Observations from the capital

[Ridingaroundonbuses]

I’ve yet to see anyone with one of those Uniqlo bags that have gone viral.

Longchamp Le Pliage bags are very popular and I have seen numerous people with them.

I have not seen many of anyone decked out in obvious designer gear. I’ve seen plenty of people with designer bags.

People dress how they want and I have not seen any noticeable trends other than to say people are dressing for comfort ( trainers).

On Friday on the tube I was sitting opposite three women with those uniqlo bags.

Can someone post an image of a Le Pliage bag please. I googled them and there were several different designs on the website. Which is the one that everyone sees a lot of?

got to agree, though our people watching might take the thread off topic - style and beauty. Also a people watcher here - in London. It's the sheer variety of folk of all backgrounds and races I love about London, particularly on the buses. Will miss it if I leave.

I think that's why the floral dress has endured (despite various people declaring it's over).... it's a nice bright reminder of summer after a long and dreary winter. Also, it's good to keep wearing stuff year after year. I've had summer dresses for years and I still haven't actually worn them that often as there's only about 3 months during which they're appropriate in the UK.

I’m not particularly interested in the people, but I like clothes watching. And dogs.

@RampantIvy this with the block colour is the style that I saw most often. They come on different sizes and there is some variation in terms of the length of the handle.

https://www.longchamp.com/us/en/products/tote-bag-m-L2605089P68.html

I live in London, and work at a university. The Gen Z students wear:

• very 90s, lots of loose trousers (jeans/combats) with cropped tops or puffa jackets. Think All Saints.
• bumbags/those Uniqlo bags
• ridiculous trainers (Yeezy?)
• The rich international kids love Balenciaga (particularly Chinese students)

For the adults:

• the floral midi dress/trainers combo is still popular but definitely pegs you as 35+
• soft unstructured outfits (e.g. wide leg trousers, t-shirt, trench or blazer) has replaced formal workwear
• tourist uniform is skinny jeans, down jacket, sensible trainers and a Fjallraven bag. You're having a day out in zone 1 not fell walking, I don't get it.

Last time I was in Zone 1, I walked 12 miles.

I saw a lot (comparatively) of those caramel shade leggings and all-in-one Lycra jumpsuits worn by younger women. Looked a bit like earthworms. I've seen that fashion in much smaller numbers in other city centres.

Oh how I love these sweeping generalisations.

I'm one of these tourists/ day trippers (or my favourite description "bridge and tunnel brigade" - (favourite because it combined poster's spectacular snobbery with her spectacular not knowing what she was talking about)

I think the only thing you've got on your list which applies to me is I'm over 35 and given I'm almost 30 years over 35 it would be surprising if I wasn't "pegged as 35+. ( Oh and very nice proper Macintosh although strictly speaking it's probably not a "trench")

Looked a bit like earthworms
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂👍

@NatashaDancing no offence intended! I’m 35+ too, what I meant by that comment is the Carrie Symonds dress + trainers aesthetic isn’t popular with the younger generation. They are broad generalisations, but really no shade intended.

It’s definitely true that there’s a difference in styles between areas, and you see a difference between, say, the City (the only people still in suits) and the Lucy & Yak mumgarees crowd of Walthamstow. I don’t really feel like I clearly fit anywhere, but I’m aiming for the relaxed workwear/elevated basics look, hence being on S&B.

The whole point of my posting on this thread earlier was to say that I liked - and have always liked - observing what people in London are wearing. I'm interested in the clothes, not so much in the people, and in the London style observations on this thread,

That should have said: I'm interested in the clothes (not so much in the people) and in the London style observations on this thread. As you were.

I love observing people in London. I live in East London and work centrally in West End. There's definitely a difference between the two, or more a different frequency at which you see certain styles. Agree 90s fashion is still very much current, and trainers are getting more and more popular and funky which I love.

I also agree with pp that I can usually tell tourists apart from locals, simply because they dress for more casually practical manner than Londoners. Then again, I recently went to a market town for a daytrip and probably stood out in my most practical attire. I dunno, I guess dressing sensibly for a long day of being on your feet is a particular look.

I'm really two minds about the uniqlo bag, tbh. It's kind of fugly and I hate that it's so ubiquitous and yet I still want one.

So I noticed a few things in London yesterday.

Uniqlo bags - didn't see any

BUT Hari and The Gang "hello" hoodies - I saw two. Both ladies were also wearing skinny ripped jeans, bulky trainers and beanie hats. 🫤

I saw A LOT of Nike Dunks.

Always a weird obsession with who is a tourist vs who is a Londoner. What is a Londoner anyway? A good proportion will have moved to London for work. Those spotted in the city may well commute to work from the home counties or further afield. It doesn't matter. I like people watching but the older I get, the fewer 'original' styles I see. They're all recycled in the end and the younger the person the more they look like the person next to them - slightly waved hair, gold necklace, same sunglasses etc. Occasionally you see someone who looks interesting but often it's variations on a theme.

The women in their 20's that I work with were recently admiring/ aspiring to le pilage bags - teachers in central London so it must be quite a mainstream trend.

It's very weird.

Very weird. A small few on here think it makes them more important and more sartorially impressive to live in London.

Well as a proper Londoner (born & raised) I'm definitively naturally just more stylish than others! 😆

@mewkins I think theres a group here who deliberately ignore/misunderstand the Londoner/daytripper/tourist distinction even though people have commented on it.
Like I said (and several other pps) it's not about being a Londoner but about dressing differently for different activities. If I go on a daytrip to Birmingham, I dress more practically than I do if I'm nipping to central London for a lunch with a friend. So yeah, I can often tell who tourists are (also because large number of them wear their backpacks back to front)

I walked through Bloomsbury yesterday and saw quite a few students with the Uniqlo/similar bag

I ignore because it's basically pointless bollocks serving no purpose other than to allow some posters to sneer about tourists.

I live in a city which is the most popular tourist city destination in the UK after London. I don't feel the need to separate who is a "day tripper" or not.

I'll be in London tomorrow wearing ankle grazer chinos and trainers (and probably a raincoat). Will I stand out as a tourist?