British vs. American Style, or Why I Decided To Wash My Hair And Paint My Nails

Last week I started working in an actual, live company in London. So far, I've noticed the following:

a) The Brits dress smarter at work

b) Being an American in a British office makes you feel sweaty and greasy

Second Floor Flat

Let's start with the first point. I've always thought of the whole discussion on differences between British and American style as kind of made-up. Sure there are differences, but it's taken a few months of living here + said job for me to be able to point out those differences.

At the core of it, Americans are just a little more casual. You may have heard that we like sportswear, and that the Big Classic American Designers like Donna Karan and Ralph Lauren and Michael Kors, etc etc etc. are constantly taking that idea of classic American sportswear and modernizing it. As it turns out, that's all true, particularly in the workplace where the Brits dress just a little posh-er* or more upmarket**.



Second Floor Flat—Little Black Dress

The clothes are all-in-all the same (Lana Del Rey for H&M, anyone?), but you're more likely to see a guy in a dress shirt, slacks, and even jacket and a girl in a tailored dress and heels or heeled booties. Of course , workers dress nicely in any fashion-industry job, but it's refreshing to see them looking both nice and professional. A way of saying We're At Work instead of the classic New York Iwokeuplatethismorningandwaitedfor3Ltrainsandspilledcoffeeonmyselfrunninghere.

Second Floor Flat—White Shirt

As for my second point? Somehow listening to all of those crisp accents and looking out into all of those chic grey skies makes you feel like you should wash your hair and paint your nails. Also, my brain has started doing this weird thing where it can't decide whether my voice/dialect should:

a) Stay with the accent it's had it's entire life and sound normal

b) Adopt certain English phrases and dialects in a poorly disguised effort to fit in and sound a little weird

c) Stop thinking so f-ing much

Second Floor Flat—London Sky



From here, here, here, oh—and here!