Trend: L.A Vs London

So my friends here in L.A always tell me that people out here do not really dress up to go out and that people in L.A haven't quite got the fashion thing out here.

There is definitely a slowness in fashion in L.A but I also think people fall in to the comfort factor easily.  I mean when the sun is shining its easy to slip on shorts, flip flops and a t shirt, cute but not very 'trendy' and with the lack of winter months here too the AW trend I imagine is missed completely.

But L.A definitely does have its signature looks as below:

Vintage t shirts and fedora hats....

And my all time fave, denim shorts with boots, rock chick galore!!!











Not forgetting that California is the land of the 60s and the hippies, vintage stores out here I feel are much better than London, and a lot cheaper! The 'boho' look out here is a lot more natural rather than 'tried too hard'. Think Nicole Ritchie, Kate Bosworth and the Olsen sisters rather than Sienna Miller, Alexa Chung and Kate Moss....

Now London on the other hand has trend on point. Within moments of being on the catwalks the stores will have the current season's trend. Sometimes it would drive me crazy, it would be July and already stores are stocking AW, but then I would be appreciative because it really was a matter of 'buy it now or regret it later'.

I would often question if people in London were in fact trendy or simply following what is in every store and magazine?! All you will hear about is 'what's hot and what's not' to the point that if you didn't buy what was hot, you would be a loser.  Seeing people all over the city rocking the same look can be fun, but then I would find myself thinking "is this fashion, everyone wearing the same thing all season???"

The real trend setters are the ones who put thought in to the way they dress, it is more than an outfit you put on to show off, but a way of life, from your hair to your accessories, to your shoes, handbag and make up. I thank designers such as Vivienne Westwood for bringing us Brits Victoriana and Glam Rock and Stella McCartney for proving that minimalism is just as stylish as an eclectic mess. And of course the late Alexander McQueen for re inventing modern goth (thank you).

So, London Vs L.A, I bring an example:

For AW 2010 shearling jackets and boots were big in London, so much so that I could see it being 'over worn'.  When I arrived in L.A late December I saw the below, Jeffrey Campbell Denmark boots:

I was so pleased to see these thinking that I could rock these in L.A over the autumn months and not completely miss out on a trend.  When I showed them to my best friend out here, she said 'they are may be too trendy for L.A" "Too trendy" I thought?!, oh then I will definitely get them then!!!!! This is exactly the example of how one can stand out in L.A more so than in London.

So to sum it up, in my opinion London is definitely more fashion forward but I feel in L.A you can stand out more and really rock your style as an individual. Which brings me back to the reason why I started this blog in the first place....