Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think £20 is a lot to spend on an everyday top?!

56 replies

pollypopsocks · 16/05/2011 19:07

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE clothes, just buy most of them from charity shops, ebay and H&M.... My friend was shocked I thought £20 was a lot to pay for an everyday top, aibu??!!

OP posts:
BertieBotts · 16/05/2011 19:34

You can't try things on from ebay though. I have bought stuff from there occasionally but prefer real shops.

usualsuspect · 16/05/2011 19:36

depends what you can afford

its a bit pricey for me [skint]

MadameCastafiore · 16/05/2011 19:36

I would say that is pretty cheap - but then I don't buy throw away clothes just classic things that I keep for a long time.

MordechaiVanunu · 16/05/2011 19:38

That is cheap.

TrillianAstra · 16/05/2011 19:40

£10 for a top is cheap.
£40 is a lot.

Also depends on if you mean a plain vest or t-shirt (which I wouldn't spend £20 on) or something a bit more substantial or with a bit more construction to it.

Graciescotland · 16/05/2011 19:42

What you need to remember is those tops you buy on Ebay cost £££ originally :)

MissPenteuth · 16/05/2011 19:46

Depends on the type of top. I'd say £20 is reasonable for a long-sleeved top, on the expensive side for a T-shirt, and expensive for a vest.

SecretNutellaFix · 16/05/2011 19:58

Personally £20 is upper end of my budget for a top.

However, i do adjust my opinions based on where I am shopping. evans for example- £ 20 is average for a top, new look tends to be much cheaper.

Pfriend · 16/05/2011 20:08

YABU. Thats pretty standard.

DontGoCurly · 16/05/2011 20:20

YANBU

I converted it and its £20=?23

That is MAD money to spend on a top. But I live in Pennys.

OOPs that's Primark in the UK and apparently I should feel really guilty ....but I dont! If I didn't buy clothes in Primark I would be actually naked right now.

onceamai · 16/05/2011 20:30

I think 20 is very reasonable.

bellavita · 16/05/2011 20:44

I think £20 is cheap for a top.

scaryteacher · 17/05/2011 09:15

'Pay £20 and it'll last twice as long as one for £14. Pay £40 and you'll wear it forever.'

Pay £7-£10 for a long sleeve T shirt from M&S and you'll be wearing it 5 years later if not longer, and they wash and tumble really well. I also buy in the sale at Lands End and their cotton long sleeve tops are great as well.#

It has to be a really good top for me to pay over £20 for it. Bras are a different matter......

noniks · 17/05/2011 09:36

you do tend to get what you pay for with most stuff.

20 quid sounds ok - unless you want to wear it once and chuck it out/ recycle as a duster a la Primark - but for £2 that's fine too !

On similar note has anyone used white stuff for tops and found that they just Do Not Last - one wash and they're rag like!

CoffeeDodger · 17/05/2011 09:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MackerelOfFact · 17/05/2011 10:19

Seems a lot to me. I might pay it as a one-off if it was something I loved, but every other top I bought for the next few months would need to be £5-£10 to compensate. £20 is my budget for trousers unless I absolutely love them.

I rarely buy things outside of sales. Too many times I've paid full price for something only to go back in the shop 3 weeks late and see it at half price. If I find something I like at full price I will seek it out again in the sales.

MackerelOfFact · 17/05/2011 10:20

*3 weeks later. I don't go to shops late. Although that would be a good method of saving money.

sausagesandmarmelade · 17/05/2011 10:21

I agree...£40 - £45 is about average of what I would spend for a top.

Tho I recently bought a flowery cotton top for £25 in M&S because I really liked it.

porcamiseria · 17/05/2011 10:22

yabu

bellavita · 17/05/2011 10:36

Noniks, I have lots of White Stuff and it still looks like new. I have got a top on at the moment from there and it still looks lovely, although I do tend to handwash a lot of tops...

sausagesandmarmelade · 17/05/2011 11:25

I have a white stuff top....gorgeous

has lasted me for ages...but then it's handwash

have a delivery of their fire work island dress on it's way...good price and it's gorgeous

Ormirian · 17/05/2011 11:27

Will it last? Good quality, classic? In that case it isn't a lot. If it's going to be unwearable by the end of the summer it is a lot.

quirrelquarrel · 17/05/2011 11:48

Wish my mum could see this thread, she'd go white around the mouth! She thinks above £5 is extravagant.

Me, I soaked up a lot of the frugality growing up and I still think it's realistic, helped by the fact that I live in a town with a lot of reasonable charity shops. Always buy things in the sale- Topshop sale can be great.

givemushypeasachance · 17/05/2011 12:05

I've mentally allocated about £10-25 each for "work tops" eg. shirts or smart, dressy longer sleeved tops.

For non-work tops the cheaper the better! If it's more than £15 then it would need to be really nice and more than just a plain top.

Sales and end-of-line outlets are your friend.

MamaLazarou · 17/05/2011 12:06

YABU. £20 sounds about right to me. I get all my clothes 2nd hand for much cheaper, though Smile

Swipe left for the next trending thread