Monday, November 7, 2016

Expat Talk: How Living in London Has Changed My "Style"



I recently read this post on one of my favorite blogs, Cup of Jo, and the reader comments fascinated me.

Some women praised Lisa Fine for her unique, vintage and menswear-inspired style (which, in my opinion, looked amazing and enviable) but others complained that they couldn't "relate" to her style and that, if attempted in their hometowns, would translate into looking "homeless" (which I found pretty offensive, by the way, as if homelessness could be diminished or compared to a fashion choice) or "too eclectic".

"I would love to see a more traditional style featured!" one reader exclaimed. "This style, while cute, would make me look homeless in my town." (Seriously?!)

Another requested that Jo profile someone with a "not particularly fashion-y style", whatever that means.

Amused, flabbergasted, and incensed all at once, I reflected on my own style and how it's evolved and adapted to big-city living since I first moved to London.

As I write this, I have an enormous, oversized black faux fur stole draped around my shoulders - because it's cold in the office and I'm writing this after work. But I know that this stole would never fly in my small hometown. There, the dress code is casual: jeans, leggings, yoga pants, and hoodies are typically worn to run errands, to the movies, to dinner ...

And, growing up, I wasn't particularly into fashion. I loved clothes and shopping, but this was before Instagram and fashion bloggers, so I had a pretty narrow view of what "fashion" actually meant. I dressed to fit in - as most of us do. And yeah, "fitting in" involved a kind of uniform, sourced from the same five or six stores at the suburban malls.

But then, I moved to London and as my style slowly changed, I began to realize that I was dressing to stand out. Not overly so - not like Susie Bubble, for example (who is so ridiculously cute and cool) - but in my own, subtle way.

I realized this when I sat down on the tube one morning, on my way to work, wearing a metallic pleated skirt, an oversized cashmere sweater that was falling off my shoulder, and space-age silver heels. I could imagine this look attracting stares (and not in a good way) in the Pacific Northwest, where the style is far more low-key and, well, less "fashion-y".

Today, I'm influenced by Scandi style from stores like COS or & Other Stories, plus the trendy, off-the-catwalk interpretations from fast fashion giants like Zara and Topshop. I definitely pay more attention to trends than I ever did before, clocking high-end brands via magazines, blogs, and Instagram, and curating my closet to reflect a more, well, "big city" me.

In many ways, that's precisely what I've loved about living in London. It's the city that gave me the creative impetus to express myself in the way I dress (sometimes I joke to my friends that I forget that I'm not an ultra-cool fashion blogger, and that I probably shouldn't wear about 60% of the things that I do!).

Sometimes, I go home (to the States) and my mom will ask me, "Why are you dressed so nicely? You're just going to the mall. You know how people here dress. There's no one to impress." And I'll be wearing black tights, a navy sweater dress and ballet flats - something that I'd normally wear on a casual day off in London.

So, back to this post on Cup of Jo: I love trawling Pinterest and Instagram and blogs to discover styles that are different to my own. Some I find aspirational and inspiring; others, I might admire but leave. Seeing the curious responses to this post on Cup of Jo made me really grateful to live in a city like London where no one blinks an eye if your outfit is outrageous (unless you work in an industry with a strict, professional dress code - I'm quite lucky because I work in publishing and it's kind of anything goes!).

But more importantly, I'm grateful to live in a city that doesn't make me feel anxious or insecure about my style or any other personal choice, for that matter; a city that doesn't box me in for fear of being "too eclectic" or "fashion-y". I moved to London to escape that kind of entrapment.

Here, I can be me. Finally.

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25 comments

  1. I love your style! Plus who doesn't want your entire necklace/jewelry collection?! I definitely agree on London being more 'fashion forward' (whatever that means) in terms of dressing more excitingly, compared to where I'm from as well... the same thing happens to me, and I dress in a normal casual outfit but still find everyone way dressed down than me! But ho hey, it's still fun at the end of the day, so long as I feel super cool about my own outfit ;-)

    Back in uni, I used to have a even more adventurous time with outfits -- I had blue, red, yellow tights on, and just casually strolling down with some patterned dress!

    Cherie | sinonym

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    1. Thank you, Cherie! You know I love yours and all your outfit posts ;)

      And you're right: fashion (for me, at least) is about having fun as well and most of all, enjoying what you're wearing. I can't say I paid attention that much when I was living in the PNW and I definitely can't say that I truly "enjoyed" what I wore, as there was such a mainstream, "acceptable" way to dress.

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  2. This post resonates with about how I like to dress and where I livem but sort of in the opposite way around. I'm living in Barcelona and the local's style in general is incredibly laid back and practical. "Practical and comfortable" is how I'd put it. And women really aren't that into make up etc. I'm quite a jeans and tshirt girl, but I do also love to mix it with other things to make it more interesting, and play with make up because its fun, and wear a dress now and then. No matter how low key I do it, I always seem to end up looking way more done up than everyone else. Anyway, wherever I am, I don't care anymore, I'll just go my style!

