Clothes gone crazy!

Agree entirely and I’ve also noticed clothes getting bigger! I was size 8/10 in 2008. I’m still the same size (old stuff I’ve kept still fits) but size 6 in some shops drowning me.

And everything thin and plasticky. Someone unthread mentioned Reiss - I bought a 110 quid blouse from them recently. Kept it as I liked it but you’re right, quality isn’t exactly mind blowing.

One company I like for quality work clothes is The Fold. Very expensive but I buy on Vinted.

Where are the quality clothes though? The expensive clothes seem to be not much better quality than cheaper ones. I need brand recommendations…

1990’s cargo pants were the best.

I found some in an old bag of clothes when we were declutterring the loft a few months ago. They were maternity ones, needless to say I wear them with long t.shirts and tops. They are fab though 25 years old.

I bought a Joules jumper end of last year, washed carefully and 2 small holes have appeared. I’m sticking to charity shops for older clothes. I can sew, I cannot be arsed to make from scratch but can alter stuff.

And why does every dress that is vaguely suitable only in floral or have to have fucking tiers? I hate them!

Agree. I HATE how everything is either cropped or see-through these days. I’m not a 20-year-old influencer, I don’t want things that are cropped or see-through! I feel like clothing brands seem to forget that women over the age of 35 exist.

Some of the recycled fabric is really uncomfortable and scratchy. Which, of course, you can’t tell online. Then it arrives, it’s horrid and you have to send it back.

OP I get most of my clothes in Sainsburys to be honest and like others have said Im picky, buy the smallest size I can get away with otherwise theres swathes and swathes of fabric everywhere. The cut is dreadful on a lot of things so Im not going to pay more for sometjing that I can get the same in a supermarket!
Charity shops too if you get lucky. I try not to buy things on line that I cant send back, been stung too many times on ebay for something that looks right but isnt.

Its a really old phrase, how old are you?

The problem is that people don't want to pay the real cost of quality clothes.

So many people complaining about how expensive clothes are these days, completely disregarding general inflation and how much everything else has also gone up. I've even seen posters complaining about price increases in Primark! People seem to expect that others should produce their clothes for practically nothing, and refuse to pay more. It's only going to get worse as wages rise in developing countries.

I wish I could sew. I bought a sewing machine in lockdown but I'm hopeless.

It wasn’t the actual act of sewing your own that I was worried about. I was concerned that someone who has never sewn before, and therefore is unlikely to have the wherewithal to do it, might find it very expensive initially.

It's really not, as someone who taught myself.

I completely agree with this!!! Clothing accessibility and quality is a structural issue, and to say "oh just make your own" is SUCH a high bar to meet.

Maybe we can compare this to food - if one is avoiding ultra-processed food, one can just "make all your own bread." OKAY?? But its actually not that easy or cheap!

(I make quite a lot of my own clothes, I have tried making bread (even in a bread maker) and it was inedible!)

Re sewing patterns - check out Cashmerette patterns. (Not an ad, not affiliated!) They do all sizes "for curves", and their trousers are helpfully already sized for "pear" or "apple" shapes. Their patterns generally also have cup sizes.

The instructions are very good, there is often a sew-along video, and many patterns are suitable for beginners.

Rather an unhelpful response, I feel. Making your own clothes, if you haven’t before, is not an easy thing to do. Also, you will need to buy a sewing machine, dressmaking scissors, measuring tape and a host of other stuff. So, ‘make your own’ is a LOT easier said than done!

I agree about m&s pyjamas. I like cotton jersey jacket and trousers style ones and m&s ones have worn dreadfully. They are literally in shreds and the fabric is so poor the elastic waistband is cutting through. I will be cutting them up gor dusters.
i tried Sainsbury’s and the fabric is better but they shrink on washing.

I was remonded today of how clothes were better when I gotmout a summer blouse to wear to work.

I bought it from French Connection 16 years ago. It is a good quality, soft indian cotton print blouse with a neck tie. Still good 16 years later, not see though, good seams and a nice thickness.

I remember hesitating as it was £65 and I wasn't sure I would get that much wear out of it but I loved the print.

By contrast I tried on a puff sleeved cream blouse in French Connection last week as I was looking for a smart cream top to go with a skirt and it was terrible - elasticated puff sleeves, key hole back that was too deep so it showed the top of my bra band,
despite being lined it was transluscent and a slippery viscose type material.

Saying that I have never seen reductions on petite sizes. They use less much less fabric.
Or ssme for my size 3 shoes compared with a size 6 or 7.

Sustainability and the environment are issues whether you buy clothes or fabric. Linen and tencel are very environmentally friendly fabrics, although our local fabric shop doesn't stock much tencel.

Whilst I appreciate that cotton isn't great, it's better than using manmade fibres. Bamboo can be OK but it depends on the process they use to make it and you can't really know how they made it when you buy it.

I’ve got a really lovely broderie cotton top from tu at Sainsburys that’s just seen its 5th and last summer. I had a look the other day but could only see poly blends, even in white shirts. I don’t wear synthetics and its definitely got harder recently.

Online fabric shops. They range from very affordable (Fabric Galore is great) to expensive but worth it (Merchant and Mills).

Meanwhile, polyester releases microfibres into the water while being washed. This is plastic pollution of the oceans. It's also also unpleasant on the skin for many.

I agree about the quantity point. Buying lots of things when you already have an adequate supply of clothing of the relevant type is rampant consumerism. Unfortunately, looking at comments on S&B about fashion, I think this is something lots of people do, because they don't think previous clothes of theirs are 'in style' anymore (read: worn by lots of other people). We're not currently winning with fast fashion.

16% of the world's insecticide use is accounted for by the cotton crop. It also takes 2,700 litres of water to make one cotton T-shirt, with the cotton mostly grown in countries where water is a rare resource and is diverted from other important uses into profitable cotton production. People should be cautious about how many cotton garments they buy, as they contribute greatly to environmental destruction.

One thing that annoys me is that very few summer tops are 100% cotton. Polyester and vicose are sweaty pools