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...I wrote a long disclaimer for a post and now do not have the energy/spoons to write the post anymore.

Hate it when that happens. Saving the disclaimer to write the post another day. General synopsis: disconnect on personal (privileged) level regarding standards for women's clothing in UK, combined with own gender identity issues.

Also hate when the pharmacies close at 1 pm on Saturdays so I can't go get cough medicine. [sulks] Why are tissues so damn expensive here? It's not like other paper goods are pricey, and most other health/beauty products are reasonably or equally priced. (Except for contact solution, at which I am still boggling...£10 for 240 mL?)

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If you ever do put up that post at some point, I'd be curious to read it, especially any thoughts on differences between standards for women's clothing here as opposed to at home (I can't really think of any myself, but I'm sure I'm missing something! Also I don't often go clothes shopping here, thankfully).

Also, augh re: pharmacy closing times. When I had a bad cold right before we went on vacation & Phredd was out of town, I staggered out of the house to go get some medicine on the Saturday only to find that, even though the chemist was open that day, he was out to lunch so the whole place was closed. So no one could sell me OTC cold medicine. Fortunately the food store across the street, which I was going to anyway, had a small selection, otherwise I would've laid down in the street & cried.

My personal experience is that day-to-day attire, even casually, for younger women here is chockful of skirts and leggings and other stuff-Rhi-is-not-prepared-to-wear-in-crap-weather, as well as far more makeup than I'm used to seeing. It's much more de rigueur than what I'm used to...and I had that experience both in Birmingham and here in Glasgow. An English friend on my postgrad course who had lived and worked for a year in British Columbia noticed it as well.

But this divide may very well be regional and personal experience based--I went from Smith back to the US Midwest, and neither was particularly fashion-forward. I feel like the Womany expectations are higher than anything I've ever experienced, though.

Ah. Well, New Yorkers are prepared to wear anything in any weather as long as it's cute. I mean, obviously there are lots of women who aren't like that, but there are tons who are. So maybe I'm just used to seeing that sort of thing?

Also, MA & WI are colder than NYC, so yeah, I'm assuming you're much more used to super-bundling-up than I am (though I still bundle!). Plus now that I have discovered layering thin sporty long johns under tights, I feel freer to wear skirts when it's cold, hahaha.

What surprises me is how many women seem to be into fake tanner. I've never met so many who used it before, nor been privy to so many convos at work about it. One of my coworkers used to come in w/it on before going to fancy parties or on holiday, & we'd laugh at her b/c she somehow always missed spots--really obvious big spots, like she'd have a big swathe on her upper arm that wasn't orangey-fake but pale, & she'd be like, wtf, was I drunk when I did this???

I feel like the Womany expectations are high here, too--obviously there is a lot of that in NYC, but there's also so much more diversity, in general but specifically in terms of gender presentation, there, so... it is easier to ignore the Womany stuff at home if I want to, or choose something else. Whereas here it's kind of like Womany & I Can't Be Bothered But Still Womany By Default.

Edited ((somehow deciding to write WI instead of Milwaukee resulted in MI?)) 2010-11-13 14:07 (UTC)

That's interesting and doesn't surprise me, though it's not something I noticed particularly -- probably because goes against my personal fashion/gender presentation trajectory. When I lived in the UK I wore mostly vintage and art-studentish clothes, very rarely skirts, and now I dress more "professionally"/conventionally and more femme and wear skirts several times a week. California has its own particularities, of course... But with the exception of my now knowing how to dress for hot weather, I still feel that my fashion sense makes more sense in the UK than it does here even after almost 5 years.

I do notice that the UK stores I can afford to shop in are only really the 'fast fashion' ones, where the clothes are really of the moment and often full of stuff I can't possibly imagine myself wearing. There doesn't seem to be the equivalent of, say, Old Navy in the US for cheap basics, and I bet that contributes to the femininity-pressure you're feeling a well.

Yeah, that's very true about the whole inexpensive basics thing, definitely. It's also on a professional level as well--even in media land, which is SO casual in the UK outside the BBC, it's all about the skirts and 80s redux style.

I need special sizes, so I shop at a UK internet store. All the clothes are very femme, and there is a much higher proportion of skirts and dresses than in a typical Danish clothing store.

It would make sense for that particular store to cater to a clientèle who prefer femme clothing, but I find it odd and remarkable that there are no basic t-shirts available :-(

I find this true of the brick and mortar stores, too. (Oddly, there were some really nice things in the RL store that caters to my own size concern, I just can't afford them.)

Isn't that always so. Some people know the art of the capsule wardrobe, and can buy the really nice things on a small budget, but how they do it is a complete mystery to me.

It never even occurred to me that women's clothing requires different standards in different places =/ Not even after reading Zuzu's post. *wince* Hugs if they're welcome.

Except for contact solution, at which I am still boggling...£10 for 240 mL?
Whoa. I thought that the Study In The UK websites were joking when they said contact solution was more expensive on that side of the pond, probably because in Singapore a lot of people use cheap disposable lenses. *is grateful she wears spectacles* Can you order online or is that not feasible? (Or bring gallons and gallons when you travel... heh.)

Hugs are fine! Despite the whole thing these days about instant access and global culture, and the similarities between the US and the UK culturally, fashion here follows that of continental Europe far more closely than the US does. Sometimes this is a good thing. Often...not so much. I am hating this 80s redux thing.

Lots of people here wear disposable lenses too--according to my husband, who uses both contacts and specs, it's much cheaper to get your contact solution as a package deal with your lenses, via mail order. That didn't do me much good as a student, though, and I brought mine from the US and only bought UK stuff from the chemist's when I was hard up.

use spectacles! they're lovely and you can match them with jackets and things.

when I poke around the women's section none of the clothes fit my body type. luckily I did all my shopping at home, where I can get good things from the family tailor. support local products and all that jazz :)

I'd like to, but I'm so myopic that it's better for my vision to wear contacts (and it's actually improved as a result of constant contact lens use, scarily). Also, the myopia means that if I want lenses that aren't scary thick, I have to pay substantially more per pair. And I have been this bad off since I was three. Sigggggggh. IT'S NOT FAIR. [stomp]

I really need to just save up and buy some clothes when I go back to the US for my brother's wedding next summer, but I'm worried about doing job interviews here in the meantime and not meeting normative expectations.

Edited 2010-11-14 17:56 (UTC)

ah, i see. my specs aren't that thick so it's not that costly to keep making new lenses as my eyes improve. but for you, aye, contacts would be better. it's not fair i know! do carrots work for you?

glasgow has too many shopping-type places, imho. i went last week and the size of merchant city was staggering. *sticks to edinburgh*

i'm curious as to the "normative expectations" of officewear here: i see quite a few ladies in suits? more than ladies in skirts+leggings?

I think part of it is younger women--less the execs and more the fashion on a junior level. Though I do think skirt suits are far more of a Thing here, too, from what I see.

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