I’m Greek + English, used to live in the UK years ago, and I visited again see a friend in a new city. What surprised me was how everyone (not literally, but a very large portion) seemed to have their own distinct look.
We went into a busy McDonald’s and about a quarter of the people there were dressed head to toe in Nike or Adidas tracksuits, baseball caps, trainers with the bubble soles, and loads of gold jewellery, such as bracelets, rings on multiple fingers, the works. It was always in combination. They looked a bit like white gangstas, or early Eminem cosplayers. One of them was playing this kind of funky house music that had pitched-up vocals on their phone. All of these people were young, middle aged and old.
I mentioned it to my friend and she just laughed and said, “Yeah, that’s just the style here.” Wherever we went, up town, in a bus, in a chip shop, there were people dressed like that everywhere.
Is that actually a thing? Do different UK cities have their own fashion vibe and I just never noticed?
There are clear contrasts for sure.
Most people would struggle to see a difference between Oxford and Cambridge style, but contrast them to for example Colchester and the difference is night and day. The latter has the highest proportion of loud car exhaust mods in the UK, probably, which seems to be the young male style there.
Go to any town in Norfolk and you’ll struggle not to see tweed and Barbour coats. Most dogs will sport distinctly countryside coats in winter rain.
Bristol would be unique compared to any of the above. You’ll probably get a sense of a certain hippie style as you weave past the old style WV camper vans some people live in.
Newcastle has yet different style, especially on a weekend night. Typical ladies outfit could probably be best described as scant, any time of the year.
Then there is the smallest city of the UK (by area), the City of London. I’m not sure what to even say about their style. Actually, I don’t even want to comment further about those knobs.
It’s no coincidence that all the bars around that far north sell vodka trebles. You’d need antifreeze in your veins to go out in midwinter wearing only a negligee and heels.
Wolksvagen Lubbi
Hah, I’ll just leave it.
That’s a brilliant breakdown. I love how you’ve highlighted how distinct the feel of each place can be. It’s interesting how each city (or even small town) seems to develop its own uniform.
I guess that answers my question pretty clearly, it sounds like UK cities do have their own styles, even if you only really notice it once you’ve spent time in a few of them.
Do you think those differences are changing, though? Like with online trends and fast fashion, are local styles starting to blur a bit?
In Oxford we have a few distinct fashion tribes for sure. My favourite ones are the poor rich student, wearing jagged clothes but carrying a £6k digital Leica, and the middle aged people wearing hiking-chic (Patagonia and Arcteryx rather than Barbour).