Where to shop as 33 year old?!

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This summer has been a disaster, wardrobe wise.

I literally couldn’t find one nice thing to buy.

I’m a 33 year old married mum of two. Relatively slim and attractive. Very average dress sense.

No matter where I went, I found things were either clearly aimed at size 6 young 20 somethings, or were hideously mumsy and old

Where am I going wrong? I don’t want to dress older than I am not look deluded about my age 😂

Reading with interest - I’m a year older than you OP and in the same boat! I’m slim but not as slim as I used to be so I have muffin tops in all my jeans... it’s very depressing.

Online- 100% go to Silkfred.
The clothes are well made and very feminine and flattering.

I love Mint Velvet at the mo

I'm a bit older.
My style is quite minimalist yet stylish (I think!)
My stuff come from Muji, Uniqlo, A.P.C, Cos, & Other Stories, Weekday, Acne Jeans, Kitsune for sweaters and Monki for denim.

Some of these brands aren't cheap but I don't buy often and it's meant to last for years.
Except for shoes and jeans, I cycle to work, which damages jeans and shoes so I don't invest much for that.

I love style but don't like fashion if it make sense.

I’m the same age as you. Size 16, mother of a small child, someone once described my style as ‘normcore nancy mitford’ 😆
I usually shop at:
Primark - good for underwear and leggings. Also got a great tweed coat there last year.
Monki - good for skirts and dresses
Seasalt - gorgeous prints, i just don’t style them like the website!
Boden - see above
TU - i have a truly fab pair of dungarees from there
H&M
Collectif
TK maxx
nordstrom
daily ritual
lucy and yak
saltwater
goodthreads

I'm a bit older but also quite slim with two children and since having them, I definitely dress more for comfort. Even though I'm small, I'm really not comfortable in particularly tight fitting tops or anything very short anymore. I've found going for simple staples in a flattering cut is the way to go for me. Tops that hang nicely, don't swamp me but also I don't have to suck my bloated tummy in either! In warm weather I live in my Fat Face shorts, either denim or the Chino style (have a few colours) and nice loose simple tops. M&S is usually dire but I've actually found a couple of nice floaty t-shirts this summer.

Fat Face for my jeans as well more recently.

I love the Boden catalogue but in reality it nearly all looks shit on me. I think I have one Breton t-shirt from them and anything else I've tried has gone back, disappointingly.

Joules doesn't tend to flatter me.

I actually don't care that I'll probably now wear much the same kind of thing for the next however many years. If it ain't broke, don't fix it

I think it's just about finding what type of clothes you feel comfortable in rather than specific shops necessarily.

Over time, I've tried on lots of different things, so I have an idea of what fits/suits me - which styles, which brands, which sizes. I then try and find the same or similar on Ebay, Depop or Vinted, which means that I can afford more expensive brands and is also better for the environment as well.

Oh OP totally sympathise with this. No idea what to buy and all my old clothes are falling apart at the seams.

Has anyone else found that WFH has affected their sense of style? I have realised I (subconsciously) gauge what is stylish / what to buy from the women I work around. Now I'm being left to my own devices and realising how poor my fashion sense is!

Argh!!!

Haha it's tricky....

H&M although I find their website infuriating as things sell out so so fast

& Other Stories

Next and M&S are ok if you know what you’re looking for and next seem to do a wife range of brands now - i’ve just got a couple of really nice Superdry paper style bag shorts from Next - would never have looked at Superdry normally

Sezane

Arket

Mint Velvet

Hush

Whistles

Some of the John Lewis own brands

Massimo Dutti

Esprit

Warehouse (although thought they were closing down and haven't looked in a while)

Boden

Nobody’s Child

Reiss

White Company

Can't handle ASOS the vastness is overwhelming and there's a lot of 💩 to wade through.

You’re 33. Wear what the fuck you like. As do I, at 55.

I’m 31 and tend to shop in Oliver Bonas, Whistles, New Look (some not all of their stuff is ok), Joules (although some is too mumsy for me), topshop for jeans only, allsaints, French connection

I'm 45 and I find a lot of the suggestions here (sea salt, fat face, joules, boden) too old and frumpy, never mind for a 33yr old.
I'd prefer Zara, & Other Stories, Arket, Oliver Bonas, Massimo Dutti, Selected. I prefer pretty minimalist style though so it's very personal.

Well I am 35 but look younger. I live in patterned or printed dresses from H&M, Shein and joules, boden. I always have a pair of jeggings from M&s. Tops I go for quality from Hobbs and Coast. Usually style them up with nice belts, necklaces, headbands

I'm 28 so not much younger and I like Mango, ASOS, & other stories, jigsaw and Oliver Bonas. Also found some gems on depop got some really nice boots from Dune for about half the price and they were in really good condition.

I find all those sea salt and hush places really busy looking. Maybe I'm missing some hidden gems though or maybe just a bit too young for their demographic.

Next, joules, TU, sea salt, weird fish.

Depends on your style. I get pretty much all my clothes from Kate's clothing and killstar. But it's certainly not to a lot of people's taste.

Dress how you want to dress, not how you think you should be dressed

Weird Fish and Saltrock have amazing online sales for casual stuff. Still like H&M, Fat Face and TU. I had a bit of a style crisis so I used Pinterest to give me a few ideas! Gave me confidence to wear some of my old stuff in a different way.

I started using SimplyBe because I'm obese and need clothes a certain size for comfort, never mind how much of me there is to fit inside them.

And I've found all kinds of cool dresses, tops, skirts and cardigans on there.

I wear tights from Snag, in interesting colours.

My hair is very short everywhere except the top, is green, and now and then I prune my eyebrows to a thin feminine line.

I accessorise with (god this is all very outing) large brightly coloured bead necklaces.

I'm nearly 38 but I've managed to transform my alternative/goth style into something that's acceptable but still very me.

I pick up the odd item from Primani or H&M, my shoes are either Skechers (pricey but I have flat feet) or Crocs (probably a contributing factor in my flat feet). Occasionally I look on Amazon if I desperately can't find something I might like.

You sound like you don't know what you SHOULD be wearing. Just keep looking at things and wondering what you could team it up with. My cardigans are all super long and swishy. They do with pretty much anything too.

Following this thread with interest, but wondered of any that have petite ranges? It's one of the reasons why I'm still stuck in New Look as their clothes run short! The scandi look that seems to be ever in fashion for shops that cater for my age bracket is lovely if you have long legs and torsos but definitely not flattering on my 5ft frame!

Popsy! My latest obsession :)

Google them. New styles/prints every week. Super-flattering jumpsuits :)

A lot of the suggestions here I am afraid I associate with being very ‘frumpy’ - Joules, Fat Face, Sea Salt, supermarkets etc. They are shops my Mum, MIL and their friends would go to.

I’m the same age as you and shop in:

Sezane - for gorgeous knitwear, blouses, trousers
Rouje - for knitwear, dresses and blouses
Max mara (but 2nd hand) - for coats and workwear
Other Stories - for basics and the odd gem from there
Avavav - for more dressy tops
Liberty - for their jeans range (J Brand, Citizens is Humanity, Slvrlake are my favourites)

I also like vintage shops for coats, dresses and knitwear - I’ve a few I go to for really good quality, well curated items.

@Biscoffscoff I think Boden do some things in petite, Next do a lot of petite, and I think Hobbs do for lovely work clothes.

Next and Boden I also don’t think are particularly stylish or young!

I tend to shop at joules, Crew, Zara and then primark etc for basic bits

I'm 40 and shop at Cos, Hush, Other Stories, Arket, Uniiqlo, H&M, Monki...