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Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Fashion or Style or Dressing where you live.....

Sal

Veteran

Hi All

I think when you travel to a different country or city you notice the trends between regions of the world. Even within the same city there are noticeable differences.

And on the forum there is talk about what is acceptable or the norm in your region.

If someone with a good eye what would they notice about how people dress or are styled in your region?

I live in the inner suburbs so people park their car in our street and walk to the city centre, or walk to work. It is a provincial city not known for being fashion forward - that is growing, multi ethnic, with lots of wealth and a fair amount of poverty as well. There is a large university plus lots of high schools (including boarding schools) and lots of other training institutes. There is also a huge hospital so very much a range of ages within the city.

There are very few people in formal business attire - not many men wearing suits or women in pants suits or corporate dress.
There is a lot of black being worn (it is our national colour of course).
Most women sporting long hair
Too many black puffer jackets in winter
Basketball is a key influence despite rugby being our national sport.
Lots of diversity - walking past my house every day I see:

women in Hijabs ( very few Burkha's though).
school pupils in uniforms from casual to dressy, with dressy being a blazer, white shirt and tie, to casual being a polo shirt.
hipster men with interesting hats and facial hair.
business casual ranging from trendy to fairly bland.
young people wearing gang colours - which usually means a cap and a shirt in red or blue and maybe a bandanna. Gang patches are rare.

What have you noticed about where you live?

55 replies

Latest reply was from Laura (rhubarbgirl)

JAileen

Veteran

Ha! A friend and I were talking about this just the other day. Because we have a Patagonia outlet in town, the outfit would include a Patagonia Nanopuff jacket. Then jeans and boots. And tattoos.

Sal

Veteran

Haha!! Swap the Patagonia for Kathmandu and that would apply here too:)

Anonymous

I live in a mid-sized city with a pop of about 800,000-900,000. Despite having some very prominent financial institutions with head offices here, and with a strong business core, the women who dress really well and are into fashion stand out. I am constantly rather amazed at how uninspired and homogenous most women are with their clothes. I live in the inner suburbs too, with 5 minute access to downtown , and one with a high concentration of wealth. Still - dressing is not really stand-out. Suits in the downtown core are a uniform for men, hipsters are confined to a smaller and smaller area each year it seems, and the tons of university students here (we have 3 major institutions in the city) display polar opposites of extreme trendiness/designer name stuff (the Asian student population ) and "regular". student attire of sneakers, jeans and jackets.
Women in hijabs are concentrated in the downtown core area (where immigrants and refugees have settled) . We're a North American Prairie city, so in winter , it's each person for themselves , huddled in puffers, parkas and boots. Gang colours scare the ***t out of me, and I'm not sure who belongs to which gang and don't want to know. Meth addiction is at a crisis stage here now, and most crime seems to revolve around meth. ALL young women have long hair, and I'm not exaggerating. Very few women wear short hair, even at my age. The one group of (young) women who DO stand out for their wardrobe and accessories are the local NHL team's players wives and girlfriends. You can spot one a mile away by her Chanel bag , long blonde hair, eyelash extensions and Louboutins - and she's about 23. Insert eyeball here.

jussie

Veteran

Hmm interesting. Well I’m in a conservative suburb about 12k from Melbourne CBd. Jeans, sneakers, birks, and tees or sweaters with polka dot or stripe prints, are common, as are excercise gear and puffers. Grey or black long cardis. Pretty bland tbh!!

Workwear is a little more interesting- blazers, silk blouses, dresses, various knits, various cuts of trousers.
There aren’t hipsters or fashion forward types here, but in other areas of Melbourne there’s some very interesting fashions being worn.

