I am a cliché

[ablutiions]

Standing on the service station forecourt doing a few yogic stretches on our drive to holiday, I realised that I'm a cliché:

Middle aged Londoner, heading for a West Country holiday in my small eco friendly(ish) car, wearing a Boden cardi, and 'trendy' mum trainers with a flowery real cotton face mask dangled from my wrist. having eaten sourdough toast for breakfast. Oh, and carrying a chilly water bottle, natch.

And usually I'd be in France, but you know, Covid and all that.

Anyone else a walking cliché?

Bacon butty and a big mug of builders tea for breakfast here. We live on a marina so no need to go away for a staycation

From the north but other than that ditto. Professional middle aged woman eco friendly ish car cotton face mask, chili water bottle of course. Usually abroad for school summer hols but headed for cottage in the lakes. Yep eyes rolling at myself too!! 🤣🤣

Why does that worry you? And if it does, why didn't you treat yourself to a trendy casual holiday outfit. Sorry, but please relax. And enjoy.

'Gosh, I'm not sure Chanel can be considered tacky..'

True! Perhaps just seems tacky if grasping people go on and on about them, as if it makes them superior?

@peaceanddove

Hell yeah, I'm clichéd up to the hilt and love it.

Privately and university educated. Happily married to a successful company director. Both teenage daughters attended a top performing village primary, followed by a top performing girls' grammar school. Eldest DD off to art school this September to study Fine Art & Photography.

We live in a big Georgian house, in the middle of a naice village. Interiors are all about Farrow & Ball and John Lewis, with Laura Ashley curtains (I paid extra to have the curtains hand finished by someone called Blodwen at their Welsh factory, which is the height of privileged twattery). We have a cleaner and a gardener, obvs.

Groceries come from Waitrose or M&S or Cook, but we eat out a lot at the weekend. I have just started yoga in the village and obviously look a complete cliche in my Boden yoga gear + matching yoga mat (yes, really).

We should have been on holiday in the Italian Lakes last month, but because of Covid we booked a frou frou Shepherd's Hut in Cornwall instead - of course it had an outdoor firepit and a Gaggia coffee machine. Obviously, I packed my Seasalt bretons, my Lotta from Stockholm clogs and my Toast white linen shirts (because, yes, I have an actual Cornwall holiday wardrobe as opposed to my Italian holiday wardrobe which is a tad more glamorous).

Right now, I'm wearing silk mix, paisley PJs which I 'sourced' (not just bought) from Etsy while drinking coffee and chatting with DD2 about her possibly doing a year out in Paris to polish her French as she wants to study French + Economics at university. Luckily, my cousin's DH is French and they keep a bijou apartment in Paris where she can stay. Which is nice.

[implodes in a torrent of her own clichéd cuntiness]

Oh yes , you win. - love it ! Proper cuntiness

Today we (me and my 3 kids) baked a cake with apples from my apple tree, using a wooden mixing spoon my partner whittled himself

What an embarrassing post

Sourdough - ugh, fattening. Avocados - too 1970s. I wouldn't wear Boden or Joules if you paid me - and as for Laura Ashley, yes you should go down like Ceaucescu for that, as someone said up thread.

Avocado doesn't even have a taste.

Bodem and Joules you can tell a mile off. I wouldn't wear if they were free.

Avocado doesn't even have a taste
Yes it does. It tastes of snotters.

Well being unfortunately a former Boarding School Lass- ( it wasn’t Hogwarts I assure !) Sausages and Marmalade order of the day!!

I’m 43, wearing a Seasalt top, currently on holiday in Cornwall rocking ’au natural’ seaside curly hair, staying in a holiday cottage that we reached in our SUV and this morning I had smashed avocados on sourdough with feta, chilli, lime and baby tomatoes - pass my wanker award, I want it now!!
Usually spend summer going to various festivals, my favourite being Download (metal festival) - up yours COVID, you’ve forced me into middle age!!!

@allycat4

These threads are excruciating.

False self-deprecation.

Absolutely

🤣🤣🤣🤙

peaceanddove
Hell yeah, I'm clichéd up to the hilt and love it.

