Are European women better groomed & better dressed than British women?

[Explodingatomickittens]

Following two interesting threads & posters are saying that the Dutch & German woman are impeccably groomed & dressed. The "scruffy toff with I untidy hair covered in dov hair" is absolutely not a sign of wealth... It's interesting!

I live on the continent and when I come back to UK I notice how orange everyone is and plastered in slap.

I was in Paris last week and really noticed the contrast. I think men and women on the continent take more care however there is less individuality—what I mean, is when a British person looks stylish it’s usually with more personal flair (at least in my experience/opinion).

@Christmasisshit that's really interesting. I find European women extremely stylish & it looks so natural. According to other threads alot of time & money is spent looking so natural!

No, depends where you are though. In central Paris, yes but a working class town in Germany, not so much. Same goes for the U.K. head to the city centre and you find well turned out individuals, go to Iceland just after the school run and you'll find exhausted women with 2 younger children whose dp has walked out on them barely able to cope with life, impeccable grooming just isn't a priority. As a tourist you aren't likely to be in the rough bits of town remember!

It's a generalisation but yes, I think so. I spent new year in Spain and I could spot the German and Dutch women in the hotel easily. Also the British! Italians are always well dressed and no-one does style like the French.

I lived in France for a couple of years in my 20s (I'm in my 30s now this was a few years back). As far as I saw, it's pretty much the same as here. Some women dress stylishly with nails and hair done (especially in Paris). Some don't bother at all. In the town where I lived it was mostly jeans and boots and t shirts with a bit of eyeliner and most women had shoulder length brown hair (all dyed the same shade of brown - I used to wonder if it was the only colour the hair salons stocked!). So very similar to the UK overall. Main difference I noticed then was that French women favoured black or neutral colours while the UK was generally more colourful. Just the trends of the time I expect.

I agree with @Christmasisshit , too much slap. Even little girls, I’ve seen 5-10 yo with hair done and mascara and lipgloss. I’ve also never seen a caterpillar brow locally, they seem to be hugely popular in the U.K.

Continental women do not spend loads of money on looking natural, I certainly don’t nor do any of my contemporaries or any of my DD’s age. We do go to the beautician for a wax and a pedicure and I did have a series of facials about 20 years ago but not many of us have the time for that!

@Explodingatomickittens British people are European as well.

Agree. The make up style is v different. Much more full on slap.

Depends where you are. I don’t see that here but where you are might be different

I don't notice fake tan as much in Europe

I think it depends on income and life circs, like elsewhere, as well as interests.

The Dutch and French women I know who surf aren't interested in getting their nails done. You wouldn't differentiate them from each other (although Dutch tend to be taller and blonder, but not always).

I also know conservative, older generation French, Dutch, German and Italian women who wear a uniform of makeup, shorter hair, shirts with cashmere jumpers, trousers (rarely jeans) and expensive jewellery. Shoes along the Salvatore Ferregamo lines. Sometimes Repetto. Wear trainers that look to me like they're Geox or Gabor (I have no idea).

I see a trend of "sad beige" with mums in their Kate 20s, early 30s. Kids especially are dressed in it. A lot of effort goes into looking like there's no effort - and expense into looking like you're hobos! That's more the Northern Europeans.

I don't see one nationality as better groomed. Mums who are rushing between work and school and a DH who notionally pulls his weight, with no other support simply don't have time to be getting their nails done. It doesn't matter where they live. Those with time and/or money to spend on clothes and grooming often do invest more of both in it. Just like in the UK.

Could it be weather related aswell. Milder climates or places where when it's hot it's hot or when it's cold it's cold but in the UK you can get all weather's in one day, it makes it harder to dress.

I don't think so. And when did we stop being European?

There are a lot of tanning studios in The Netherlands. When I moved here 10 years ago and was looking at buying, a lot of homes had tanning beds in them! Dutch people without tanning beds are white, like Nicole Kidman white.

Those who don't use tanning beds very often don't care about burning badly every spring/summer to build up their tan....

It's now easy to buy Factor 50 sun cream - for kids though. When I first moved here even that wasn't common.

I don't think this is true. Wealthy Europeans living in fashionable cities are often well groomed, but so are wealthy UK women. Go out to less affluent towns and the picture changes, as it does in the UK.

What you see less of on the continent is the fake tan/giant eyelashes/giant nails look.

Yes.

Whenever I visit the UK, I’m surprised at how many people present themselves.

Men on nights out in football shirts, or badly fitting jeans and shirts that are too short.

It’s rare to see a younger woman who is nicely and appropriately dressed. It seems to be either pyjamas in the daytime with greasy pulled back hair, or dressed to the nines with bad hair extensions, too much tan, ridiculous fake lashes, acrylic nails so long they can’t pick up coins, make-up with that contour look that often just looks dirty, ill-fitting short dresses, and shoes they struggle to walk in.
There seems to be so little in between.

Yes. I'm British and trying but omg the natural elegance physically hurts cos I'll never be able to do it

I COMPLETELY disagree about Dutch women. I lived there and I think nothing could be further from the truth!

Every single one of them gets the same scruffy short hairstyle at about 45 which they never do anything with (I can tell they’re Dutch before they open their mouth just by this!) and in general I think their clothes are cheap looking. They rarely dress up, usually scruffy.

I think Germans are similar to Brits but Dutch women all immaculate? No!

Middle class European women will buy statement coats and accessories that are more expensive than a lot of British women would perhaps be comfortable paying for even though they could afford them; really look after items and wear them constantly.

I find that they make a huge effort to look their best when they know they will be seen, so even doing errands in town will require thought and a bit (lot) of outfit planning. I suppose it’s traditions like the Italian concept of the ‘ bella figura’ that keep this going - there is a definite pressure from society in general over there - bit like our old ‘Sunday best’.

Take a look at the street style videos and you can see it clearly, especially among the over 40s.

Where do you visit?

@N00bz i really don’t recognise your version of the UK at all!

Nah, it’s a city vs rural thing, same as the UK. We’re just more likely to be visiting big cities or smart tourist areas.

Visit a medium sized working town in France or Germany (or anywhere) and you won’t think people are particularly stylish.

All of european women vs British women?
I think this sort of thing varies massively according to things like city people or rural. Age groups, professional jobs etc.

If youre contrasting young parisians and Berliners etc with single mums from great yarmouth or blackpool, then you might notice a big difference, but if i go see my mum in rural france, most of the women are in jeans, short hair, no makeup and variety of shapes and sizes.
My southern mediteranean family members are often quite overweight as they get older.
I am not sure why people seem to think european women are this superstylish bunch, when theyre just people, and it really varies

It's not city vs rural - a lot of rural areas are pretty wealthy and attract plenty of tourism.

It's affluent areas (both cities and rural) vs your bog-standard, boring, not so affluent, towns. In the latter, people do tend to be less well groomed.