I have a very important question to ask about UK style....

[EconomyClassRockstar]

What is with all the dresses?!! Especially the flowery ones. I've just got home from 6 weeks back in the UK and I've never seen so many women in ugly dresses in my life! Is it just because they're cooler in the heat or has Me+Em just brainwashed the entire country?

This is meant pretty tongue in cheek before everyone starts coming at me with their pitchforks...which they're entirely dressed appropriately for! 😂

I will be honest. I do...sob....own a pair of said hiking sandals. But I only actually wear them when I go hiking!

Nope. I'll take pale and interesting every time over looking like you've applied furniture stain.

I live in NY! There are seriously nowhere near the amount of women wearing dresses, except on a Sunday, here as there are there. It blew my mind because everyone was so hot and bothered and complaining they were hot and bothered and I was just like, "So why are you all wearing such long bloody dresses?!!"

You can't claim special privilege to be above being mocked when your style as a tank top and short shorts

That shit is appropriate for the beach. I don't want to see your bare flesh on the street.Or anyone else is for that matter.

Well yeah, if your idea of a joke is to insult an entire group of people but preface it with 'lighthearted' I wouldn't attempt that again..

Interesting that you really didn't like it when it was done to you! Would it have been better received if that poster claimed it was 'lighthearted'?

Ah! That has amused me. I appreciate that they are reserved for hiking though. (I’m assuming they must be worn with socks or else one would get bug bites.. i ave so many questions about these things I think I might just have to bite the bullet and get some to see what all the hype is about!) :)

Well, my main reference point for NYC these days is And Just Like That… and they all waft about in dresses in that, even the lesbian one!

I was just in Montreal, very very hot, and i DID notice there were far fewer dresses around than you'd see here. Shorts of various lengths with a t-shirt or vest top seemed the thing for women of all ages. Some of the younger ones seemed to go for clingy spandex numbers, which looked unbearable in the heat, but I guess it doesn't bother everyone as much as it does me.

You can’t come on a forum populated mainly by British women and insult them and get away with it. 😂. Next time you need to make your joke funnier. Jokes are only jokes when they are funny. Otherwise it’s just an insult.

Not siding with anyone but this thread has derailed in such a Mumsnet way

Baring flesh in e.g. 'shorts and a tank' won't keep you cool in hot weather. Baring flesh in hot weather makes you hot.

A loose, floaty cotton maxi dress, on the other hand, is like having your own personal air conditioning.

They do look hideous and old fashioned. I wouldn't be caught in a flowery dress. My daughter will go from calling me an old hag to an old granny.

Its far cooler to wear a floaty dress than shorts with a waistband and a tight vest. Shorts and a vest would not be considered appropriate for many workplaces. I have several dresses and none of them are floral. Plain coloured linen or cotton, a couple with stripes and one with a geometric print. I have one with jungly leaves print I wear on holiday. Sandals or trainers are comfier than shoes , however”nice”, I’m guessing loafers or those boat things.

Jokes don't go down well on MN. I wear dresses a lot myself in summer btw (not in the UK), but floral - NEVER. Dresses and skirts are usually cooler to wear in hot weather than shorts.

Oh come on, the average American is no style icon even up against the polyester dress clad Brits. Weirdly formal in the workplace (even my German friend complained about the frumpiness of her male and female banking colleagues in NYC) and often a bit too informal on their own time.

Summer is often 4 seasons in one day in the UK so dresses can be covered up/uncovered as needed. I also couldn’t wear shorts and tank to work, and presumably quite a few of those women you saw were working.

I’d be more concerned that your daughter feels free to engage in such misogynistic and ageist insults.

I only ever wear dresses in the summer. Perfect time of the year for them. I don’t wear floral but that’s just my preference. Rest of the year I’m too cold and live in jeans and knitwear.

I’m a beautician and I mostly agree.

Would you say the stereotype of Americans being judgemental and superficial is true then?

Well then you haven’t a leg to stand on have you since that’s probably the least imaginative outfit ever.

Of course I mean that tongue in cheek. Not in a goady way 🙄

Seriously op, the “Brits are so unstylish” threads are 10 a penny. And frankly dull. And, imo, inaccurate.

As for women where I am, I’d say more are wearing your outfit than flowery dresses.

Im just back from the USA. It was hot. Most women there were wearing your uniform. They didn’t look cool to me or stylish.

I have also been surprised at the number of women in London in flowery dresses. It's a trend, albeit a lengthy one now.

I agree that floaty/maxi ďresses are cool and comfy, very easy to wear and style. More of these dresses in solid colours are about now, and it's a big improvement imo.

I don't really like the flowery floaty look and I don't own any myself. But I get it.

The Times had an article the other day about ‘how to avoid looking like a Brit on holiday’. I read all the things you weren’t supposed to wear (floral midi dresses) and thought why not? They look great. The story was accompanied by a picture of Patsy and Edina (Ab Fab) in caftans and straw hats and Ray Winston in bright yellow budgie smugglers - also all looking great. (Yes I know they were all in character).
To be honest, I don’t want to skulk around in ‘block colour shift dresses’ and I don’t want to feel like I have to apologise for having British style when I am British and I like floral dresses and white trainers. They suit me.

I agree OP and see the flowery, floaty dress outfit as this decades 'tunic + leggings' look.

OP has a point (albeit a rather rude and goady one) that the summer dress trend is a very British phenomenon, and maybe a bit overdone. I’m Canadian and you see far, far fewer dresses here. However the insinuation that shorts and a t-shirt are a better and more stylish option is ridiculous. British women, on the whole, are more stylish than North American women. Making fun of their fashion choices is odd.

A smart vest top 😂 That’s like smart flip flops or smart jogging bottoms isn’t it?