Helena

Veteran

I always find these conversations so interesting! My town is a small, fairly affluent commuter satellite to Toronto. Generally women wear Lululemon gear and brand-y handbags (Michael Kors, Vuitton, etc.). Long hair, eyelash extensions and shellaced nails are the usual. The diversity of the town and proportion of immigrants (Chinese, Russian and Persian are some of the more prominent new cultural groups around) has increased in the last few years, bringing more style diversity with it and making the 'typical' style less typical (yay!!).

anne

Veteran

I live about 11 km from the city centre in an area that used to be working class, older immigrant (e.g., italian, middle east) but now has many international and regional students from a large university, and many new immigrants (most from China/ SEA or India and increasingly Africa). It isn't a very fashionable area on the whole.
I see

workers in hi-vis
some burkhas, more hijabs
typical white collar look for in men - pants, shirt and parka
well groomed young asian women
grandparents in traditional saris,
workers who share my bus into the city in nice winter coats
people in exercise gear - leggings and tops. There are lots of nice parks nearby

L'Abeille

Veteran

I live in a small mostly French town (summer tourism and fisherman and farmers) and commute to work in a small mostly English town with a fine arts university. So I see it all.

Well, almost all. Suits on men (other than my husband) are rare, even in church. So I was surprised the other night in the ER when some Junior A hockey players came in wearing suits and ties, apparently they are expected to dress that way on the team bus!

For the rest, if there is a theme for men's wear it is camo. And ball caps.

For women there's a wider range of formality, but jeans are ubiquitous and dresses are rare. The only people I see in stockings and business dress work in banking.

The university makes it interesting. Lots of hipster gear. I've spotted socks with sandals this month (mostly the guys). And from the artist colony, lots of hippie gear. Birkenstocks year round, tie dye everything.

I think the Acadian women are more fashion conscious than the Anglos.

One cool thing here is the number of strong, confident women who have gone grey early and look awesome. It made it easier for me to follow suit.

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

I live in a small city in the center of Israel. Dress is a strong marker of social identity, but the general look is casual, sandals, not particularly fashiony, but with well cared for hair that is usally dyed. In south Tel Aviv where I work there are a lot of hipsters and statement dressers. Casual dark dresses in the summer rule for women.

cindysmith

Veteran

I live in a cow pasture. I see a lot of western boots. Not the pointy toe kind. The square toe kind. And not the snip-toe kind, the for really for real square toe kind (see pic)
Also, camo. Lots of camo.
Lots of jeans, and carhartt, and more jeans.

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Joy

Veteran

I live in a rather mid-sized suburban city in Colorado. Tonight we went to a play in Boulder. Lots of women in attendance but not one sighting of heels, although most were rather dressed up..no jeans or gear. Lots of wide crops and dresses on all ages. Mostly ballet flats with the oldest women wearing low wedges. I see lots of quirky combinations and maximalism with restraint. The younger women are the ones most likely to be wearing dresses or skirts...most above the knee but not really mini.
Most clothes are plain rather than a print except for embellishment. The woman who introduced the play was a good example, wearing a tan pullover, a deeper brown a-line skirt with large pink/peach embroidered roses, and tan leather loafers. She and most women in this area wear their hair their natural color but trimmed or cut beautifully. Lots of grey shades of hair. If it is dyed, it is very natural looking. Few dramatic looks.

karen13

Veteran

So interesting! I have been traveling internationally this summer (San Francisco,Tokyo, Melbourne, Sydney and various Aussie spots) and found Tokyo in late June to be so chic, despite hot and humid weather. Wide leg pants were everywhere, and immpecabbly made-up and attired women. Certainly fashionable compared to my casual, gear-oriented mountain town tin the California Sierra Nevadas. Winter Australia looked a lot like California winter(and I bought Kathmandu and Icebreaker in Melbourne !)

Here it is Patagonia, Prana, REI and athleisure ad nauseam. SF, which I visit frequently and stay in the Union Square/Financial District downtown area, is a mix of tourist and office workers, but it is getting more casual every year.

