Expensive hair & understated clothes. WTF is it?

[follyfeet]

Was just reading an old S&B thread about 'looking well put together,' not flashy or designer, just everyday casual yet decent clothes. Apart from the stereotypical claptrap concerning Barbour jackets and dog hair, it was a fascinating read!

What I can't get my head around is 'expensive' hair. Wtf is it exactly? Most of us can't help the way our hair grows (thickness, texture, porosity) so how can one alter that? I always imagine this is all quite subjective anyway, but for the sake of sticking to the theme, my very own blonde version of Kate Bush or Helena Bonham Carter (a bit mad, kinky and wild) wouldn't make the cut, lol.

It's all fashion isn't it at the end of the day? Today's preferred expensive hair is most likely Kate Middleton's, but that wasn't always the sought after style.

So what is expensive hair, in your opinion?

And then there's the clothes! Where are these 'well put together' peeps MN'ers speak of buying their togs? I like the idea of understated, which is mentioned often, but no one ever mentions the actual shops. Where are these lovely exquisite chunky knits and other understated items hiding? Most of the higher end high street sucks imo.

Some comments mention wealth or class, but having been surrounded with well off arty types throughout my career I only noticed a lack of make up and a lot of frizz. No one seemed to care.

I am in my early 40's, work in art (painter) and science (geologist), and love yoga, theatre, hiking and architecture, and I dress quite boringly, I think. I spend £150 per year on my hair and buy most of my clothes from superdry or white company (i suit their colour scheme). I don't seem to have a clue about style tbh, but I would like to learn more. Clue me in Mumsnet! I can never find shops with nice things that aren't either country casuals or overpriced cheap rubbish.

I don't think it's expensive hair, but I do think it's 'rich' hair.

It's not expensive as in brazillian blow dries etc. But what it is is the hair of someone who is rich enough to not give a fuck.

I think the expensive hair that everyone goes on about is actually the preserve of the middle/upper middle class and the old money rich don't actually look anything like that.

Admittedly a lot of the royal family end up with more of the 'expensive' hair look because they are in the public eye.

But if you look at pictures of the more distant royals when they are not at events like weddings etc there is much more frizz, much less bounce and shine.

For various random reasons I happen to know several titled ladies, some of whom go to court events some of whom don't. None of them have the thick smooth bouncy hair that people are posting on here. They might have for posh events, but for every day not at all.

So I guess it depends on whether you want expensive hair, or whether you want to look old school rich as opposed to aspirational rich.

aristocratic and expensive are very different things.

That was what I was trying to say, but failed to put as beautifully succinctly as you 😂

Ha, No, you nailed it. You're right, Kate and co. are groomed because they're the public face of the royal family, but those on the periphery of the family and all Viscounts and Marchionesses buried deep in darkest Gloucestershire are generally not so into the uber-groomed look!

@follyfeet
I love Lady Louise's hair. It reminds me of my own, though mine is very long.

Long slightly frizzy hair, with brushed out waves or curls, is very pre raphaelite, and does look 'classic' in my opinion. I'm also seeing more of this look recently, though more in high end fashion. Was that a 60s/70s trend also

The 'expensive' hair, that simply costs a lot to cut and colour, ironically I don't think looks 'expensive'

I like Lady Louise's hair too. It's thick and natural, and a nice change from the over-groomed look of a lot of young women. She's very pretty.

What are the equivalents of Toast / Wrap London for men, does anyone know? I'm thinking of my Christmas shopping! I absolutely love Wrap London by the way, thank you so much to the PP for mentioning!

I like Lady Louise's hair too. As someone curly, I do like to see naturally curly hair, rather than feeling it needs straightening or controlling somehow. @tinseng Pre-Raphaelite is a word people use to describe my hair, too. I don't think genetics give you healthy hair, that's up to how you treat it. Mine is thick (amount not each hair), curly and grows fast. My scalp can flare up, but luckily my hair can still look healthy, so you wouldn't know.

@DahliaDreamer , Toast do men's clothes. You could try MHL and YMC

Awesome, thank you

Understated clothes to me would be something like Welligogs, Fairfax and Favor, Hunt and Hall. Country style with a twist, nothing that is too bold and looks 'quality' in terms of fabrics used and the cut.

Boring as fuck in otherwords.
I mean if you want to look like your gran when you are much younger up to you, but i beats me why younger women with money would dress like that.

