy”.

I don’t feel edgy, I just kind of walk tall in what I’m wearing.

Haha love this! I am so far removed from your world. I need a trip to London!

I think it totally depends on where you are/what your doing. I’m in the city and since we’ve been back at work plenty of heels are back on show - apparently not everyone got the memo that stilettos and courts are out! I’d say 80% of women in my large office have worn them at least once in the last week. Plenty of flats and smartish boots too but also lots of heels!

I just googled Tracey Neuls shoes... and nearly fell off my chair they are so expensive!! Good job I am actually lying in bed!

I'm with @Floisme here. I really hate the too cool for school bollockry you often get on these threads (and has been demonstrated here), 'anoraks and sensible shoes past the Midlands', 'The apocryphal woman on London Wall wearing heels that you're all staring at', 'Women in Leeds glamming up for hours, yet the blokes all chatted to me in my super-studied casual get-up, who knows why?'', 'Start a thread on what cool people on Coventry wear', 'Central-liners coming for a night out from the Home-counties'.

It's all a bit sneery. I really dislike this attitude. Why can't people enjoy clothes, get glammed up to fuck, embrace joy with their sartorial choices.

I bet you don't say that about Daphne Guinness or Kate Moss.

Why can't fashion be joyful for everyone without some miserable and insecure bastard using it as an opportunity to feel better about themselves?

@frazzlesmore

And as a Londoner I actually do wish dressing up more was more acceptable as it's fun. One of my parents is Irish so I do get the opportunity to go all out at family gatherings, which covid has ruined for now.

I actually think dressing up is one London thing covid has made a difference to - I went to a couple of gala premieres at the Royal Festival Hall these last couple of weeks when the London Film Festival was on, and I saw (and wore) far more glam than previous years. There were two women in sparkly dresses with matching ankle boots sitting next to me and a chat revealed we'd all decided to have fun and push the boat out a bit after a year of sitting around in pyjamas and sweatpants. I saw a good few evening dresses with stoles, updos and whatnot outside on the way in too.

I remember a particularly unpleasant recent thread when somebody was excited about getting dressed up for a special occasion and a couple of posters made twatty comments, but on the whole I think the 'no need to dress up' posts are meant to be reassuring to somebody who sounds like they're feeling intimidated, and hopefully make them feel better and be able to relax whatever they decide to wear

Yes, that was an unpleasant thread @SocksAndTheCity. I do think that people who take that opinion so stridently are not native Londoners but are so desperate to throw off the shackles of their own past that they want to belittle anyone that reminds them of it. Confident people don't behave like that. Wherever they are from.

Anyway, dressing up is glorious. I love getting into character and realising one of my many facets.

There's nothing shameful or parochial about really expressing oneself through clothes.

Likewise, there's nothing inherently superior in studied indifference. It's the least interesting thing you can do. It signifies fear really and a need to fit in.

Cool isn't really 'cool'. It's the antithesis of what indifference actually is.

Much better to truly be oneself. That's really what 'cool' is. And really 'cool' people don't have a formula or a mocking attitude to people who take a different approach.

I used to regularly visit my aunt in New York. A woman in a local deli told me she thought I was a New Yorker because I generally wore almost all black.
It’s a mistake to think you need to buy expensive clothes or bags or spend much if any time on makeup to achieve the look the OP describes, if anything the opposite.

paulHlovesabiscuit

It’s not a stealth boast, it’s a straight up boast! I am 40, just lost a lot of weight and really never felt edgy before in my life. I think it’s less to do with me as a person tho and more to do with the fact they’ve all been shopping on the market for decades.

And I don’t mean people in Herts, I mean my office is pure 1985 vibes in every way.

It's easier if you are under 35. Insouciance can transform into ‘lost my way’ later in life.

Agree with this

I think what you’re describing is the underpaid fashion/creative industry assistant.. when you need to look good for work but can’t afford designer clothes and don’t want to buy obviously/identifiably high street clothing.

Black - never out of style, black clothes look newer longer, goes with everything, could be from anywhere

White/black footwear - goes with everything

@SocksAndTheCity

I agree about New York too - I was really surprised by how conservative and plain the prevailing look was among what I assume was women of my sort of demographic. Not awful, just very safe and chainstore-ish.

They do have Iris Apfel though 😍

Me too, practically everyone was in black. Black puffers, black jeans, black trainers/boots.

I had taken some nice clothes to wear in the evening and was a bit disappointed that everyone was in hoodies and very casual.

@Shehasadiamondinthesky

No idea i live in Glastonbury ury and just follow the 60s hippy vibe. Most of the time I have breakfast down my front.

@Shehasadiamondinthesky I think I found my tribe when I went to Glastonbury over the Summer. That’s sort of 60s, 70s boho vibe that a lot of people were wearing is much more my thing. I’d love to wear that all the time here but I’d stick out like a sore thumb. Maybe I need to move where I can be more myself style wise.