https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Thu, 09 Apr 2026 17:50:40 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different/page/2#post-1149892 Sun, 26 Jan 2014 20:10:04 +0000 Snargle 1149892@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It's so true that different parts of the Bay Area have different ways of dressing. I guess we have microcultures as well as microclimates!</p> <p>I've noticed that since I moved to Silicon Valley (from Oakland by way of LA) my clothes seem "off" somehow. Not sure how much of that is transitions in my life -- going from my late 20s to early 30s, underemployed/grad student to professional, etc. -- and how much is a change in local culture. It definitely seems like grungy/punk rock/DIY style is less acceptable here than in the East Bay. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different/page/2#post-1149887 Sun, 26 Jan 2014 20:06:22 +0000 Lyn D. 1149887@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I agree with the others, and also that I am influenced by YLF to add certain things such as great belts and BF jeans to what is available where I live. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different/page/2#post-1149878 Sun, 26 Jan 2014 19:54:26 +0000 L'Abeille 1149878@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>"there are no hipsters in Jamaica"</p> <p>Rachylou, you crack me up! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different/page/2#post-1149324 Sat, 25 Jan 2014 16:59:13 +0000 SW Ann 1149324@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I've now lived in Tucson for almost 15 years....but am not working outside the home.&nbsp; My style has definitely been influenced by climate and the people around me, somewhat.&nbsp; I was a "suit"&nbsp; wearer in the midwest, but now only wear a suit like item occasionally.&nbsp; I almost live in casual dresses in the summer because it's so darn hot here.&nbsp; However, I have never adopted cowboy boots and flipflops, the shoe uniform of Tucson.&nbsp; It's just not me, and tho I might admire it (ok, not flipflops) on others, it currently doesn't fit my style,&nbsp; I tried to be much more casual for awhile right after I moved, but that felt wrong too.&nbsp; I dress up way more than most people do here, but I've finally figured out over the last 6 years, "I gotta be true to myself".....&nbsp; Since I've only&nbsp; lived in the midwest and here, but I did change after I moved here, I do believe that I would change somewhat wherever I moved,&nbsp; But moderately. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different/page/2#post-1149094 Sat, 25 Jan 2014 04:40:16 +0000 MovingFashionForward 1149094@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Apart from the dressing for the temperature aspect my style hasn't really changed with where I am, because when I have attempted to dress more like those around me (when abroad) I just feel silly, and not me, and perhaps even a big of a fraud, so now I just live with being obviously an outsider when I'm not at home.</p> <p>Sarah </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different/page/2#post-1148170 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 05:06:09 +0000 Adelfa 1148170@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm definitely looking forward to getting an "LA" component to my style.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different/page/2#post-1148164 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 04:57:14 +0000 rachylou 1148164@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>So interesting. A lot of us are not so unmalleable.</p> <p>I was just thinking there are no hipsters in Jamaica. I couldn't be a hipster there. Then I remembered one of my hipster co-workers, who married a Jamaican, went to live there. So there ARE hipsters in Jamaica. But I still don't think I'd be a hipster there. It's not even in the realm of imagination. Wouldn't make sense. Would be mind-boggling. Everything would cancel out. For example, a lot of people have chicken coops in my neighborhood here at home. There's a strange sense of make-believe and playing dress-up, even though the chickens and eggs are real. You stand there in your wellies in chicken muck and you get that sense of irony. But down there, I'd stand in my wellies in chicken muck in the middle of urban wonderland... and yet I really doubt I could squeeze a drop of irony out of the situation. </p> <p>I have to wonder if my friend has had the hipster sucked out of her...</p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different/page/2#post-1148133 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 03:57:11 +0000 Anonymous 1148133@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Yes and no. I think I have dressed within the same general spectrum in each city that I have lived but maybe change the variations a bit. So I moved from Seattle to San Francisco to Silicon Valley. In a Seattle I did jeans, boots, jackets with a more outdoorsy twist. In San Francisco I didn't need as many layers - still jeans, jackets, scarves. Nothing I didn't wear in Seattle just with less frequency. Likewise I still ocassionally did the more urban/REI look for days that required it. I now live in the burbs and see the difference in dress from town to town MsMaven mentioned. The climate is so much warmer here that I have really expanded my spring/summer wear. I work in San Francisco. I wear the same clothes just in a slightly different combination and not the super casual stuff. Granted my analysis is between three casual western slightly urban (but not to urban) areas. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different/page/2#post-1148132 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 03:56:14 +0000 Jaime 1148132@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Definitely. Although I don't particularly dress to blend in, I am affected by what I see, what is available (also in the second hand shops), and lifestyle. And, of course, weather.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different/page/2#post-1148125 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 03:50:08 +0000 Suz 1148125@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Great question, Rachylou, and interesting discussion. I'm only repeating what others have said about climate and sunlight -- that absolutely affects my style as I can see in changes from summer to winter here. It would be the same if I changed locations. I think my work/ social activities also influence my style to a degree. My work at home clothes overlap with but aren't the same as my city-visiting clothes.&nbsp;&nbsp;But the difference is a matter of degree, not of kind.