middle class uniform

[southeastastra]

st albans today was like a boden/joules catalogue

why do the middle classes have to follow such uniform? it's all very samey, those designer welly boots and colourful rainwear

don't get it myself, surely if you have ££ to spend on wear why pick fatface/white stuff boring brands

How do you know it is Boden?Joules? I wouldn't know how to recognise where an article of clothing came from unless I owned it myself.

They got quite a distinctive look...

I suppose it's clear when you know what you are looking for/at Those Boden patterns are bloody ghastly and so glaringly obvious. Their plain tops and jumpers are good though.

We do all wear a 'uniform' though as clothes are a great way to express yourself to the world whether you intend to or not. Even when people come onto these threads and say that they don't care about what they wear they are still sending out a message to the wide world.

I like that whole tribal thing, I've gone through many different tribes in my lifetime but I think the staples of your wardrobe character are what you keep coming back to.

Jeans are a form of uniform aren't they. I don't know anyone who doesn't wear jeans.

I like wearing a uniform. It means I don't have to think about fashion, which bores me rigid. (I like to look nice, but find thinking about clothes quite dull.) So at work it's jersey dresses, at home it's the suburban-mother-of-small-children look: jumper or tunic top, jeans, boots, padded coat.

I know I look just like everybody else at the schoolgates. But I am lifted above the hoi polloi by my dazzling repartee, incisive intellect and sensational good looks.

You sound like my kind of person Devora

I wear wellies all the time, but they are grey, as all the fishermen wear yellow. Would kill for a pair of hunters though!

I think in this day and age it's pretty insulting to define groups using an outdated class system and even more so to then follow it up with broad sweeping statements about that group.

It's also because people like what they see every day. If you live in an area where everyone wears tweed pleated skirts, eventually you'll find yourself wearing one.

Live in an area where everyone has a purple rinse, and eventually you'll start thinking about getting one yourself.

Dh works in a care home for the elderly and recently told me I'd look nice in a knitted bed jacket.

Simple, and nothing to do with class really.

I live in St Albans, I see a mix of folk knocking about. BUT my DD's school is vair middle class, or they wish they were

I'm middle class, but the brands you mention are too expensive for me because I prioritise saving for holidays over buying clothes. I wear clothes from Matalan, Tesco and Next. My teenage ds isn't that into clothes and refuses to wear branded items so would not wear Jack Wills. In the street you would see me in Jeans, ankle boots and a walking coat or smart wool coat with my soon in chinos and Matalan hoody so which class would you put us in? By the way,I don't dislike the brands you mention; they're just to expensive for me.

YABU. I've been to St Albans and am mc but you wouldn't necessarily know.

I don't agree that clothes are about "sending a message" to the world. I just wear what's comfortable and what I like, which may vary quite a bit. If other people think that's some sort of coded message then they're seeing something that isn't there.

I wear a lot of Joules mostly because I like the colours, it suits my body type and I find it practical for layering as I spend as much time as possible outside. However, I have never bought a single item myself as I can't afford to. My birthday and Christmas presents from my parents and DH for the last 3 years have been Joules clothes.

Before then, my mum would be rather hit or miss with clothes she chose for me from M & S or Laura Ashley (many frumpy horrors!). Joules is a much safer bet!

I have tonnes of stuff from these shops, none of them have prints or visible labels. I will buy decent quality wherever I can as I hate shopping and expect my clothes to last.

I was thoroughly pissed off barbour hunter and cars like range rover have been coopted by the london set.

They were decent hard wearing brands which were functional for days covered in mud and horseshit. Now they are placcy branded useless stuff.

Sorry but if you are on the tube wearing hunter wellies you are a twat. Fact.

Oh but you shouldn't make sweeping statements about class based on clothes btw.

Primark all the way for me!

I buy BArbour and Berghaus for my back, Doc Martin for my feet, everything else comes from a charity shop.

Except knickers. Knickers come from Sainsbury's.

Oh yawn. Another inverse snobbery thread.

Our village is the same at the school gates. Fat Face, White Stuff and Boden labels as far as the eye can see. And of course Hunter wellies if it's wet. I hate it as well, I know people are judged on these things because last year I bought a Barbour jacket (because I needed a new one and I agree with Quintessential about it being perfect for all temperatures) and I got nothing but, "ooh, very nice!" comments from all. But I bought a far more expensive but unknown here branded raincoat and nobody says a word.

I had a pair of Hunter wellies because I thought they might last longer than a year like my cheap ones. They fell apart within 6 months. Obviously one isn't meant to actually use them for gardening or anything where they might get used.

Clothes are hella ugly these days.

Handbag snobbery is even worse though, IMO.

Who gives a fuck?

I would never be able to tell what came from where unless it had a logo on it. Why the hell does it matter? I shop in certain shops because they seem to cut for my body shape. I wear those clothes until they fall apart. I go to specialist outdoors shops for outer wear as I spend a lot if time outside so outer wear needs to be performance wear, not fashion wear. Most of the time I'm covered in mud and shit anyway.

I take offence at the Warford chav comment!! Shop in St Albans a lot, and have lots of clothes from the mentioned shops!!! Will have to ensure I don't wear any of it when in St Albans as obviously I'm being judged!!

YY Joysmum.
Cheap and cheerful was brilliant when I was young and could carry it off.
Now, I need tailoring to camouflage my flaws and Primani doesn't work anymore