Reno, Nevada (the nearest "city" of about 450K) is also very casual. Different vibe, with lots of gambling and tourism jobs, so locals are often dressed in their work uniform, and summer visitors are dressed for vacation and the heat. Cocktail waitresses wear some crazy footwear.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Lol at the idea of characterizing Berlin fashion. It is far too diverse for me to be able to encapsulate. The refreshing thing about Berlin is always the same—freedom of the city (Stadt Freiheit). On a subway, I saw a woman wearing a black sleeveless T with a graphic of thorny roses and gothic script, tattooed arms, nose ring, traveling with 2 little kids. I thought “so cool that women don’t feel pressured to give up themselves to adapt a ‘mother’ look”. And then one of the kids addressed her as Grandma. Same observation, ramped up a few notches.

Cindysmith, lots of ropers in the panhandle, when we lived up on the High Plains. They were working shoes, but worn into town/campus 'cause why not?

Style Fan

Veteran

I live in a small town 2 hours north of Toronto. We moved here when we retired. In the summer the town becomes very busy with "summer people" and a lot of the town is geared towards tourism. I tried to think about what people wear but I can't come up with anything. Everyone is dressed very casually and fashion takes a backseat in Muskoka. Clothing is functional.
Some of the more common things that one might see on the streets are:

- Yoga clothing - There are two Yoga studios in the town that I live in (one is hot and one is not) and Yoga is offered at some of the gyms. There are also Yoga summer studios. Lululemon has a summer store nearby.
-Birks
-Hiking shoes
-Jeans but not necessarily trendy ones
-Plaid is only seen on backwoods types. I have never seen anyone wear plaid as a fashion statement.
-Puffers are a requirement in the winter
-Sorels or a similar boot in the winter

Mainelady

Veteran

I live in a small coastal town that is big on recreation year round. We are a tourist destination and a resort community. Especially late May-Oct. 31st.
Casual wear and gear are the norm. Attire at financial and educational institutions is often business casual and more polished. There are very few full business suits for men or women. Many of the business “suits” for men are neat and tidy jeans, with a button down shirt, blazer and polished shoes. No tie.
During the summer, nautical apparel is everywhere. Comfort is key and most add some polish to their attire. We have a huge population burst when our wealthy seasonal neighbors arrive, usually Memorial Day- Labor Day. My observations are that the men in this group blend in with the locals. Some of the women do, too. Other women stand out as a summer residents by their attire: high end, designer wear, shoes, bags, accessories, full make up and perfectly styled hair.

Jules

Veteran

Toronto is very diverse, but I will say the hipster influence on men’s style is very strong for several years now, affecting everyone from local dads to Bay St. business types. Which means lots and lots of beards. I’m a happy girl!

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I live in the suburbs (but not walking distance to anything), but in a very concentrated area of the mid-Atlantic, within a 10-, 20-, and 30-minute drive of three very different cities. So, I can pretty much see it all in a day. One city is large and overall very conservative in dress (Washington DC) but you can see a little bit of everything, depending on what neighborhood you visit. Annapolis is pretty conservative style-wise as well, with the influence of the Naval Academy and the state offices, but throw in a lot of nautical touches too, and more preppy/sporty than you'll find in most of the rest of the state -- Sperry, Lily Pulitzer, Brighton, Helly Hansen all do a booming business there. Baltimore is much more eclectic and has a little bit of everything (major universities like Johns Hopkins, but also art schools (MICA), and corporate headquarters like Under Armour (so lots of athleisure-business-casual!), and T Rowe Price, etc. Oh, and lots of hospitals, so lots of scrubs. So I could find examples of probably every type of dress you all have described above, except for Cindy's description. For that, I just need to visit our ranch in east Texas. The only thing I'd add to Cindy's description is the ubiquitous baseball or trucker cap.

kkards

Veteran

i call the city i live in the gateway to the midwest (we are in an east coast state, but the city is in the western part and we are closer to major midwestern cities than east coast ones)....in addition, the city is just now starting to recover for the loss of the industrial industry's that closed in the 1980s....part of what is driving this change is the major tech university and the huge hospital complex...which is a round about way of waying we have very divergent style. the city has a very large elderly population, they tend to dress in either what i will call "ladies who lunch" style, that is very structured outfits that speak of quaility and taste and are neither fashion foward nor fashion stale, or like they haven't updated their look since 1980....at the other end, we also have a very large foreign student population, and they tend to dress either very fashion foward, or like the stereotypical college student ie leggings, sneakers, booties or flip flops....in between we have the trying to hard hipsters, the i don't care moms/dads, and i just left/i'm on my way to the gym wear.....oh, and in certain neighborhoods scrubs.
all this as a way to say, we aren't a very fashionable city....and the norms here tend to normcore.....

