What people are wearing in London these days

At the Scoiliosis SOS clinic our wardrobe was pretty well the same: leggings of some sort and bra top for women and bare skin on topfor men. On the surface, the wardrobe worn by most Londoners in the City was pretty well the same too: dark suit, plain coloured shirt or blouse, black shoes, with the only ornamentation a tie or earrings depending on the sex of the wearer.  But if you looked in the windows of the clothing stores, or spent time in the evenings or the weekend in the West End, you start to see trends and fads that make 2013 feel a bit different than, say 1983.

So for those of you who might be interested in knowing what people are wearing these days, here is my take on it based on what I have seen.

Women
Leggings and jeggings (leggings made to look like jeans, usually made of very stretchy denim) are still popluar, but there has been a large increase in the number of prints and patterns and in their scale.  I have seen lots of animal prints, plaids, florals and stripes.  They are not subtle attire at all!

These are worn mostly with ballet flats, as are long cotton tank dresses which are accompanied by short jackets.  Skirts are generally slim like the trousers, with jackets that are not suit jackets (i.e., not matching)  Dresses are quite retro, and pretty: sleeveless with a high waist and a full but quite short skirt.

There are lots of horizontal stries, especially black or navy on white or off-white.  Trench coats are very popular, but are very short, and often full skirted.  Lots of kinky boots and shoes with thick stacked heels.  Jewellery trends seem to be a huge ring on the index or second finger, and blingy chockers worn outside buttoned collars.

Everyone wears opaque black tights no matter what the season. Hair is generally long and straight, and a bit tousled.

Men
Slim trousers are the big trend for men too, and there is quite a lot of colour although (thankfully)  not much pattern. Maybe it's because it was spring, but I saw a lot of sun-washed blue, coral, green and yellow, particularly those hues that harken back to the 1960s. 

Shirts have different coloured collars and cuffs, and there are a lot of checkered shirts, with both long sleeves and short, again in crisp, cheerful colours.  Hair is generally either very short or quite floppy.

Everyone...
...walks around wired to the hilt - talking to unseen people through wires and clicking messages to friends or playing games. There's a glazed look to everyone's eyes as they walk not completely clued in to their surroundings, and zoned out to everything while on the tube or bus. It's like aliens have beamed down to act like humans but just miss doing it authentically.