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    1. That's so interesting, Sofia! I agree - dress the way you feel and the way you like, no matter where you are! I don't think I can take the European/London influences out of my style now no matter where I am.

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  3. When I moved to London my style changed, but I didn't even notice. You just buy clothes there that you like, but when I would return home to Canada my friends would inevitably tell me that I look so English. I still don't quite get what they saw that was different, but I did like it.
    I've been back to Canada for a few years now, sadly I think the English touch in my fashion has slipped away again.

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    1. That's really interesting, Erin - I'm sure that if I moved back to the US, I'd start subconsciously adapting to the environment around me.

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  4. I can relate, coming from a tiny rural village where fashion wasn't really a thing. My style started to develop when I moved to Glasgow for university, although it was much, much more anything goes as I tried to work out what my style was. Sequins, animal print, heels all day.

    I feel like my style is just starting to emerge again - it hibernated for a good long time in London while I was too sick to really care what I wore - and it's delightful to put together fun outfits again. While I still love sequins, animal print, and metallics - I'd say I'm slightly more subtle in how I apply them these days.

    Sometimes I forget how fun it is to live in such a creative hub - thanks for the reminder.

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    1. LOVE your style (and your penchant for a bright lip - you rock it so well!)!

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  5. I hear you -- after four years in Berkeley, almost all of my clothes are handmade and colorful (because I can't stand buying solid-colored fabric), leaving me scrambling to find the least-bright things in the pile when we visit Puyallup a couple times a year.

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    1. Ah, yes - you know exactly what I'm talking about because you KNOW Puyallup!

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  6. I have the opposite problem to you, being extremely unfashionable! It's just not something I'm good at. Also my job is boringly conservative so there's that, although I really can't blame my job for my lack of style!

    The great thing about London is that you're never the most unfashionable/zaniest dressed person on the tube and that's one thing I love about the city :)

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  7. This is such an interesting post concept! I felt the same thing when I briefly lived in Germany for a semester exchange; my style became subtly more "German." I've always been more drawn to black clothing, but while I was there I noticed I bought a lot of "smarter" looking pieces in darker hues, and tended to dress up a little more. It's so interesting how style changes by region, even if it seems like Western clothing is largely the same.

    Kate | girlinthebluejacket.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks, Kate! And thanks for sharing your experiences in Germany as well - so interesting to hear about the comparison!

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  8. Love this and so true. It's something I really miss about living in London; the freedom to try new things and you know no one is judging you. I've carried on with my sense of style even now I'm back in Devon. Alex often tells me he's not sure the people have Devon have seen style like this before! Hahaha.

    K.

    www.wonderingthrough.co.uk

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  9. I love to see what you wear! I'm not really into clothes, but I've noticed that in the last few years I've started to wear brighter colours and generally smartened up my look. British high street stores seem to be full of drab and dreary colours right now and it's down right depressing.
    I also read Cup of Jo and enjoy those '5 outfits in 5 days' posts.

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    1. Belated thanks, Ruth! So happy to find another Cup of Jo reader. I love Joanna's style in itself - so chic but laidback!

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  10. I know diddly squat about clothes Jaime and am so useless at all this fashion stuff, which is why I love the fact that I live in a city where some days I can go out as glam or as plain Jane as I like and I'll just be able to blend in with an enormously diverse crowd. LOVE that pink/purple dress you're wearing in one of those pics. Great colour on you!

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    1. I love your style, Shikha!! In fact, I remember being slightly nervous the first time I met you about what I was wearing, ha! Agree with the freedom to generally wear what you want/feel like in London though!

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  11. This is very interesting! And I literally have no idea why people would feel homeless with the style showed in the Cup of Joe post! Anyhow, I'm from a big city in Canada where people dress as high-fashion or as 'homeless'ly as they wish. I never really took notice before, but I've been back after living in the UK for 3 years and the sense of fashion is definitely different. It's a lot more 'utilitarian' here - probably because of the weather. But I find that the UK has gotten me to try more things fashion wise, especially since weather permits me to wear ankle boots all year long and such. It's fun :)

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    1. Sorry for the late reply, Camila - but thanks so much for your comment! I think different cities have different "styles" too ... I love seeing different trends when I travel. I agree with the utilitarian comment. The weather and the amount of walking we do in London limits us in terms of footwear, for sure!

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  12. Great post! I also am from a small town in the US, but currently live abroad. I've found that my fashion has changed a ton, but I do feel "over dressed" when I'm back in my hometown. I still wear it though because I love the clothes I have now.

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    1. Belated thanks for this comment, Elizabeth! How has your fashion changed since you moved abroad, do you think? I, for one, wear so much black during the winter and all sorts of wacky things and bright colors (pictured above) in the warmer months! I just don't feel right going out in a hoodie anymore - even if it's to my local grocery store back home.

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  13. love this! yes, I think that in smaller towns people tend to judge more others and that it might be difficult to be individual and wear whatever you want if everyone else is wearing jeans and hoodies:)

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