To think so many middle-class clothes are ugly?

[RoyalFamilyFan]

I admit I am hardly a style guru. But when I joined Mumsnet people talked about lots of companies I had never heard of like Toast. So I followed links of clothes posted and looked at the websites mentioned. And was shocked at how ugly so much of the clothing was.
Shapeless grey dresses. Black loose trousers teamed with black tunics which make the model look like she is a member of a cult. Shapeless brown t-shirts.
They are just so ugly. AIBU?

I think you're just as likely to find hideous clothes in primark or next.
Yes, but would Mumsnet call them Architectural or just ugly?

@Contactmap they would call them tacky.

@Aderyn21

There is a middle ground between Amish and tarty! For me if it's a choice between those voluminous dresses for work or the 'too 90s' suit style, I'd opt for outdated over looking as if I belong to a cult! I'm a boring dresser - I still like jumper dresses (with some shape) and I have a khaki long puffer coat and still like skinny jeans. I'm consoled somewhat by the thought that I haven't sunk £160 on each item though. Saying those fugly dresses will last forever is not a selling point

If I had to pick one truly awful, boring garment (after jeans , which are boring personified) it would be a puffer coat. They remind me of sleeping bags.

@Cornisharchitect

Hush! Now that’s a blast from the past!

Are they still around? haven’t thought about Hush since 2019!

Bought myself a beautiful dressing gown from hush at Christmas. It is the softest ,most cosy and lovely one I have ever owned. Had never heard of them but they popped up when I googled luxury dressing gown. Don't know what else they sell though

@ReadySteadyTwins

People are deliberately misinterpreting what OP pretty obviously meant by "middle class clothes"

She is referring to companies like Toast, where the clothes have a very healthy price tag, and aimed at a certain target audience. Which would fall under stereotypical "middle class"

Of course this thread will descend into a faux pretence that no one can possibly understand what OP clearly meant and will turn into the standard "oh, money doesn't equal class, I'll have you know...oooooh clothes have classes do they..." Tedious.

Yes OP, you are correct. A lot of those Toast type companies do shapeless shite clothing. God knows who's buying them, because I haven't seen anyone dressed like a Mormon. But someone must be...

You are absolutely 💯 correct .

To be fair KimikosNightmare, my puffer coat is not the most beautiful item of clothing in the world, but there comes a point in the year where I'm so bloody cold that I stop caring 😀

*Hush! Now that’s a blast from the past!

Are they still around? confused haven’t thought about Hush since 2019!*
Blimey those purchases must be vintage by now.

[quote RoyalFamilyFan]@OhWhyNot I like dresses over jeans. I used to wear a lot of dresses over thick black tights when young.[/quote]
You see, you've been criticising other people's taste but to me dresses over jeans was just awful and pointless. Wear a dress if you want, wear jeans if you want but together? Why?

I' m getting adverts for those purple Plumo trousers now I am still not buying them!

@PlacidPenelope

It’s not that they (we) don’t care. Typically (I can’t speak for everyone, obviously) it’s that they don’t care what you (or particularly men) think. They dress to please themselves and their aesthetic which is driven by the tribe they exist within.

You (they) do care about what others think you care that they see you (they) as part of that tribe/class/crowd if you didn't you wouldn't all slavishly follow the uniform rules.

The school run dress, the school run coat, the school run shoes, etc., etc.

I’m saying I don’t dress for the OP or people with her taste. I don’t think it’s ugly otherwise I wouldn’t wear it. I dress for my own aesthetic sense and to broadly fit the tribe I fall in with, because that’s where I feel comfortable.

I don’t know know why you’ve quoted me and basically just repeated exactly what I said.

I also often deliberately dress to subvert the tyranny of fashion and the expectation that women ‘make the best of themselves/dress nicely for men/wear feminine things/choose flattering clothes’. Which directly ties in with dressing for the male gaze.

@KimikosNightmare I don't think I am criticising others tastes. I don't think anyone liked the dress I posted that I really love. Although I rarely wear them, I love quirky clothing.
But I simply cant see the appeal of shapeless grey and sludge coloured dresses. I do think it is a case of marketing and being seen to not care about how you look. Because I think without this, nobody would choose this "style".

Architectural clothes do not exist. Unless you’re in a skyscraper fancy dress!

Oooh that dressing gown sounds amazing @AngelinaFibres

@RoyalFamilyFan

This is the cult look.

I love that and I wear similar. I'm very working class though OP. I'm not in a cult either. Do I need to stop?

@LemonMuffins

I find COS to be the worst offender. Always recommended on here. Always shapeless and bland.

I love cos. Wearing a cos sweatshirt atm.

@custardcreme

I’d wear that dress. I’m always drawn to a whiff of the Amish though.

Me too!

Yep all the raved about didricksons, sea salt, toast etc not my cup of tea. Definitely not boden but i think that's going out of favour anyway. Lots of people on here also appear to hate 'brand' and can't understand the importance but then rave about the above as if that's acceptable because it's a mumsnet brand

@RoyalFamilyFan

Or this. It is incredibly ugly. How can anyone see this and decide to buy it?

Looks like something you'd see on an 18 month old

I always see Uniqlo recommended often but it lost looks like primark with a decent photographer to me

Where do you buy your clothes OP?

@anungratefulwretch

Didnt Mr Boden himself say if was for women who didnt care about bring sexy?

You say that like it's a bad thing?

I mean, I don't wear Boden as its not my thing, but I'm not aiming to 'be sexy' whilst choosing bananas in Aldi, or giving a lecture to 200 undergrads at work, or taking the dog for a walk along the beach in fucking January. I think there are plenty of women who would feel the same way. I guess by your reasoning that makes us all sad middle-aged frumps?

Jesus, this place is depressing at times. The internalised misogyny is mind-blowing.

Good post. Maybe a marketing expert can comment on how men's clothes are sold. I don't have the impression they are browbeaten into feeling they have to look sexy as well as confident and professional at work.

@RoyalFamilyFan

Or this shapeless dress. It doesn't look good on a model, it isn't going to look on good on someone without model proportions.

Oh my, that dress is revolting. I think it's a bit middle aged hipsterish, which could be pulled off by a thin 20 year old, but is just weird on a 40 something. I think these things sell because people are a bit desperate to look different, but each to their own. It's their money. And the price! I thought you were referring to £60+ for a casual dress, not some of these prices.

Of course you will get people on here saying they won't spend any less than £300 for a dress as they like clothes that 'wash well'.

You’re not wrong OP. I have a couple of SILS who wear this kind of clobber. Very unflattering. They both have professional middle class boring jobs - think solicitor, accountant, but I think the careers they really admire and would aspire to if they had the chance would be something in “the arts” or media. They tend to drone on about so-and-so who works in the creative side of television, theatre etc or lectures in film at such and such a place blah blah. They aren’t wearing this stuff because they are so confident that they don’t care about how they look or something about the male gaze, or because they just want to be comfortable. They think they look great. They associate this kind of clothing with being “arty”. They also wear those really square-shaped black ridiculously thick rimmed specs and have Joan of Arc hair cuts.

@OhdearOhdearOhdearIndeed yes they are not spending £20 on a shapeless dress to lounge around the house and garden in. That is understandable.

What are 'working class' clothes though?

I bring you Asda....

@CrimbleCrumble1

*Hush! Now that’s a blast from the past!

Are they still around? confused haven’t thought about Hush since 2019!*
Blimey those purchases must be vintage by now.

Ouch. Is Hush too pretty for you?