Harrogate residents need to smarten up their act – Yorkshire Post Letters

I WONDER why it is that Harrogate – once regarded as a smart and select space – can now fairly be described as a tatty town with a badly dressed and, in the main, scruffy-looking population? From a position of what used to be one of Harrogate’s smartest streets – James Street – I surveyed several hundred pedestrians, indeed the total number  may well have been 1,000.

As regards the men and starting at the top of their appearance, only three men were wearing anything on their heads (other than hoodies), one had a cloth cap, another a baseball cap, a third, despite the poor weather, a Panama hat.

One hoped for better things among the ladies. In fact, only two out of the hundreds passing could have reasonably be described as smart.

Perhaps I am hyper-sensitive to this question of personal appearance as a result of having spent very many years in the clothing trade – both mens and womens.

But the fact is I found it depressing to see so much sloppy and careless dressing in what was once the smartest town in Yorkshire.

I would like to think the time has come for an effort to smarten up our town, starting with its population. 

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Thank you

James Mitchinson