Grey Rainbow

I live in Silicon Valley. Significant wealth gap. Utterly diverse population with no majority ethnic group. Several major universities including Stanford with an annual influx of international students learning to navigate US public space. Many prep schools (I teach at one) as well as public high schools. Large tech population with Apple, Facebook, Google, Netflix, PayPal etc. etc. headquartered here. Style is relentlessly normcore with athleisure mixed in, for men and women. It never gets really hot here, or very cold. And we’re in a perpetual drought so we don’t really dress for wet weather either. Patagonia, Uniqlo, Muji. Birks with socks, trainers, skinny jeans still the norm. Rubber flip flops are shoes in warm weather. Lots of sweatshirts and 1/4 zip tech gear tops, which California kids think are “sweaters.” The subtext seems to mandate that clothes should not be new or crisp; great social value is placed on what is environmentally and socially responsible (or what appears so). Recently more frequent sightings of hipster looks on younger men (even teens), including the facial hair. A little further north, in San Francisco, you can see more edge. Like Greyscale. It’s not all black and gray here, but people don’t wear much color. Neutrals dominate. There are exceptions among adults in the Asian, Indian, and African immigrant communities (variously more color, pattern, embellishment, makeup) but that’s rare among teens and young adults. Among my demographic, lots of natural gray hair. Like mine. Hair styles are anything that looks not-styled. Most of my wardrobe is Eileen Fisher and I favor the more avant-garde end of the line as I grow older. That’s pretty edgy around here; even though EF has a solid customer base in the area it’s not easy to spot IRL. Which is the point.

em

What Janet said. We live in the same area.

Anonymous

I live in a mid-sized city on the east coast. I work in the downtown section of town. We all park in ramps and walk to our office buildings.

I see lots and lots of suits on both men and women. If a women is not wearing an actual suit, she is mixing a skirt with a blazer or wearing a dress with a jacket. They take the jackets off in their offices.
My perception is that the dominant suit color is grey. I don't know if that is accurate and will pay more attention in the future.
Very few women style their hair. It is left as natural as possible and the length most often reaches their shoulders.
Still summer. No outerwear. I sometimes wonder how these people wear jackets at all. I can't. Yet somehow they manage.
I assume basketball. I am sports illiterate. People don't try to talk to me about sports. That makes them happy. That makes me happy.
Not all that much diversity where I work. That does not reflect the city itself. It is merely what I see when I look out the windows.
What I can say about my city is that fashion has caught on. When I first moved here, I estimated that the fashion cycle was approximately two years behind. They must read YLF because they are caught up (or at the very least, it is not a two year lag). It is the younger crowds that incorporate fashion into their everyday work wear. I see it and deeply appreciate it. My favorite place to fashion watch is the mall.

Echo

Veteran

I live in a very small community in a rural area, and jeans and sweatshirts are the order of the day, every day. Both kids at school and the adults commonly wear jeans, sweatshirts, t-shirts, and sneakers. I did not grow up here, and I still do not conform to the style here. I "get" it; these are working people, not concerned in any way about fashion. How they look is the last thing on their agenda, and I respect that. I'm not judging; I just choose to wear things I like (which doesn't include jeans).

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

What Joy said, as I live about an hour northeast of her. Lots of athleisure here, but more of the Prana/North Face variety than leggings and sweatshirts (there are still plentty of leggings and sweatshirts). Climbing and ski-wear are the primary gear influences.

