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!

As its about Europe, we are the 4th most un equal country in Europe, income wise.

But this discussion is a bit off topic other than it may explain why (if its the case) we spend less on fashion etc.... maybe as nation we are just plain over weight and ugly lol ?

‘Plain overweight and ugly lol’

I prefer a more uplifting S&B 😂 but maybe post a AIBU post with this and see how you go ;

That’s why I compared it to Manchester which is similar in terms of size. I agree though that there is a uniform style and it’s quite boring in that sense.

i’m from a small place in the north of Sweden, there everyone just dress completely practical. Not chavy or bold, more HellyHansen/Timberland etc.

Probably some are and some aren't, like anywhere.
I'm a slob, my sister is always immaculate and turned out nicely. I expect loads of Dutch and French women just walk around in jeans and scruffy T-shirts when they want to as well.

I agree. I have been saying this for years. We hear of French chic but I think the Spanish and Italians have more chic.
The French had better PR 😀

Ha ha maybe not.... lol!

Seriously i spend quite a bit of time in France and i have to say, compared to a similar sized town in UK, generally speaking, both males and females are better turned out.
For me though its the children, again, normally French kids are better behaved, so maybe i should add "stressed out" to the UK's list of excuses?

Could be down to just better weather?

"There are a lot of tanning studios in The Netherlands."

Interesting because I'm in a neighbouring country and we have some, but not many. I have not found ANY places to go for a spray tan.

I'm actually surprised about German and Dutch women being given as an example because my perception is that they dress quite practically. Dressing up in a very feminine way seems to be much more common in southern Europe than the north.

"If I picked a random woman off the street in London, Paris, Rome and Berlin I doubt you would be able to tell who was who."

The Italian woman would have sunglasses, summer or winter. I think we'd be able to recognise her by the style of clothes in general too.

"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.
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Crikey . Where have you visited?2

Well, men in football shirts could be anywhere and men wearing jeans not at the actual waist but under a beer belly also happens.
Women out in PJs during the day definitely happens in poorer areas as does the dolled up look.
All of these things were common sights for me when I lived in Cardiff.

"I didn't notice a difference between women in London / Bath / the home counties and women in Paris in terms of size."

I'm surprised, but then women in London are in general much thinner than poorer parts of the UK.
I live in Belgium and I'd say Belgians are fatter than Parisians, they're much less thin that British people despite the beer and frites.

I’m glad someone else came on to say the same thing. I think the British are far better dressed, shod and coiffed than the Dutch!

love the Netherlands, love the Dutch, love the way of life and the fried snacks . Just not the style.

I have noticed a problem with the beauty, makeup and style trendy with all European women lately in general, huge filler lips, makeup that is veering on drag queen, fake tan, eyebrows that look extremely bushy "the natural look" or the sharpie look. It occurs everywhere in Europe. I have seen it first hand in Eastern Europe and Northern Europe. In England yes I think it is a bit worse, probably spurred on by image obsessed shows like TOWIE and Love Island. Many young people go to Turkey to have their perfectly fine teeth whittled down and replaced by ridiculous ice white teeth. Fake tan does seem to be more ubiquitous with the English. The caked on drag makeup is a tad more prevalent here as well. The beauty of the European woman used to be softer, more elegant and has been replaced in modern times by something gaudy. I really hope its just a passing trend! The amount of lip filler I see on young women and the "fox eye" surgery is alarming. It looks awful and obvious. Add to that the caterpillar lashes and orange skin l really can't wait for it to all die down. I saw this meme online, sums it up.

I remember being in Spain at an all Spanish resort about ten years ago and we were the only British family on the beach as far as I could see and what I did notice is how much slimmer virtually all the Spanish women were. Even older women were still trim and wearing bikinis. I felt like a beached whale in comparison.

You cannot generalise.
I visited family in mainland Spain for several months. I can honestly say that I did not see one single man or woman who caught my eye. Not one.
My observations about Greek, Spanish and Italians whilst on the beach: more likely to wear skimpy swimwear even when they don’t necessarily have the physique for it. Wear bottoms which are too small and don’t cover their arse (both males and females).This is probably due to the fact they tend to have bigger backsides whereas the bikini clad Brits tend to have bigger breasts. Also British women more likely to wear a swimsuit.
I see lots of Polish and Latvian men and women through work. The women are generally thin. Often wearing low cut tight jeans with bleached hair. Men often wear more extravagant style jeans. Dh calls them Polish jeans.
Lots of British women have bleached hair with black roots. It looks terrible unless you can afford to have your roots done professionally every 6 weeks without fail. The more groomed women will be able to afford this and will also have a less stark yellow/white colour. More of a light honey brown.

You cannot generalise

But then write a long generalisation...

The Italian woman would have sunglasses, summer or winter. I think we'd be able to recognise her by the style of clothes in general too.

Agree!

Everything I’ve written is from observations. Other people will have seen things that form their own opinions.
The thread was started saying how British women are less stylish that other Europeans. People can only speak as they find.

Compared to where? We’re about the same re inequality with Aus and NZ, lower than US but higher than Nordic countries

Compared to Europe, I assumed that was obvious! 😆

Re we are a rich country or poor I don’t mind but people seem to switch when making a point. Either one or the other

Who does? Certainly some people like to argue that we are a rich country & GDP capita doesn't match.

But agree it's pretty irreverent to this thread.

irrelevant to thread

yep. Not that I brought it up.

@Gwenhwyfar around the turn of the millennium there were tanning machines in all the launderettes throughout Brussels. You’d bung your washing on and strip. I thought looked fucking amazing. Rare photographic evidence shows I could’ve played an extra in Charlie and the chocolate factory. 😔

This thread literally has it ALL! Wild assumptions from people who’ve clearly never lived abroad, accusations of structural racism, geography lessons, someone bleating on about GDP figures AND a swipe at single mums in trackies. 😂

The average Italian is certainly more stylish than the average Brit. Especially the men I would say. No stripy short sleeved shirts from Next for them.

"@Gwenhwyfar around the turn of the millennium there were tanning machines in all the launderettes throughout Brussels."

When did that stop? I was in Belgium in 2000 but not Brussels and came to Brussels in 2001. Never seen one in a laundrette!
I was anyway transfixed by the 'colandres' that I'd never seen before.

The dressing expectations for Italians seem a bit oppressive though.

@MarshaBradyo but you seemed confused by rich country & GDP per capita hence the small derailment.

Italian woman are more glamorous but I don't find them super stylish. However I always think the women in Stockholm & Amsterdam look great because that's more my style.