Sartorial London

One of the things I remember from my first trip to London in 1998 was the difference between how the people there dress and how the people in my hometown dressed. People in London were far more fashionably dressed, and in general were much less casual and much more 'dressy'. That held true for this trip as well.

Because I knew we'd be walking miles each day and spending plenty of time in the (cold, wet, rainy, windy) outdoors, I dressed primarily for comfort rather than style:

Which of course meant that I totally stuck out as a tourist! I so wanted to blend in, but a periwinkle Mountain Hardwear windbreaker in a sea of black wool coats is pretty hard to miss. I saw so many pretty wool coats both in the shops and on the people and I have some cute versions in my own closets that I could have taken instead, but they wouldn't have had the windproof or waterproof qualities of this one.

For shoes, I knew that wearing white tennies is a dead giveaway that you're an American tourist. I don't even own white tennies except to exercise in, but I did have to find a pair of shoes in which I could comfortably walk miles. On my first trip to London, I took a pair of Doc Martens Mary Janes, which while cute, are not exactly known for being soft and comfy to walk in.

This time around, I bought these Clarks Privos in solid black and they were money well spent! They were incredibly comfortable and never once rubbed and I know I'll get plenty more wear out of them here at home. Towards the end of the trip my feet were tired, but only from being unaccustomed to being on them so much, and not because of my shoes. My shoes stuck out just as much as my coat did to mark me as an outsider--I never saw anyone else wearing anything similar on their feet. Nearly every girl I saw was wearing boots of some type; generally mid-calf, flat heel, black or brown. I've been looking for a cute pair of flat boots but I couldn't guarantee that those would feel good for the amount of walking and standing we did, so I'm glad I had my Privos.

For jeans, I purposely packed my pairs that had both front and rear pockets so I could stash my money/credit card/Underground pass in my pockets and not have to worry about what would happen if I lost my purse. I ended up keeping my little wallet in an inside zipper pocket of my coat, which worked out perfectly because I didn't have to worry about being pick-pocketed and it was so darn cold that I never really took it off! I don't have any dark wash jeans with pockets, so I had to take my medium wash boot cut jeans, another thing that made me stick out. The majority of the jeans I saw on girls were darker wash, straight or skinny and always tucked into boots.

To blend in with the crowds of London girls we saw riding the Tube and walking around the city, here's an example of what I could have worn:

London girl 1 by themerrymagpie featuring a check coat

Important elements: brown mid-calf flat boots. Skinny, dark wash jeans. Super cute long wool coat, scarf, and satchel. The coats we saw most often were black or gray or tweed, but this one was so cute that I included it anyway!

And because I clearly need more ways to waste my time on the Internet, I made another Polyvore set of the slightly more dressy London look:

London girl 2 by themerrymagpie featuring a blue skirt

Similar elements: belted gray wool coat, cute scarf, black flat mid-calf boots, black opaque tights, cute skirt. The satchel would be more realistic if it had a shoulder strap but this version was just darling--look at that bow!

In short, the most important elements of the silhouette are:

1. Boots. Mid-calf at least, sometimes knee-length. Mostly flat heels.
2. Skinny legs: skinny jeans, leggings or opaque tights, all tucked into the boots.
3. Coat: black, gray or tweed wool. Most often belted, frequently mid-thigh length. ALWAYS worn with a scarf.

Even though I was dressed practically and comfortably for what I was doing, I couldn't help but feel a bit frumpy. I totally understand why Becky Bloomwood felt such temptation--there are SO many shops filled with beautiful, fashionable clothes in London! I did manage to find my new favorite store besides Anthropologie: called Noa Noa, they're based in Denmark. The clothes definitely have a Scandinavian feel, were absolutely beautiful, and unfortunately for me, only available in Europe. They were not outrageously expensive if you could do a straight-across pound-to-dollar conversion, but once you added in the exchange rate, prices were pushed dangerously close to ~ouch~ territory. I bought a few things that are lovely and that I hope to be able to wear for a long time, but I'm still pining after these shoes:

Though at $190 + 3% fee for using my credit card in another currency + shipping from England, they might just have to remain The Ones that Got Away.

And now if you'll excuse me, I believe I need to go shopping for boots!