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Original poster

What shops or brands did you think were posh, but now doubt yourself

167 replies

DashingWhiteSergeant · 23/12/2022 15:16

For me it is Habitat. As a teen I thought it was the epitome of home styling the shops looks so expensive. I only had a paper round for income then so it WAS expensive!

but now it is just a brand you buy in Sainburys. They make my big standard - but very much liked - tea lights.

OP posts:
IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 23/12/2022 17:46

TwoMonthsOff · 23/12/2022 17:42

@IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads
nailed it ! 😂

GrinGrinGrinGrinGrin

Kualma · 23/12/2022 17:47

What’s the hate with Waitrose? I shop there and I certainly don’t consider it as “posh”. The food is better than Sainsbury’s/Tesco, quieter stores and you don’t have children running around using it as a playground (well in my branch!)

For me, I think The Ivy. Always thought it was for posh people but it’s certainly not!

pocketvenuss · 23/12/2022 17:47

TenzingNorgay · 23/12/2022 15:17

Waitrose. I used to love it, but now I see it as pretentious, full of Daily Mail reading red-trousered types with more money than sense.

I always thought the readers of the Daily Mail were angry ranty people on benefits raging about immigrants taking their social housing

shinynewapple22 · 23/12/2022 17:47

I have always considered Waitrose to be a posh supermarket, also M&S food . Have been really disappointed with things I e had from there - didn't live up to my imagination.

I also used to think Thornton's chocolates was posh. It's gone the way of Cadbury's now .'

TwoMonthsOff · 23/12/2022 17:48

@shinynewapple22

lookatmyfuckingredtrousers.blogspot.com/2011/08/country-classic.html

Kualma · 23/12/2022 17:48

Oh and Debenhams. I can remember as a teenager I would be quite amazed at people shopping in Debenhams! Before its demise, I realized it was just a poor man’s John Lewis

Sparklingbrook · 23/12/2022 17:48

Kualma · 23/12/2022 17:47

What’s the hate with Waitrose? I shop there and I certainly don’t consider it as “posh”. The food is better than Sainsbury’s/Tesco, quieter stores and you don’t have children running around using it as a playground (well in my branch!)

For me, I think The Ivy. Always thought it was for posh people but it’s certainly not!

Ours has a wine bar, it's nice, but still wouldn't call it posh.
I wonder if the people that hate Waitrose have just never been to one.

mewkins · 23/12/2022 17:50

shreddies · 23/12/2022 17:40

I really miss old Habitat. It had beautiful things. It's not the same company now, Sainsbury’s bought the name and that's that.

Exactly. It's not that it's not as posh as we thought it was. It's that it's been bought by sainsburys and is now totally different.

shinynewapple22 · 23/12/2022 17:56

Thank you everyone for the red trousers links and for @IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads explanation .

I obviously live in a non-posh place !

Butteredtoast55 · 23/12/2022 17:56

I like my visits to our local Waitrose. The food is definitely better than Tesco and some of the essentials range is not especially overpriced but is good quality. Their washing liquid or gel is really good and has the rare smell of clean washing instead of some artificial flowery nonsense.
There are lots of places we thought posh when younger but now they're everyday, which is actually because I have way more disposable income than my parents ever had. I promise that's not a stealth boast at all, but we had far less choice and my parents were very careful with their money. They also shopped at very good quality independent shops for clothes and shoes etc. They saved up to buy something and it had to last for many, many years.

Idratherbepaddleboarding · 23/12/2022 18:00

Not quite the same thing, but I always assumed The Range was posh. I mean, it sounds posh… 😂 I never knew it was like B&M.

TheRedLip · 23/12/2022 18:05

Back in the late eighties and early nineties Next was definitely at the upper end of the high street. I still have a cream knitted sweater circa. 1994 and the quality is lovely. I seem to remember it cost £50 which was a fortune to me at the time. Today, Next quality is no better than Matalan or Asda.

TheFormidableMrsC · 23/12/2022 18:05

I remember as a teen feeling very posh when my mum bought me a couple of Benetton jumpers. It doesn't seem to have the same appeal today.

TheFormidableMrsC · 23/12/2022 18:07

TenzingNorgay · 23/12/2022 15:17

Waitrose. I used to love it, but now I see it as pretentious, full of Daily Mail reading red-trousered types with more money than sense.

As a child (and we're going back very many years), Waitrose was the only supermarket in our town and it was very like Asda or Aldi is now. It certainly wasn't posh at all! I can't quite remember when the change occurred but to me it seems ridiculous.

MrsMoastyToasty · 23/12/2022 18:10

As a kid I thought McDonald's was posh (we rarely had takeaway).

Pawtucketbrew · 23/12/2022 18:15

Orla kiely. Can get it in Halfords now! Again a brand that has been bought out and diluted. Similar to a lot of brands mentioned by PP.

CockSpadget · 23/12/2022 18:16

I used to think Yankee candles were posh, and the height of quality candle wise 🤣. They are dogdirt now, the 2.99 home bargains ones are better.

CurlyhairedAssassin · 23/12/2022 18:19

Laughing at the idea of Manchester not having any high end shops. I live in Liverpool and there are plenty, don’t tell me we’re better than you at shops as well as football 😜

googleeyes · 23/12/2022 18:22

Just to add how sad I am about Habitat going so downhill. I used to love it there and the quality was really good.

Re Waitrose - it varies from town to town, my local one is a very bog-standard one. But if I go back to my 'home' town it's a very posh one with sushi bar etc and niche foods.

Catswhisky · 23/12/2022 18:30

CurlyhairedAssassin · 23/12/2022 18:19

Laughing at the idea of Manchester not having any high end shops. I live in Liverpool and there are plenty, don’t tell me we’re better than you at shops as well as football 😜

You both need to cross the Pennines if you want our posh shops 😀

LubaLuca · 23/12/2022 18:35

Thorntons is another great example of a shop that was definitely 'a cut above' back in the day. They made a terrible mistake going away from being something you'd make a special trip for to going down the route of being stocked in every supermarket and bargain shop going. Nobody would say their favourite chocolate is Thorntons these days, it's cheap crap.

Hahahahohoho · 23/12/2022 18:38

LubaLuca · 23/12/2022 18:35

Thorntons is another great example of a shop that was definitely 'a cut above' back in the day. They made a terrible mistake going away from being something you'd make a special trip for to going down the route of being stocked in every supermarket and bargain shop going. Nobody would say their favourite chocolate is Thorntons these days, it's cheap crap.

It's cheap crap but it still tastes better than Hotel Chocolate. Mind you anything does.

Bluevelvetsofa · 23/12/2022 18:44

Jo Malone, until it went to Estée Lauder.
I’m glad there is Jo Loves instead.