Style and geographic location in the UK

[ConfusedParticle]

I love how it seems a lot of style differences seem to vary around the country, not that i've been everywhere mind, but here's what I noticed recently:

I am currently in the north west, Lancashire, semi rural and everyone wears big chunky coats or huge puffers. Many in leggings or running gear, but the over all style is very Next/supermarket, etc.

I spent a few weeks in various areas of Shropshire and noticed a much smarter, Barbour-esque style in general but mixed in with a lot of slouchy bohemian stuff on the women/girls. Far more in dresses during winter, with wool coats.

I also live in the Lake district for part of the year and it's very much mountain warehouse or Arcteryx, shirt rain macs with hiking pants up there! Or at the very least perpetually mindful of the rain. You might see a dress here and there in the summer, or on a tourist, but generally not.

These are just my experiences so not solid facts, but would love to hear yours from other places in the UK!
Have any of you noticed differences in certain places?
I think it's fascinating how subtly our clothing changes as we move around. I would say so far Shropshire was more my 'style home', as the people seemed to share my own tastes in clothes, but apart from the milder climate which was enviable, my heart is in the north.

That, if i have to clarify, was sarcasm, aimed at the odd snobbery in this thread. I was looking forward to a cheerful enough discussion as i love this type of stuff but hey ho.

I mean why oh why do they wear head to toe black?

more slimming? 😆

tracksuit bottoms and hoodies are very on trend though.

And why is it all London v. Manchester?

What about the rest of the country? Wales, Glasgow, Chester, Derbyshire, Birmingham, Shrewsbury, Windermere, Kent, Norwich, or Lower friggin Corby?

Well they are the two biggest cities

On a more serious note, i do wonder about the black tracksuit thing, but it is more related to social groups than style itself. An identity thing.

I have noticed it across the UK and Scotland. North and south. It is like a collective of like minds with similar cultural tastes. Like we all have, i suppose, but this has a very defined, tribal feel to it.

I came on to say Swnasea is glam, but fuck me this thread is a bit weird

I wear black tracksuits, but I'm a born & raised sarf Londoner. Haven't they always been a thing?

@ConfusedParticle why would you see them in their glad rags if you are one of them? I saw them at Manchester city centre fairly close to my hotel (edwardian hotel manchester). Come to think about it, there were quite a few of them getting spa/beauty treatments at my hotel!

You want to draw comparisons about style in different parts of the uk, then move it onto class, and wonder why it got weird?

Well they are the two biggest cities - so it's all about big cities?

Don't small cities count? Or market towns? Villages, or those that live rurally?

@AgathaX I was simply suggesting a reason why those places might have been mentioned. That doesn't mean no where else exists 🙄

I have noticed it across the UK and Scotland.

Did you mean across the UK including Scotland?

😂

I'm a bit confused too @ConfusedParticle, the black tracksuit post was sarcasm, but then not sarcasm?

This thread is weird.

Well, in small villages like the one I live in, the younger people aim to look like people (but their tribe) look in cities, and the older people wear clothes for the activities they are planning that day, which is probably no more exciting than walking the dog in the weather and going to the supermarket. At work, most people wear a company sweatshirt. Me, I choose what to wear on based what I am doing. On Monday mornings, I put on running tights and shorts or a skirt to walk the dog, and go to Pilates, and fetch any overlooked items from the supermarket. On Tuesday, I might have a business meeting about something, but I shall still have to walk XingDog, so the outfit will be similar but a bit smarter. In the rural SW where I live, the definition of chic is matching jeans and jumper (very nice, well fitting versions) and a really good, practical coat, plus a low-burn bag and shoes, with jewellery. On a Saturday, when we might go out to lunch somewhere nice, it would again be immaculate jeans and a sweater plus expensive sneakers and bag. The clothes don't change, but the accessories do. I basically buy great jeans, a mish mash of T shirts (uniqlo or Tesco) simple Uniqlo cashmere jumpers and the odd high end jumper, and EXTREMELY fashionable (often expensive) shoes that are mostly trainers or boots. I wear basics for 95% of my life, but the last 5% is footwear, and there I go a bit wild. The rest is waterproof.

We used to love the Ivy. Don't go since the refit, prefer Murano.

I am largely London and accept there are casual middle class signifiers and that people don't dress up like they used to. The last time I was in York women were dressed far more smartly in John Lewis than they would have been in Peter Jones. Particularly the over 60s.

I have been attending Glyndebourne regularly since the early 90s. It is far more understated now than it used to be. I would presently wear silk trousers and a wrap over top or quality tunic, ie Caroline Charles. I would not dream of wearing a low key cocktail dress.

On balance I think London is far less dressy than the North but possibly more understated chic.

Newcastle - first time I ever spotted groups of young guys out clothes shopping together.

Glasgow - lots of arty street style.

Admittedly both were over 20 years ago.

