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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

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