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 think the ''fake nails, fake tan, fake eyelashes, short/tight dress & heels you can't walk on'' look, which I find hideous, that so many women here seem to like is less visible on the continent.

But then I am the messy hair, dog/cats/horse hair covered , paint-stained type(I am a painter) so stylish women would probably look at me in horror too.

Yeah but that’s Paris - and I’m guessing you were in the nice bits. I agree that people there look smart if a bit dull. People look pretty groomed in the posh bits of London.

French provincial towns and countryside include a lot of women with a very weird reddish home die job you only seem to get in France and a lot of unattractive synthetic clothes. They are less well off women it’s true, but outside of Paris even wealthier people don’t have that Parisian slick look we think of as ‘French’.

It depends where you are though, and what group you are with. When I go to the US for work I notice that professional women on average wear a lot more slap that the equivalent in the UK.

European men are far more groomed/dresses than here.

is when a British person looks stylish it’s usually with more personal flair (at least in my experience/opinion).

Agree with this. European women are generally probably better put together but it's often more homogeneous.

I'm not British and I've never seen someone out in public in their pyjamas in either my or my DH's home countries.

I would also say we have Eastern European neighbours, a mix of Estonian, Russian, Polish & Ukrainians. They all dress so appropriately for all weather's. The kids also. Their winter gear on the schoolrun is impressive. They are also very well groomed but have a good base of great skin & hair.

It’s just the cities and wealthy people, same as everywhere. I live in a village in southern Europe and it’s all farmers and shop workers. I’m usually the smartest dressed and I often look like I’ve been dragged though a hedge.

Some of the older people dress nicely on Sundays, and the scout troop wears proper old-fashioned shorts, shirts and hats, but other than that it’s not smarter than the U.K.

Capital cities are another story. And wealthier people round here too. You can base your views of the continent on street style videos or articles in fashion mags, they’re creating a false narrative.

Sorry, I meant to write you can’t

@Greenfairydust that so many women seem to like? Really? I very rarely see that look - and I live in Essex! 😁 So rare that I notice it on the odd occasion I see it. There’s one woman at my gym with that look (and honestly I admire her commitment to looking like that at a gym at 8am!) but at my office, around town, at my local, any bars or restaurants in town, nope, rarely see it.

I think the fashion for fake hair, nails, eyelashes & eyebrows that have been drawn back on slightly higher than they were originally is British. Also wearing hardly any clothes for a night out in winter.

However I agree that normal working people on mainland Europe are likely to be just as frumpy as in the UK.

You also need to factor in who is moving and where

So a British person emigrates from London to a small town elsewhere. They might feel they are dressed up in comparison

It’s to do with wealth / cities and emigration

When people visit Paris v a town in U.K. it’s already skewed

Brexit. Bye now.

I used to think this was the case. However last summer we went on holiday to an Italian beach resort. Somewhere that tourists wouldn't normally go and not flash . The women with the odd exception, looked no better or worse than the Brits. The only difference was that they all wore bikinis no matter their age or size.

It surprised me as when I've been to Europe before I could see the difference. But that was cities and more touristy flasher places.

I think if you were to compare Paris to London , then the difference is not so much than if you compared Paris to your average small British town. So for me it's the setting as much as anything.

Can’t find those original threads, could you link to them?

Probably because the natives have a more olive skin tone, skin that tans easily. Unlike mine (and many others) which is pasty and white with freckles. "Celtic" skin.

Where are you going in the US ? It's a very big place with huge regional variations. Here in Boston a big UK style head of make up would definitely stand out. In more southern states, less so.

You know the difference between 'Europe' and 'the EU', surely?

Or do you think the Swiss aren't European?

Huh? We left the EU trading bloc, not the continent of Europe!

😂

Re: the French reddish home dye - it’s not just provincial France! They do it where I live too. It’s an older generation thing though. Some of the men of that generation (especially the “town elder”, local politician types) are fond of Just For Men too.

America is an interesting one.. If you take women like the late Carolyn Bissett Kennedy or Michelle Obama they have a classic look that's functional & impeccably groomed no matter the occasion. No ott hair, nails or makeup just classic, understand glamour but screams wealth.
The U. S east coast is understated however thd diamonds do the talking

Honestly I think threads like this are nonsense and full of outdated stereotypes. I live in a fairly affluent town and the fake tan/ massive eyebrow look isn't one I see much around here. I have E European family and see a lot of variations on that Barbie doll type look when visiting them, as well as smartly turned out and well groomed women. Much of how groomed/ well turned out people are comes down to money/ leisure time/ social class (yes the latter also exists abroad).

Nope. That’s just EU membership. Britain has always been part of Europe, just like Iceland and Greenland. This is basic geography.

Middle aged German women seem stuck in the 1980s with frosted blonde highlights and blue eyeliner and mascara.

Many young, rich Romanians favour the inflated lips, sharpie eyebrows, fake tits, filler and hair extensions. But not fake tan.

The Ch’tis favour tracky bottoms, sweatshirts and trainers.

There’s a definite difference in capital cities.

You can see this range but not similar in U.K.?

It’s different in different areas / social group / wealth etc