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Tuesday 4 December 2007

The Thoughtful Dresser Poll - which nationality?


The Thoughtful Dresser poll asks which are the best dressed women in the world - American, British, French, Italian, Japanese or Russian (in alphabetical order and with apologies for those countries not included.) Vote on the right

11 comments:

indigo16 said...

Sorry, I will have to "vote" here because head and shoulders above us all are Swedish women, no contest.

lagatta said...

I voted for les Françaises, but I'm not thinking of the stereotyped couture-clad dame from les beaux quartiers - not even their modern incarnation à la Cécilia Ciganer (Sarkozy). I'm thinking of a lovely way Frenchwomen, not even the youngest, who are creative and a bit boho, dress, while remaining chic somehow.

Of course Italian fabrics and fashions are lovely - and they fit me (curvy Mediterranean hourglass type, and plus-sized by French sizing) while French clothes don't, but I find a lot of women in Italy wear too much makeup and needless tights even in the summer - they should lighten up a bit like their French sisters.

There are very interestingly and creatively dressed women in the US, but many Americans wear far too many pastels...

And while there is certainly a lot of creativity in British fashion, in real life there I see too many garish colours, and things that don't "go"...

As for Russia, stylish women tend to overdo it there, and so many still can't be stylish, alas. Perhaps in some years.

Japanese women dress beautifully, but still seem rather conformist, or "non-conformist conformist".

Indigo, I'm surprised about your vote for Swedes - they are beautiful and especially in good physical shape, but I don't find fashion among the main concerns in most Northern European societies.

Though of course the above is all incredibly simplistic, as is the wont of such polls.

Anonymous said...

Being from Montreal, I voted French. Us Montrealers insist we dress better than any other city in Canada. I think it's the European influence.
As for Japan, i would say definitely not, especially with the youth (lagatta, I hate "non conformist conformist!). I am of Korean descent, but I would still say the Chinese dress the best of the east Asians (closer access to knockoffs? maybe, but it works for them), at least in the big cities.

Kuri said...

I must go for British - I was tempted to say Japanese or American, as there are extremes of good taste, but alas both nations cancel out the good with similar extremes of bad taste. I find British fashion very fun, but also quite balanced and practical.

As lagatta says, Russia (along with the US, I suppose) makes style economically inaccessable to quite a few.

lagatta said...

Ha! Is this a Canadian plot?

Soo, I'm also from Montreal... We remember that Ms Grant lived in Vancouver for some years, but that city is of course in the Northwestern North-American "outdoorsy fashion" zone...

Linda Grant said...

That's one of the reasons I had to leave

lagatta said...

Yes, in all honesty I can't imagine you reviewing Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC) or Lululemon!

Although that is not the prevailing fashion in Montréal, we do have the nagging footwear problem. 28cm of snow yesterday here...

dana said...

too provincial to vote, sorry

Thomas said...

Scandanavian women are heart-breakingly stylish. Japanese women dress the most interestingly, but so many of the young women seem lost in a world of unending cute.

Given the list presented, I chose French.

Teresa said...

I don't believe I can even vote on this. I've never been to any of these places, so I have no idea how the women dress.

I will say that my husband has been to England, France, Germany, and Japan on business. The only place he's been where he commented on women's clothing is Japan (he likes the way they dress). As he's an engineer type and not given to voicing these opinions very often - it makes me want to go to Japan and see what's up there with clothing. (one of these days...)

Please note that I could very likely never dress as they do. Sadly as much as I think Asian women are some of the most beautiful in the world... I will never be Asian. And somehow I don't think styles that suit Asian women would look quite the same on a tall, fair skinned Irish woman. *grin*

Anonymous said...

I voted Italian. I love all things Italian - clothes, shoes, bags, etc. By the way, Norm has mentioned reservations regarding this poll on his blog. I find it hysterically funny when he writes about fashion.