There’s an awful lot of subtle snobbery here!
For info - born and bred in Liverpool, now in Southern Hemisphere.
Dress how I feel on the day , lots looks depending on how I feel.
As my Mum said “ you can’t judge a book by its cover “ - she then proceeded to do just that.😏

There are differences in clothing through the UK. And it’s not snobbery to say so. Londoners to tend to be more casual. People in the country tend wear a lot of practical clothing. I have noticed a lot more dressing up in certain places than others - in small towns for example I’ve seen people get dressed to the nines to go out, that happens less in the city I live in. I’ve not noticed black tracksuits? Of course people will dress differently in different geographical locations! We dress in what we can afford which is dictated by where the high earning jobs might be as an example. If you work in a financial district you will dress differently if you are in an arty job, these are also different geographically. In towns you can get dressed up in huge heels etc and get a taxi door to door whereas maybe not so inclined traipsing around a city. Media types are often in London or Manchester where the studios are. I think there is often a more glam thing going on in the Northern cities with major sports teams like Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle. Maybe it’s due to where the members clubs etc appear ie dress to impress. London was one of the first I think that was acceptable to go out dressed down. I still have to check myself now if I’ll get in somewhere here with trainers etc. I’m sure this comment will be rubbished which is fair enough, these are my observations and I work in a field which has some relevance to it. I don’t know why it sounds snobby to say we’re all different. We are. Nobody is saying anyone is lesser than though!

I've lived in the west country for a long time now. Most places people wear sensible country clothes, walking boots or trainers etc most of the time (parts of Bristol on a Friday or Saturday night excepted where it's a bit more high fashion, and Cabot Circus also excepted where it's all yummy mummies who look down on us country bumpkins so much they don't even register we're there and regularly slam doors in our faces...). And work is usually smart casual, you might wear a nice jacket or suit for an interview or if you're in a job like law or estate agency, but otherwise it's fairly low key most places.

However I grew up in Newcastle (known for being a bit blingy especially on a weekend). I actually got quite a shock at just how blingy it's now become when we visited family in early December. I'm still laughing at the looks we got from a couple at the table next to us at a certain themed music cafe on the quayside when we had the temerity to rock up there in walking gear...to us they were astonishingly overdressed, but to them we were bringing the tone down, evidentlu. (The staff didn't care, we were still paying after all.)

And then we also had dinner out with a friend at a remote country pub in Northumberland who insisted on us changing for the evening and decided that sequins and strappy sandals were the order of the day. I only had a drab grey serviceable dress as an option apart from the country walking gear, and the funny thing there was that we'd have looked less out of place in the hiking boots and fleece but she'd been so insistent it was dead glam....mind you this is the same person who visited while I was working in Ireland and asked if I could make sure I had her favourite brand of hairspray available...given that we spent a fair amount of time at the wild and windswept coast that did make me laugh.

When I was working in Ireland in general a lot of my other admin colleagues at the same sort of level were very smartly dressed, making a lot of use of fabrics like wool and tweed due to the climate.

We're hopefully off to west Wales for a short break next month, last time I was there they also dressed fairly practically so I'm hoping we'll be sartorially appropriate with our normal gear....!

@JayAlfredPrufrock

Oh goody.

London = ultra cool and casual = posh
Liverpool and Manchester = common trash

You’re the only one so far who has called them common trash!

Someone mentioned Essex and Kent people getting dressed up and that you can spot them in London.

I live in Essex. When I go to a local pub or restaurant most people are dressed in smart casual. If we go to London it's not to just pop to the pub but for a special night out with friends so obviously we would make more of an effort and go someone more glamorous than we would in our local town. Otherwise why would we bother getting the train/pay for a hotel.

I live in a coastal town and wear a Barbour or Seasalt coat depending on the weather . Usually with a pair of jeans/jeggings and a jumper or a knitted dress and trainers or boots because I love walking everywhere. I dress for the activity I'm doing which usually is very long walk followed by a visit to the pub.

You will see me in running gear but I will actually be running!

Evening wear is a slightly smarter version of my day wear or maybe a shirt dress and tights and low heeled boots because we usually walk to wherever we are going. I only wear heels to weddings those days and may have forgotten how to walk in them.

@tygga

Well they are the two biggest cities

Birmingham is the second city in the UK. Five universities, and the youngest population in Europe I believe. Which may be significant as younger people tend to drive fashion. Style very diverse, from casual to full on glam, alternative, and styles reflecting the culture, heritage and ethnicity of the wearer. You could wear anything and not feel out of place.

Well this is interesting. We're off to London next week so will be sure to put on my anthropological fashion glasses .

Down here on the Cornish coast it's pretty casual with the odd "roadman" in head to toe black with obligatory North Face coat (this is my DC's description btw). Still quite a lot of surf brands popular, especially with Yr9 girls who seem to just want Roxy or any other overpriced hoodies with branding.

Quite a few farming or equestrian folk walking round shops in jodhpurs or overalls liberally coated with mud.

Still see a fair bit of White Stuff and Seasalt around on more mature women but the most widespread item of clothing is a heavy duty waterproof at this time of year.

Oh and still plenty of people (usually blokes) in shorts and flip flops even in February.

So all in all we're quite Cosmopolitan down here