Privately and university educated. Happily married to a successful company director. Both teenage daughters attended a top performing village primary, followed by a top performing girls' grammar school. Eldest DD off to art school this September to study Fine Art & Photography.

We live in a big Georgian house, in the middle of a naice village. Interiors are all about Farrow & Ball and John Lewis, with Laura Ashley curtains (I paid extra to have the curtains hand finished by someone called Blodwen at their Welsh factory, which is the height of privileged twattery). We have a cleaner and a gardener, obvs.

Groceries come from Waitrose or M&S or Cook, but we eat out a lot at the weekend. I have just started yoga in the village and obviously look a complete cliche in my Boden yoga gear + matching yoga mat (yes, really).

We should have been on holiday in the Italian Lakes last month, but because of Covid we booked a frou frou Shepherd's Hut in Cornwall instead - of course it had an outdoor firepit and a Gaggia coffee machine. Obviously, I packed my Seasalt bretons, my Lotta from Stockholm clogs and my Toast white linen shirts (because, yes, I have an actual Cornwall holiday wardrobe as opposed to my Italian holiday wardrobe which is a tad more glamorous).

Right now, I'm wearing silk mix, paisley PJs which I 'sourced' (not just bought) from Etsy while drinking coffee and chatting with DD2 about her possibly doing a year out in Paris to polish her French as she wants to study French + Economics at university. Luckily, my cousin's DH is French and they keep a bijou apartment in Paris where she can stay. Which is nice.

[implodes in a torrent of her own clichéd cuntiness]

I don’t think you are a cliche - just extremely materialistic. It’s all about what brands you buy - why do you care? Is it basic status signalling? Or are you just too unimaginative / lacking in confidence to be original in your tastes? You seem to define yourself by how much privilege you can outwardly project and how much you spend on stuff. Do you have anything else that defines you other than crass materialism? Just awful.

What's a avacado. Bacon and Egg Butty here
Just spent a lovely week with my gorgeous family in a caravan in Rhyl top class it was
Back to reality now though. Need some new uggs and leggings so off to the market to see if I can grab a bargain. Will keep the kids happy with a maccie D's

There is no paint superior to Wilkos, none. I bloody love the stuff.

Most interesting documentary I saw over the last year, recommend it:

www.imdb.com/title/tt7206446/

This thread reminds me of one of my favourite quotes - Some people are so poor they only have money. Thank you Bob Marley

I read page one, and have jumped in regardless. I am the somewhat peeved Cornish person whose village houses are being bought as Air BnB properties.

@wastedyearsandtears

This thread reminds me of one of my favourite quotes - Some people are so poor they only have money. Thank you Bob Marley

👏

Thanks @newnortherner111. I didn’t even know she was dead.

I don't think I'm a cliché.

Maybe going toward eccentric old lady?

@irresistibleoverwhelm

I make fun of Boden, but part of the original attraction back in the early 2000s was that it was one place you could get brightly coloured, fun kids’ clothes in nice fabrics, primary colours and patterns that was different to the very gendered pink or blue high street. So you could get a pink T-shirt with a puppy on it for your son or a shark dress for your daughter in primary colours that looked like actual kids’ clothes, not mini adult outfits. That’s less of a problem now that there’s much more diversity in childrenswear brands these days ( - though when I see some brands which are marketing crop tops and booty shorts to preschoolers I don’t mind Boden so much!)

Same with the popularity of brands like Little Bird - lots of people like them because they are proper kids’ clothes, not too fashion-led by trends and a bit retro. They’re selling a lifestyle too - anyone remember the old Boden catalogues where the models would have little speech bubbles about their favourite colours and meals and places to holiday and so on? 😂🤦‍♀️😭

But yes, it has become a complete cliche! I used to buy more from them until they hiked the prices up to be “aspirational”. They do sell a certain kind of look, but it’s part nostalgic part “banker chic” 😂

I miss the old Boden days, when the models were customers. Not sure if it is now, DD2 modelled for them about 10 years ago and it was a mix of hired models and people local to the photo shoot. Sensible clothing in the early days, perhaps a bit more Fat Face like, now seems over priced and very different in style.