How to dress like a frazzled English woman?

[MademoiselleFrenglish]

Looks like the latest trend is the "Frazzled English woman" and I for one; am ecstatic.

Bridget Jones, Love Actually and the Holiday seem to be the inspo, so tell me, what are your tips for being frazzled English women?

So far mine are:

• not brushing my hair for 24 hours
• only having enough time to put on mascara and nothing else
• wearing my one scarf that's far too long for me
• having my long socks peak out the top of my boots because it's bloody freezing
• forgetting my glasses and spending my day squinting seductively at my computer screen

Go out looking very well groomed and smart, walk to the railway station in November, stand on a commuter train for 40 minutes, more November weather at the other end, arrive at work looking like you've been dragged through a hedge.

Who are these women who come onto a cheerful thread and scold people for doing it wrong and not taking it seriously enough? It’s like the school swat glaring at you cos you giggled when the teacher’s shoe trumped.

I'm only entry level frazzled because my hair is immaculate but I'm currently wearing a hand knitted shawl and wellies and I managed to lose my purse in this small cross body bag. It was practically the only thing in there!

I suspect the person scolding us is incapable of understanding irony and is very young. The obsession with an aesthetic gives it away, we can't just be a FEW, we have to be doing it as an aesthetic or we're not doing it properly 🙄.

I like Kiera more knowing she wore a hat to hide a spot when filming a massive film.

I'm not English but I have no idea what an 'aesthetic' is either, as opposed to just looking like whatever you look like.

Does it just mean doing/wearing very ordinary and unremarkable things but in an incredibly contrived and try-hard way?

I've found my style. This is me. Never quite look polished but most of the time it's a muddy waterproof coat, old knits etc.

Oh, yes! The worst dressed woman on TV!

You didn't need to say you weren't English - that's obvious from your post anyway

How so @bombastix?

This is me! without dog hair. Today Ive been gardening so a bit of an excuse. I’m wearing large mans check green tartan shirt (left behind by adult son), oversized cashmere brown jumper with genuine food and moth holes, grey thermal leggings. Pink striped wool knee length socks, scuffed up biker boots.

never wear make up and have grey curly frizz hair 😊

You have a blouse that you iron specially, you put it on and whilst walking down stairs it crumples itself, the collar rolls in and you realise the buttons are not not lined up.

I always finish off an outfit with an inside out cardigan.

I let my DH cut my hair yesterday...it's not too bad!

Dear God, I look like this, feeling a bit reassured/perturbed to discover it's actually a thing though

The jokes gone now it has become way to laugh off failure.

It’s only failure if you entered a contest.

I treated myself to a beautiful Harris Tweed cross-body bag for my birthday. I love it but it is less structured and more capacious than I anticipated so there is a LOT of rummaging.

I think I qualify on that alone.

If this was directed at me, it's hardly an obsession with aesthetic to point out that the trend wasn't just Frazzled English Woman, it was literally called 'Frazzled English Woman Aesthetic'. The trend is a romanticised, Hallmark movie, romcom take on a normal person and therefore completely unrealistic, but all the 'oooh I go out with toothpaste down my top' was getting a bit 'oh I'm mad, me'. Also laughing at the assumption I'm very young, last time someone tried to direct a bitchy personal comment at me on a S&B thread they assumed I was over 60 🤣 one of you must be right.

Oh oh! I think I know the answer to this (because I’ve had it patiently explained to me before by a S&B expert) that Julia from Motherland’s style was intended to be parodying the middle-class, middle-suburbs, try-hard with contemporary fashion but slightly missing style, sported by many mothers. So because I like quite a few of the items that she wears I can only conclude that I meet the stereotype. I’m too tired and frazzled to care though.

My new bag arrived and is way too small to fit my laptop (thanks La Redoute and your sodding false advertisement) so I'm looking exceptionally frazzled with half of it sticking out the top until my NEW NEW one arrives from Amazon. I did get a new chic mini-skort though, so that's balanced out the frazzledneness.

I think this is only a thing on MN, no where else, lol.
MN feels like a huge place to people who never get offline, but in reality it is a teeny tiny corner of the UK internet, seething with insecure class-conscious worrywarts, aching to get out of the upper working class doldrums.

I can't even imagine anyone in real life struggling to get their heads around this.

We can't all be jetsetters like you @PiglingQuartet

It’s me! Hair hurriedly put up with a clip, the occasional attempt to preen oneself represented by a selection of ancient posh cosmetics on bathroom shelf; constantly sporting dog hairs and muddy boots; and shoulders always draped with tote bags.

Personally I complete this look with a courgette from the allotment tucked under 1 arm
whilst having two dogs on leads pulling me in opposite directions 🤯

I also end up half-changed, so in dog walking clothes which somehow involve pink knee socks with jeans tucked in (easy for wellies) but then wearing ballet flats… until DH or one of the kids ask: what the fuck are you wearing 😁

when I first saw this frazzled woman look on TikTok I felt a bit got at tbh