Where I live is fairly ethnically homogenous—mostly white with a strong Latino minority. Denver and Boulder are both more diverse, but still very white. Lots of oil field workers here, which skews the culture even more casual.

cjh

(website)

Veteran

Hello, I’m enjoying the conversation. I live in Illinois and I don’t mean Chicago. Frankly, the style diversity described by everyone would pretty well reflect the local scene here. Each person associates with a certain group of friends, work group and recreational preference, and tends to dress to fit in with that group. Runner, biker, pickle baller, golfer, each has his own specific set of athletic gear for recreation time.. The business climate here is extremely casual, with only lawyers in court wearing suits and ladies might wear heels. Even the doctors and bankers wear polo shirts, casual slacks and what I call “office lady” outfits- slacks and sweaters or casual blouses, and those are dressy days.

There is a large state university in town, where I’ve noticed none of the female students wear jeans - just black leggings or athletic tights, with knit tops, sweatshirts or hoodies.

Retirees are ubiquitous as their wardrobes- knit tops, T-shirt’s and polo shirts, khaki slacks, shorts or jeans, comfy footwear. Sometimes topped by a smarter jacket or scarf, but always in the category of practical and serviceable. No dry cleaning necessary.

If you spend a lot of time outdoors, you wear durable, weatherproof clothes and shoes. If you work in an office, you like layers to endure air con and winter heating systems. If you have young kids, or teach, or make art, you need washable fabrics, and if you have kids in college, like to travel or pursue a hobby, you might rather not spend too much on clothing.

When you look at it, a big part of fashion people adopt is so they fit in, probably a bigger part than they would adopt for the purpose of standing out. No wonder everyone kind of looks the same everywhere.

P.S. My Illinois and Colorado kids and grandkids also call all sweatshirts, hoodies, and pullover fleeces sweaters. That was interesting- to me sweaters are always knitted (or crocheted), with thicker or heavier yarns than just T-shirt knits.

kkards

Veteran

Just wanted to add how much I’m enjoying this thread

Daisy Avalin

I live on the outskirts of a medium city in Norfolk UK - we're sort of rural/urban mix here.
The school run is generally jeans (usually skinny) with polo shirt/tunic top/tee with trainers. I expect as we get further into winter to see more hoodies/tight fitting puffas, with flat boots swapping out the trainers for the weather - rain!

At work, I see both jeans/practical tops, and business casual/suits. All fairly basic, no real standout fashions or outfits!

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

I live in a small town in California whose economy is based on tourism to Yosemite National Park, as well as a mix of other industries like healthcare, a casino, a prison, logging (more and more as a result of forest fires) retail, and the building trades who cater towards housing for retirees. Urban Californians sell their homes and can buy a new home here plus have enough left over to sock away hundreds of thousands towards their retirement. And still be a 130 mile drive back to the city.

The locals are not very fashion-focused. But among those who are: the women tend to wear blingy bags and blingy jeans with sequin pockets etc. Silhouettes are fitted not loose. Elaborate manicures with custom designs are a must. The men love camo and baseball caps, Carhardt and Wranglers. Tatoos are very common among those under 50, and it seems men all sport facial hair now.

The tourists passing through are a different matter. The SF Bay Area and Sacramento visitors are usually in gear -- they're on their way to hike the park or go climbing. Then we have international visitors from Europe, China and India. The Europeans tend to wear jeans in a fashionable way, but not gear. The Europeans stand out as considerably better dressed than the US visitors, even in very casual attire. The Chinese women top everyone else. Designer bags, Gucci tennis shoes, etc. Indians dress modestly, but not in gear. I've never seen designer anything on Indians, in sharp contrast to Chinese. I'm curious is this is frowned on in Indian culture as ostentatious?

Sal

Veteran

Thanks for all the replies.... Wow we live in a diverse range of places - rural, urban, temperate, desert, mountainous.......

