The Glamorous London Night Out

London requires a totally different procedure when getting ready for a night out than the average city.

Thursdays and Fridays are big pub nights here, but with most people working a fair distance from where they live or are heading to, and the Tube stopping at midnight, there is no time to go home to shower and change.

For the average receptionist I wouldn't imagine this poses a huge problem. She probably dresses nice for work, and doesn't sweat her face off during the day. But for people in the service industry like myself, (or any other dirty, hot, sweat busting job), it's not such an easy situation.

Dirty Work Shoes

I've become pretty adept at getting ready for an evening out after work now that I've been here for almost a year. Granted, on my best day with hours of prep I wouldn't be able to compare to the drop dead gorgeous Eastern European women who casually stroll down the sidewalks in droves, but I've learned to work with what I've got.

Number one: You NEED aerosol deodorant. I still use my trusty Canadian pit stick (to use the classy term) every morning, but aerosol is a must for when the job is finished. It not only masks the smell of a ten hour shift, but it leaves you feeling oddly cool and refreshed.

Number two: Don't wear makeup to work. Now this might be difficult if you aren't used to seeing yourself au natural, but this prevents the after work re-do which usually just looks like you've caked on makeup over sweat... because you have. Besides, who really cares what customers think of you? It's the cool people you are trying to impress! Bring the makeup essentials to work, wash your face after your shift, and then apply a fresh look. Ideally you should just carry a second set of makeup with you so you're not constantly transferring things from your home makeup bag to your purse. But that would require a bigger income than I have.

Last is the clothes. Different shoes are an absolute must. God forbid you wear your coffee stained runners for an evening out. Bring a whole new outfit to change into and leave your old work clothes in a bag at the shop. You wouldn't want to be carrying a plastic Sainsburys bag with you when you meet up with your potential new friends. That would just look stupid.
If your clothes aren't dry, because no one in this country has a dryer, you better pray you work somewhere you can discreetly hang your favourite pair of jeans so they dry by the time your shift is over. I did this on Tuesday, and it was awesome.

If you follow all these tips you're almost guaranteed to look at least acceptable in London social situations. No one has to know that mere moments before you were scooping old food out of a drain, or were on your knees cleaning shelves for an hour. Hopefully people will look at you and think "she looks clean and lovely, she must be a receptionist and I want to be her friend!" or something similar. Actually, all I hope for is that I can disguise how much of a disaster I feel like. Lately I think I have been quite successful at doing just that.

Gen