US vs UK fashion
*Disclaimer* These are just my opinions and it is okay if you don’t agree with them.
I spent Thanksgiving in London, which is where I grew up, and I was curious why fashion in the United States is different from the United Kingdom. While this observation is more of an opinion, I thought it would be interesting to compare the fashion and find a reason and conclusion. A prevalent memory I have is once we came back to the US, my mum went to the store where activewear. My sister and I asked why she wasn’t dressed. At the time activewear was something you only wore around the house. Come to find out, it was really common to wear activewear out in public. In the UK, people only wear activewear to work out or lounge around the house. Below, I have created a chart comparing the UK and the US in terms of fashion.
| United Kingdom | United States | |
| Style basics | “Fearlessness”, individuality, effortless, “thrown-on”, mix and matched | Classic, Comfortable, Casual, laid back, simple |
| Key Pieces | Floral dress, trench coat, blazer, boots, white sneakers, tights, striped shirt, jeans (all items can be worn and layered together) | Denim, t-shirts, boots, tennis shoes, flip flops, hoodies, shorts, accessories |
| Style Icons | Carey Mulligan, Alexa Chung, Kate Moss | Jennifer Aniston, Katie Holmes, Katharine Hepburn |
| Style Shops | Topshop, All Saints, H&M | American Eagle, Forever 21, Urban Outfitters, Target |
| Style in 5 Steps | 1. Layer 2. Prepared for rain 3. Edgy pieces 4. Undone/just rolled out of bed 5. Have fun with it | 1. Simplicity 2. Key pieces 3. Forget being trendy 4. Laidback but cute 5. Outside the box |
While the website where I found this information is quite outdated, I find portions of it to be partially true. In the UK, the style is crazy patterns while still being able to be mixed and matched. Their style is similar to a capsule wardrobe. In the US, the style is more casual in comparison. The goal of the US is to be comfortable. I would disagree with the website because in my opinion I find the UK to be more classic and the US to be more trendy. I feel in the US there is more pressure to stay up to date with the trends and the current cycle. However, in the UK, people have pieces that work and have come a classic for them. If I were asked to describe the two different styles, I would describe the US as casual and the UK as effortless.