Lisa - interesting - definitely some similarities - women here are keeping hair long for longer too - and Meth (we call it P) is a problem here as well. Awful awful drug.

Jussie - I love Melbourne and lived there for two years (Prahran - definitely an interesting part of town). I found Melbourne fashions did vary so much whether you were in Footscray, Brighton or Toorak or Carlton..... I liked all those suburbs too:)

TG - I love the diversity too!! There is a "yummy mummy"look that is similar around the world........

Anne - thanks. Workers in hi vis are common here too. Boy I wish I had a company that sold hi vis (or road cones!!). Yes there are some gorgeous trendy well dressed Asian women and men here too.

LÁbeille- interesting to see all that diversity. Yay for well groomed grey hair!! And interesting re suits - I only see suits really at weddings and funerals - and the odd rare lawyers office. My neighbour in real estate wears a suit too.

Thanks Shevia - I love casual dark summer dresses with natural sandals. I guess clothing is quite loaded in Israel at times.

Cindy- I had to search Carharrt - it looks very very functional:) lol.

Joy - your city sounds pretty elegant actually. I wonder whether heels will come back in a bigger way again - I think they will because fashion cycles around - but I wonder if younger women who grow up wearing flats and sneakers and boots will transition to heels?

Sal

Veteran

Karen - travelling opens your eyes to your own home doesn't it (NZ always looks so scruffy when I return - our fences, grass and homes and plants all look overgrown!!) I would love to visit Tokyo - the fashion sounds so fun and interesting. Icebreaker is such a great brand - but oh so expensive here (NZ is the home of icebreaker).

Fashintern - yes Berlin would be so diverse (it has been 25 years since I visited - a couple of years after the wall came down). Individuality rules by the sounds of your description but I guess that would vary depending on many factors.

Stylefan - I would have thought plaid would be popular in a smaller town!! Interesting description - I can visualise the dress clearly.

Mainelady - thanks!! Interesting the divide between tourists and locals.

Jules - obviously a beard fan:) Would love to go to Toronto.

Janet - well you can obviously wear it all and see it all. I have not been to Texas or Maryland - would love to!! Jon has travelled reasonably extensively in Texas (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin plus two or three smaller towns).

kkards - your city sounds diverse too......The ladies who lunch here uniform changes - for a while here it was True Religion Jeans, heels and a cami top....I think now it is a pretty midi dress with sneakers and very very good eyebrows. Mostly long blonde hair but not exclusively.

Grey Rainbow - really interesting. Christchurch in NZ has this fashion sense - merino, jeans, simple boots, outdoors and norm core merged. Thanks for sharing (and I like your philosophy).

Sal

Veteran

Em - thanks:)

Thanks Sterling - interesting that your city is catching up!! Re jackets - I have realised that what I want to wear sometimes has no relation to what others will wear - eg one day I will have bare legs and sandals, someone else will be in boots and jeans.... It is very strange.

Echo - interesting. I have a few friends and family members with very little interest in fashion. They look tidy and appropriate and mostly choose colours they like eg a red puffer.... I agree - just be yourself:)

Jenn - thanks for sharing. Gear is taking over isn't it - I guess people always choose practical clothing for their jobs and gear often fits the bill.......Will be interesting when you move to LA.

cjh - yes nodding along with you all the way. Your job of course is so important in dictating your clothes. My kindergarten teaching friends choose washable fabrics and longer skirts or pants. My engineer colleagues wear covered shoes and jeans.

daisy - yes in the UK (and NZ) rain does have to be factored in. Polo shirts here are mostly on men at the moment - but I suspect they will come back to women again as it cycles around - but the rest of the school run sounds very familiar.

cocolion - I would agree with your tourist descriptions. I always envy how Europeans wear jeans (especially the men). Is it their butts? The fit is always good. We have a large Indian population here now (from India and Fiji) and the younger women and men are very trendy - but I agree not designer labels. Mind you true designer (international) gear is rare here as it is sooooo expensive. I see it occasionally. Thanks for sharing.

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