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different/page/2#post-1148103 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 03:25:30 +0000 MsMaven 1148103@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>No doubt in my mind that I would dress differently in SF than I do in Silicon Valley suburbs. &nbsp;I find it fascinating to visit the different towns in the area and see the differences in dress. &nbsp;</p> <p> </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1148072 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 02:36:03 +0000 Anonymous 1148072@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think I would dress differently, to a point. I don't mind standing out a little, but don't feel comfortable&nbsp;looking completely out of place, so,&nbsp;if I somehow moved somewhere where the default is, say,&nbsp;fleece and hiking boots or twinsets and pearls, I'd probably end up meeting the "local" style halfway and&nbsp;being vaguely annoyed at myself for doing that. I do feel like I stick out a little when I visit my in-laws in Nebraska, but I figure that, as the token East Coaster, I'm almost <i>expected</i> to wear lots of black and semi-impractical shoes.</p> <p>Climate would also be a factor too, obviously. I'd deal with that one grudgingly if I lived somewhere colder and happily if it were somewhere warmer.</p> <p>I actually have a pair of cowboy boots that I'm sure I look clueless in too!&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1148037 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 01:47:28 +0000 ironkurtin 1148037@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I tried to dress like an Austinite when I first moved here. I stopped recently, because all that trying just felt forced. I'm back in black, thank you very much, although I do own much more white now. (I always wore the boots.) I think I'm just more comfortable with urban dressing. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1148021 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 01:38:23 +0000 Echo 1148021@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Absolutely. My tastes would remain the same, but the influence of the local culture and norms affect a person. I live in smalltown midwest, and my style is NOT smalltown&nbsp;midwest, so I stick out here. When I lived in Chicago, my style was far less conservative, but I didn't stand out at all. Likewise when I lived in Boston. When I moved from Boston back to the midwest, I was like a fish out of water. People would literally turn around to stare at me, and I toned things down pretty fast.</p> <p>It is nice to think that we would always remain true to ourselves, but it is VERY difficult not to be affected by how others see you. And now, having children, it is even harder because I don't want my kids to have the mom who dresses like a freak. So I am just a very, very toned down version of the "me" I would likely be in a bigger city. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147987 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 00:42:10 +0000 Laura (rhubarbgirl) 1147987@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>For sure. When I went back to the midwest for the holidays to see family I could tell how different my outfits were from the people around me. I'm sure I would still be a little offball there, but maybe not quite as much. And then there are the logistical and climate differences - how do you commute, what's the weather like, what's the dress code at your work, etc. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147985 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 00:40:20 +0000 shedev 1147985@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I had temps above 100 in August and below 0 last week so I basically need to dress for whatever the weather throws my way. As for fashion, gear is dominant. I like gear, but not when it is&nbsp;covered in logos. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147979 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 00:37:11 +0000 Desmo April 1147979@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Absolutely! As others have said, climate plays a big part. Also, I live in a city. Yes, Los Angeles has a reputation for all cars all the time but I walk a lot and take trains. I almost never do heels and if I'm going out at night I generally need to be able to walk a mile.</p> <p>I've lived here for years and I can't even comprehend how I would handle a formal dress code. Technically my dress code is business casual but to quote the HR director "just keep it clean and non offensive". California casual is a huge part of how I dress. I will say that casual does not mean sloppy, for the most part its pretty stylish. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147972 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 00:22:57 +0000 April 1147972@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>LOL Janet --&nbsp;I know, right? &nbsp;I was fascinated.&nbsp; Interestingly,&nbsp;SIL says that it's much more&nbsp;okay to break the rules when you're not&nbsp;<i>from&nbsp;</i>there, because no one expects any better of you. &nbsp;What would be truly looked down upon would be&nbsp;to be a native and to have the wrong boots. &nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147965 Fri, 24 Jan 2014 00:14:00 +0000 Janet 1147965@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Wait, April, there are rules about cowboy boots? I suppose I'm better off not knowing. I don't really care if I look like a clueless east coast city girl, because, well, I am one. ;-)</p> <p>Climate would be the big factor for me. I think my style would carry through to wherever I went with some tweaks. I don't exactly adhere to a particular local standard anyway. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147895 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 22:20:54 +0000 L'Abeille 1147895@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think the eye can change depending on the surroundings. I spent 2 months in Nepal long ago as a med student and my eye got used to all the saturated brights till that felt normal. And then proceeded to wear fire-engine red stockings with a grey dress, in still-conservative Toronto, till my eye adusted back. Likewise, I have been places (Nepal and Kenya) where it felt perfectly natural to wear running shoes with a dress (and I mean gear type, not Cons) and weeks later in a city where I can't imagine ever having done any such thing.</p> <p>My preferred style of dressing, not so much. The biggest style difference from living in South Africa to moving back to Canada has really been the change from more of a SAHM to a professional wardrobe, so the boho side doesn't get to come out and play very often now.</p> <p>Haha must tell the story of our vacation in Chautauqua, Upstate New York. It was at the bitter end of my first pregnancy and my entire wardrobe was extreme boho in gauzy hot pink, purples and teal. Did I stick out like a sore thumb, in the Land of Preppy where even the children wore pastel polonecks and madras shorts--not jeans--this was 15 years later than I had seen madras shorts anywhere for sale. