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Kim Stevenson, 17, of Bradford who says there is no right or wrong way to dress

In the style stakes, are northern lasses streets ahead or do they try just that bit too hard?

According to a bunch of women quoted in a Daily Mail report this week, northern women are more likely to sport false nails, mahogany tans, strappy shoes and designer labels - and never, on any account, wear a coat - than their southern sisters, who are into effortless-looking boho chic.

Fashion writer Liz Jones wrote that attending a wedding in the North was like stumbling "on to the set of Hollyoaks." Mingling with perma-tanned, expensively-attired female guests - "none of whom had driven up from London" - she felt under-dressed, leading her to compare the designer-led well-groomed fashion favoured by northerners with the "cool, nonchalant" chic of London girls.

Compare the over-styled, high maintenance look of Bradford lass Kimberley Walsh or Liverpool WAG Coleen McCloughlin with the messy bed hair and vintage mix-and-match style of Sienna Miller and Kate Moss. Depending on your own fashion sense, it's either a case of northern women making too much effort - or southerners not bothering to dress up.

Liz Jones's article quotes a Bradford woman who said women in her home city "love labels, shoes and the trophy handbag." She said that while it's "cool" in the South to say you shop in Primark, Bradford girls "wouldn't be seen dead in there."

Angela Loftus, tutor on Bradford College's fashion degree course, disagrees.

"I work with a lot of fashion students and they are proud to have bought something from there and mixed and matched them with their own garments," she says, adding that, fashion-wise, it doesn't matter where you come from. "Each individual has their own inspiration and lifestyle. How you dress is influenced by who you surround yourself with."

Angela, who describes her own tastes as a mixture of high street and vintage, says northern women's clothing is influenced by choices and lifestyle. "Your lifestyle can be the same in the North as the South - it is about personal taste, not where you live."

Evelyn Porter, 18, from the US, believes fashion is all down to personality

She concedes that there may be small groups of people in the North who make a huge effort and dress up, but adds that "you get that anywhere."

She adds: "I personally don't know anyone who dresses like someone from Girls Aloud."

Fashion graduate Rebecca Swallow, who works for a West Yorkshire clothing designer, says that, if anything, in the North/South debate the opposite applies. "Northern girls are more comfortable in their own skin. If you go South, you see more women dressed up. In the North, you get more of a mismatch of clothes - vintage and charity shop. In the South people buy new, they like their labels. There are a lot more designers down there and magazines are based there. People are surrounded by fashion culture so they try harder."

She says northern women generally follow their own style and are not afraid to go out wearing baggy jeans, with their hair up.

Stylist and personal shopper Brad Taylor, from Birstall, styles many of the female stars in TV shows such as Coronation Street and Emmerdale. He says the way we dress is often down to availability of certain styles.

"There's more choice in London," he says. "You do get the effortless boho-chic look more in London but there are vintage shops down there, whereas up here we have charity shops which don't offer the same kind of stylish range. And there are much trendier markets in London.

"In the North women do tend to be more glamorous when they go out because if they want fashion it tends to be in high fashion, label-led shops such as Harvey Nichols. In affordable high-street fashion stores you only tend to get the mainline stuff up here, but in London these shops have the full designer collections. I'd like to see this spread across the country."

As a stylist, Brad has to be honest with clients, telling them straight if something doesn't suit them.

"My style icons are people like Victoria Beckham, who knows what suits her and plays on that, and Kate Moss - who looks good in anything.

"But there are stylish northern women too. Roxanne Pallett and Lucy Pargeter from Emmerdale always look great."

Bingley-based fashion designer Colin Wolfenden, who launched a menswear collection called Bent and Corrupt, says the North/South divide view is slightly overestimating reality, but adds that it's "not unfair comment."

"I do think that, whether male or female, people in the North tend to dress up more than in the South," he says. "It's ingrained in their lifestyle and traditions; you wore work clothes all week, then got dressed up to go out. In London it's very different, you work then go out afterwards. Also, some people might dress up for work so they dress down to go out." Colin says there is a big difference between vintage and secondhand. "I think generally, women will wear vintage but will be reluctant to rummage around for second-hand clothes. In London there are more boutiques selling great vintage pieces. A lot of stars go to red carpet events wearing vintage clothing they've paid a lot for."

At the end of the day, it's about quality rather than style, says eco-textile scientist Anna Harvey who has produced the Green Guide to Looking Good, offering advice on how to look stylish without harming the environment.

Anna says the clothing industry, from fibre producers and dyers to fashion designers and high street retailers, needs to change its approach to become truly sustainable.

But that doesn't mean northern girls need to start wearing hemp coats to be eco-friendly. "We can make a difference right away, by using the clothes we already have," says Anna.

"We should hold on to our clothes for longer, rather than throwing them out each season to make room in our wardrobe for new fashions. We should be thinking about the clothing we buy and the lifetime it has."

What you think

Evelyn Porter, 18, is from the US and was visiting her mum. She said: "I don't think it's true. I witness a lot of really good fashion. I don't think it's about where you come from in the country, it has to do with your personality."

Jessica Harrison, 15, from Griffe Road, Wyke, said: "I normally shop at Primark and New Look. I will spend lots of money if I have it but I don't wear designer labels. I do think women in the South are smarter."

Becki Eley, 22, of Ingleby Place, Lidget Green, said: "I don't think women in the North make an effort. They always shop at cheap shops but this is because there are only cheap shops about. I spend a lot of money on jeans and team them up with cheaper clothes."

Kim Stevenson, 17, Delamere Street, Bradford, said: "There is no right or wrong way to dress. You should dress how you feel comfortable. I buy most of my clothes from eBay and I don't really look at what other people are wearing.' Debbie Wilson, 45, of Jardine Road, Bingley, said: "I think it is fab how northern women dress. I love long dresses and team them with scarves. I will buy cheap things like scarves and then spend more on a dress and customise it with other things, like bags."

9:23am Wednesday 24th January 2007

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