It’s true: Essex girls do love leopard print
IT SOUNDS like the crudest of regional stereotyping to say that Essex girls favour leopard print blouses or that Geordie blokes wear grey jogging bottoms.
But a major new analysis of shopping trends has found truth in the cliches, revealing a strong regional bias in people’s fashion choices.
‘You really can tell where someone comes from by the clothes they wear,’ said a spokesman for Stitch Fix, which conducted the research.
‘A couple all in black with tight jeans, him in trainers and her in a leather jacket? Odds on they’ll be from Cheshire. And if she’s in patterned leggings and a pale pink jumper, it’s likely she’s from Newcastle or Sunderland.’
Other trends the online personal styling company uncovered from 30million items of data are that men from Surrey are more likely to favour pink chinos and light blue button-down shirts while women from the county were more likely to opt for black skinny jeans and a smart handbag.
Essex girls have a penchant for leather trousers, snake-print heels and faux fur, while their menfolk favour chinos and a branded polo shirt. Newcastle men like grey jogging bottoms, a blue hoodie and trainers, while Geordie women were most likely to wear patterned leggings and chunky white trainers.
Rich Simmons, lead stylist of Stitch Fix UK, said: ‘How we dress is a statement about who we are as people, and it’s fascinating to see that our style is influenced not just by celebrities and social media, but by those living in close proximity.
‘We’re seeing micro cultures of fashion emerging in ways that haven’t previously been identified.’
Despite the vast body of data used to compile the research, ordinary shoppers were sceptical.
Steve Scott, a 41-year-old accounts executive from Woking, Surrey, said: ‘If my mates caught me dotting about in pink chino shorts I don’t think they’d ever speak to me again – and rightly so. I’m a jeans and Tshirt
man, and my jeans are two colours – blue or black – and my T-shirts are two colours – blue or black.’
The findings come after a recent YouGov poll of 2,000 Britons found that four in ten of us judge people’s personalities based on the clothes they wear.
A third of people thought Geordie women were most likely to wear skimpy gear on a night out, 31 per cent said Londoners were most likely to don hipster clothes and 29 per cent thought Scousers most likely to wear tracksuits.