Joan Collins says British women have given up trying to look good.

[Story]

Women of Britain, we have let ourselves go. Suffering from a terminal lack of glamour, we are becoming a nation of frumps. We don't wear enough make-up, we don't get our highlights done nearly often enough, and we dress badly, preferring to live in unattractive stay-at-home clothes. And if we carry on the way we are going, nothing but fashion misery lies ahead. Our husbands may even walk out on us.

This apocalyptic vision comes from no less an authority than Joan Collins. According to a new documentary, Joan Does Glamour, we have all turned into putative Waynetta Slobs, spending our days in baggy tracksuits and T-shirts. "I think standards have slipped," she says, dressed in a neat pencil skirt, complete with her trademark big hair and pinky-red lips. "If they continue slipping, we'll all be walking around barefoot with a minimum of clothes, and lots of tattoos and piercings."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/6292227/Have-we-lost-the-art-of-dressing-up.html

 

[Lincsong]

BRAVO Joan!! :eusa_clap :eusa_clap BRAVO!

And let me just add, that I hope all the lady Brit Loungers are making a positive influence on other females in their country.

 

[Foofoogal]

For Collins, the rot set in during the last decade, when our fashion choices became Americanised.

hmmm.....

 

[jamespowers]

hmmm.....

Well, you have to admit that you can see plenty of people "walking around barefoot with a minimum of clothes, and lots of tattoos and piercings." That depends on the weather of course. Then again, UC Berkeley had the naked guy running around here for a while.
Fortunately we are an outpost against dressing poorly or acting poorly in public.

 

[Dutchess]

This summer I spend my holidays in England. The ladies didn't dress as horribly as I expected from watching tv shows about Jordan or 'Ladettes'. But then...I didn't go out to clubs in big cities...
This winters fashions are quite classy and dressy, so I think not all is lost

 

[Brummagem Joe]

Alas some truth in this

In fact I'd go further and say the Brits collectively come off as a bit scruffy......I was there a couple of weeks ago and usually visit two or three times a year and I'm afraid the evidence was overwhelming......it's fair to compare London and NYC I think and really NYC is collectively light years ahead when it comes to the general appearance of men and women both in dress and personal grooming. It's also worth checking out Scott Schuman's blog the sartorialist where he is constantly showing street shots from London, NYC, Paris, Milan etc and I'm afraid the Brits don't come off too well. There's always been a bit of an element of class distinction in the way the British dress in a way that is not really the case in the US. It is much harder in the US to recognize which social class people belong to (I know there isn't a class system in the US...haha) but in Britain it was traditionally fairly easy to recognize someone's social class by suit, tie and most important shoes, but even that seems to have taken a pounding of late. I was in the city and ill fitting suits, cheap ties or no ties, scuffed and dirty shoes seem to have become the order of the day for men. If anything the women are slightly better. Standards seemed generally better around Bond Street, Piccadilly, Jermyn Street where you do see a few folks maintaining the old order but Joanie is not far off the mark......and just before we get to full of ourselves there is one dept where the brits have the edge.....weight.

 

[MsStabby]

It is much harder in the US to recognize which social class people belong to...

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! That's because outside of NYC and a few other major cities everyone dresses like a complete slob/frat boy/skank/wannabe pro athlete complete with team jersey, etc etc etc...

 

[Foofoogal]

lol lol lol I disagree. some places I could name in USA the ladies try to outdo each other in dress by the second.

in the moment in time with the economy I don't advocate this but taste can be found without a lot of money. Taking pride in appearance can be done on a bargain price.

 

[Brummagem Joe]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! That's because outside of NYC and a few other major cities everyone dresses like a complete slob/frat boy/skank/wannabe pro athlete complete with team jersey, etc etc etc...

.........Totally disagree......as a generalisation (which means about 75% fit into this category) American women ALWAYS set out to make the best of themselves whether they are in Grand Rapids, LA, NYC, Columbus, Harrisburg, Seattle, Omaha, Dallas Fort Worth, or Savannah. And lots of other places I've left out but I've been to........with men it's bit more mixed but you can go into any place of business across most of America and you'll find the grunts tidily dressed in pressed chinos/slacks and button downs and the "management" in sack suits, polished shoes, shirt and tie. Are there a fair number of exploding pizza ties?.....are some of the shoes a bit clunky?.....sure......most of these people are not going to appear on the walkways at Versace but in general terms the standard is mid to high and certainly higher than Britain.....and I have a lot of experience of both countries.

 

[MissHannah]

Gosh. How offensive. Especially coming from this woman:

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/10_04/JoanCollinsRETNA_748x1000.jpg

 

[TessTrueheart]

lol :eusa_clap

 

[Brummagem Joe]

Gosh. How offensive. Especially coming from this woman:

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/10_04/JoanCollinsRETNA_748x1000.jpg

........Joanie can certainly be put in the mutton dressed as lamb category but it doesn't mean she's wrong on the basic point she's making......unfortunately she's right......and I love English women.....I'd better do I'm married to one.

 

[i_am_the_scruff]

Gosh. How offensive. Especially coming from this woman:

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/10_04/JoanCollinsRETNA_748x1000.jpg

*applauds*

"They don't wear nearly enough makeup"

Better than too much, in my opinion:

BLEND DOWN THE NECK.

I googled her (I know who she is but I wanted to see her style) and I can't say i'm impressed in the least with how she dresses or does her makeup.

I have to say aswell that I have been to America several times and I have found that the standards in London where i'm from is better than the places I have been to in USA.

 

[TessTrueheart]

........Joanie can certainly be put in the mutton dressed as lamb category but it doesn't mean she's wrong on the basic point she's making......unfortunately she's right......and I love English women.....I'd better do I'm married to one.

I don't think her age is a factor. I think she is a perfect example of when "making an effort" doesn't make a person look better.

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

Is the edge of her wig showing as well?

 

[Foofoogal]

http://www.bigolboys.co.uk/Glamour1/joan_collins0201.jpg

she was pretty stunning in her youth and now still not so bad. Enough for Warren Beatty way back.
I don't think it is so bad to point out by her to try to do better on either side of the pond which was her point I believe.
http://sandysfancypants.blogspot.com

 

[zombi]

"If they continue slipping, we'll all be walking around barefoot with a minimum of clothes, and lots of tattoos and piercings."

There is nothing wrong with having a lot of tattoos & piercings.


in the interest of staying off my feminist soapbox because this is the Lounge I shall say nothing more!

 

[ThesFlishThngs]

Maybe her point there is that when you're minimally dressed, every scrap of ink and bit of body hardware you have is on public display.

 

[Viola]

I think she's a fine looking woman for her age. I wouldn't make all the same choices if I was working with that, I don't think, but she doesn't look like she tripped out of bed and fell through a briarpatch in her pajama pants, which is more than you can say for a lot of girls nowadays.

And at the age she's at, I think, effort and maintenance is important. Leave your teeth out and your hair and eyebrows looking like steel wool and you could have the finest bone structure of any woman and you still look like old boots, and you will not be respected.

 

[Foofoogal]

:eusa_clap :eusa_clap
viola. you made me lol