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147892 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 22:20:01 +0000 Thistle 1147892@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Yes, yes, and YES!&nbsp; I have lived all over the country, and I can definitely say that what I wear is affected by where I live. Especially as relates to cliamte. Upstate New York does not require the same clothes as Seattle or New Orleans or now Milwaukee. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147891 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 22:19:39 +0000 E 1147891@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'll have to see after my move if things other than climate and sunlight affect my dressing! Most of my clothes come from thrift stores, so are very location dependent in that sense, but they originally come from the national big name retailers, so I don't know if thrift stores everywhere are the same now or not. I went thrifting in the city I'm moving to on my last visit there and found 2 vintage wool&nbsp;skirts without even trying, so I'm excited about the possibility of more vintage stuff that's easily available!</p> <p>My style has really settled itself since my last move, so I dress a bit differently, but more like a stronger version of what I was already leaning towards then. Colorado (where I lived) is a very casual, gear-focused place, so I definitely didn't dress to blend in. I am not a fleece kind of girl. ;)</p> <p>Oh and&nbsp;I started wearing knee high boots over my trousers before that became popular in the States, because all of the Russians were doing it, so I got a pair of boots while studying abroad and copied them.&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147886 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 22:15:08 +0000 ramya 1147886@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I definitely dress differently here than in India. But more than what people wear here I am more influenced by ylf too:) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147885 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 22:14:16 +0000 rachylou 1147885@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>April, now that is an eye-opening revelation about tribe and cowboy boots. I can see in my mind's eye, now, the difference between the wares at the Mexican western-wear shop and the tack shop. Oh, what I'm <i>not </i>seeing to be sure...</p> <p>The matter of climate is interesting. My first time 'round in SF, when I lived and went to school there, I wore wool coats. Very formal, Princess Diana things. True, it was a different time and era... still I <i>have</i> switched almost completely to puffers. Perhaps that's because I've returned to the East Bay where folks dress a little more rugged. But you might think returning to work in SF would shake loose my hold on the puffer a little - yet it hasn't so far.</p> <p>One thing, if I want sunny clothes, I go to the Valley. If I want suiting, it's the East Bay. If I want business separates, I go the Peninsula. Hipster, East Bay. Hip, SF. And then you know, every now and then I come home with something from L.A.</p> <p>I'm not sure what it says that I don't like to buy suits in SF. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147871 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 22:04:52 +0000 deb 1147871@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Yes, my style changed not only by city, but also by state and country. It did not change over night, it evolved with time. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147870 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 22:01:47 +0000 gryffin 1147870@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I think everyone made great points.&nbsp; Climate is key.&nbsp; Plus different areas might require totally different gear for sports etc.&nbsp; But I think it would be hard not to be influenced by the prevailing culture anymore than any of us can say we are not influenced by magazine, tv, movies etc.&nbsp; I totally agree with cciele, I don't think our style would necessarily change but the way we would express it in different environments might.&nbsp; I think that is very insightful!!&nbsp; </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147869 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 22:00:59 +0000 Astrid 1147869@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>April, that's so true with the trying to fit in only to look like an outsider! When I was in Munich in October my friend showed me the dirndl she made for herself and explained how she decided on the cut, details, fabric, colors and so on. She grew up in Franconia, but now lives in Munich and her boyfriend is from Munich too. He said she should get a Munich style dirndl, but she wanted to compromise and added some Franconian details. The scandal! It was funny to see all those tourists in their cheaply made dirndls after that talk. It's a bit of an extreme example of course, but it's true for everyday stuff as well. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147862 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 21:52:41 +0000 cciele 1147862@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm not sure my style would change, but how I express it would change. Does that make sense? For example, when I lived on the East Coast, I ended up wearing much more black than I do/did in California. But I had a similar, funky style. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147859 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 21:49:01 +0000 MuseumGal 1147859@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Oh absolutely.&nbsp; My current style crisis is due to me completely changing my SF/no Cal style to suit Oklahoma.&nbsp; After several years of dressing down, I realized how much I <i>hated</i> it and decided to try and figure out how I really wanted to dress. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/would-your-style-be-different#post-1147857 Thu, 23 Jan 2014 21:47:11 +0000 April 1147857@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>It really does make a difference, and sometimes <i>you</i> think you're adapting to your location when you may actually be branding yourself as an outsider.</p> <p>For example, my SIL, born and raised in Nevada, knows more about cowboy boots than I thought could be known about cowboy boots. &nbsp;There are all kinds of subtle rules and distinctions that most people from the East&nbsp;don't know about. &nbsp;So if I went to NV and decided to get some&nbsp;cowboy boots to fit in, I would probably stand out to the born-and-raised&nbsp;as well-meaning but clueless, because I don't know those rules. </p>