@DahliaDreamer , you could also try Carrier Company, Community Clothing (GB sewing bee man), Mr Porter, Finisterre, Paul Smith and Arket

Interesting …

To me Welligogs is absolutely not ‘understated’ - it’s more ’aggressively traditional English country style’. I don’t think there’s much on their website that I - sadly lacking in long locks or rosy cheeks - could wear without looking costumed for a play.

I could probably wear the odd thing from the other two brands mentioned without raising eyebrows - but if ‘understated’ was my main criterion for choosing clothes, I’d want things that work just as well as on the Tube as for a weekend lunch in the country.

I see Welligogs as a brand I would take a key piece from eg jacket and then use other brands to accompany. So on its own one of their jackets + different jeans/boots etc wouldn't be aggressively country but would have a country spin. I would never dress head to toe in any brand. Crew is another one I associated with understated but again mixed and matched with other brands.

Welligogs, Fairfax and Favor, Hunt and Hall. Country style with a twist...
No to Welligogs. F&F and H&H ok for some things but generally a no from me. It looks good quality but if I wanted country, I'd get country. It looks like House of Bruar with a different stylist

Fairfax and Favor and similar brands always seem a bit deliberately aspirational to me, like the designer handbag for the rural set. The consumer they market to typically wants to appear affluent, but possibly isn't (and nothing wrong with that!).
Taking country clothing so damned seriously ....no. There's something about looking and being relaxed in one's clothes. Feeling at home in them. Aspirational clothing might make one feel like an imposter.

I agree with posters who believe there's a definite distinction between expensive hair and just...hair (which we all have, whatever our lineage). Only since the mid 90's has anyone suggested curls were not groomed. It sure as heck didn't seem to trouble perceptions of affluent young ladies in the Victorian era.
All hair types are equally healthy, only fashions change.
I am not unlucky to have hair like Lady Louise. Lucky hair is hair that you love.

Does anyone remember the late 70's film of The Water Babies? The young girl Ellie had very long blonde curls. The actress was also a model and featured on the cover of the famous Led Zep album with her brother (I think). That era saw a renaissance of long tumbling romantic hair, the whole William Morris, Elizabeth Siddall vibe, etc.
I think the difference lies in glamour versus nature, no hair type is 'dated', only our preferences.

I do see more relaxed approaches to hair in the academic, musician/arts fields. This is all I know really. I am talking a good deal of frizz, greys, long, short, often quite wild, pinned back gracefully if needed. I see more glamorous, shiny and bouncy styles in the popular media, red carpet inspired, so yes it is expensive, but quite unrelated to class or taste.

But any 'brand' could be said to be aspirational, that's the point of them! No-one I know who has F+F is in the 'can't afford it' bracket, we are rural so it is practical everyday gear and then can also be used as low key smarter wear too. I think it very much depends on where you live and your lifestyle 🤷‍♀️. If you live in an urban area then yes I can see how you view F+F as aspirational or faux country but where I am everyone looks very comfortable and relaxed in welligogs/crew etc etc

I like some of the Welligogs jackets, but they look like something Helena Bonham
Carter could pull off more easily.

Though now I'm recalling that she had the long curly or wavy hair with the frizz and it looked very chic.

I've never even heard of Welligogs and not sure what F&F is, thought it was Tesco! This is all very white middle england perception and doesn't take into account that we're a multi cultural multi ethnic country where expensive and understated isn't 25 generations english

I have hair quite similar to Lady Louise’s and it was once described by a hairdressers as having a sheeps bum on my head 🙄
Years of straightening and bleaching has certainly been expensive thats for sure.

Very fair point but we are all products of our environment and therefore our perception will differ accordingly. I live in a rural farming environment so yes my immediate thought of understated is classic country clothing clothing as that is what I'm exposed to day in day out. For city or urban life I immediately imagine clean lines in neutral tones/black. So understated will differ for each person depending on their daily experiences and environment.
The rural farming environment sadly isn't muti-cultural/multi-ethnic. It would probably be a lot better if it was but it isn't.

@twistyizzy that's so true that style can be very specific to location and lifestyle. I don't dress the same as when I was a professional in London compared with being a parent in a smaller city. I know at the start of this thread the op talked about royal style being different to more creative styles. Country and urban styles are also different and we are probably all making assumptions based on our own experiences.

Kate's hair is very unnaturally coloured, over-styled and way too full of extensions to fit your description!

@quitelikelyto We are supposed to pretend we don't see the extensions.