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?

@TatianaBis so dated, then?:)

@Hagpie

YES! It’s literally why their kids cosplay as poor.

Lol

@Cornisharchitect

You're welcome! Credit Billy via me :o

I have that sweatshirt dress from Cos.

I’m 5ft 8 and it reaches my ankles!

@Alcemeg

Why not this though?!

www.facebook.com/wovengipsy

I promise I'm not on commission (I haven't spoken to these girls for over 5 years). but it astounds me how mainstream fashion manages to be SO. FUCKING. DULL. when people like this truly create 😍

Oh dear .

@RoyalFamilyFan I understand where you are coming from. I am 5'3 and could carry many of those looks off.

Pre pandemic I used to buy lots of work clothes from ME and EM (sale) the models are tall and they style the clothes in ways I couldn't pull off.... BUT when I try them on sometimes they are fabulous and not how I imagined.

Kate Middleton wore this dress and pulled it off

www.meandem.com/colour-block-silk-shirt-dress-and-belt-sugar-pink-bubblegum

Looking at the model inwouldnt have bought it but looking at kate if it was my colour I might have tried it.

[quote steff13]Here's an example of stuff Target had last year:
www.boredpanda.com/target-dress-challenge/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic[/quote]
Haha that's really made me laugh :) Very creative take on all those frocks, people having so much fun with it. The look reminds me a bit of the dresses worn in the video for the ridiculously catchy 'Chaise Longue' by Wet Leg.

Jo

@DillDanding I'm old, 5ft 5 and fat (size 16-18) and I wear COS. They make clothes for everyone.

I don’t want this thread to end! I don’t even know why

@RoyalFamilyFan - your thread has made me chuckle :)

I think threads self-close at 1,000 posts though so I would suggest creating a ".... (part 2)" and linking them together before this one shuts (if you want to, that is).

Jo

I'm 53 and 5'10. Wore a lot of Toast 8/10 years ago when I was a bit thinner but their collection was significantly prettier then. The newer stuff is ripped off (and done better) by John Lewis in their Kin range, but half the price and frankly, with much better quality fabric, cleaner more sculptural lines and forms and none of the cultiness.
I have total confidence that I can pretty much wear anything I like, and am pretty sure that makes me look attractive even if it's clear quite a lot of people on this thread would consider me hideous.
FWIW yes, I'm arty, middle class and live in North London. Go me! 🤷‍♀️

@PyongyangKipperbang

Isnt "middle class clothes" referring to the price bracket rather than the clothes themselves? I love Karen Millen and would definitely refer to that as MC in terms of pricing, which I cant afford so I pick up the odd affordable item when they donate their old season stuff to Sense. Got a £200 dress, brand new with tags, from there for £37.50!

See I would consider Karen Millen a brand that caters mostly to working class tastes. Ted Baker is another one.

These clothes aren't cheap, but there are plenty of working class people with money these days (who have invested in property etc).

Those clothes are bloody ugly

@NotMeNoNo

It's a shame the Toast dresses are so expensive, we could do a Toast version of the Target challenge. Just in case anyone unexpectedly discovered they loved them.

They are expensive because the fabric is expensive and time and care has been put into making them.

I sometimes have clothes made for me, and by the time I have bought a pattern, fabric, thread, interfacing etc it doesn't work out cheap.
Fast fashion is made from cheap fabric and churned out rapidly in a factory.

I do think that some of this terribly dull, ugly clothing goes with a mindset of 'nice girls don't show off, you need to blend in, wear something boring so you don't get criticized...'
I have bought 'blend in and be respectable clothes' of course because I have needed them for some jobs. But I always spent the minimum I could get away with on those things. Otherwise everything I wear is either comfortable or... quite likely to annoy some people and delight others.

I am in my late 50s and have been managing to annoy people with my clothing choices for pretty much my entire life. Absolutely no intention of going beige...

Would love to afford toast clothes. Currently wearing a denim pinafore from seasalt - you might think I look "frumpy" or the hem is too long to be "cool". I'm 32, 57, and size 8. I think confidence is all you need.

But when I look in the mirror I FEEL like I look good. So no one else opinion will penetrate that.

@MaxNormal

So what are the good brands making all the beautiful clothes?

I'm going to stick my neck out and nominate Desigual but I'll probably get told it's awful and I'll deserve it too after my previous post

I've only looked walking past but I'm sure I thought "Joseph's technicolor dream coat"

I really don't understand the attraction.
There are so many lovely clothes out there whatever your personal style. Why buy ugly clothes and then try and make them look okayish with the use of accessories? Why not just buy nice clothes?

Because if you just bought nice clothes nobody would know where you lived, how much you made, or where you were sending your children to school. Clothes are tribal insignia.

As someone who favours the 'art teacher' style dresses and has a pair of Lucy & Yaks for every day of the week, I feel my opinion would not be wanted To each their own, and all that!

I get that you need to be thin with this stuff, but honestly Vogue flogs that horse constantly, no?! Aren't these a bit more interesting than bored-looking models?

There's even a nice bit of green crochet and check. It's almost knitting.

I admit I am drunk, having fallen off the Dry January thread.

@RoyalFamilyFan I would love to know what french supermarket you used to order from? ( brexit not an issue here!) I end up buying a lot of my day to day wear in shops like this and am perfectly happy with it but would love to know a french equivalent!

@Alcemeg

I get that you need to be thin with this stuff, but honestly Vogue flogs that horse constantly, no?! Aren't these a bit more interesting than bored-looking models?

There's even a nice bit of green crochet and check. It's almost knitting.

I admit I am drunk, having fallen off the Dry January thread.

This looks like my failed attempt at crocheting a cardie when I was 12. That's how far I got.

If I had a lot of money to spend on clothes I would spend most of it at Jed Phoenix

@RoyalFamilyFan

The toddler's clothes on adult women is an interesting look. I remember a training session at work. Lots of ordinary people for the training and the training was delivered by two women from London who looked like they had wandered off the set of Playschool. I mean wear what you want in your own time, but I really don't think it was suitable for work.

I think I may have delivered your training...

(Just kidding, different country, but that is my job and I often dress like a toddler. Toddlers are joyful. Why should being an adult mean less joy and self expression?)

It's probably either SuperU or Intermarche. I have never entered Aldi in France; did it once in the UK and never again.

Funnily enough, I have bits from the hated retailers and am.always complimented when I wear them.

Listed for ages after the Toast velvety dressing gown until someone on S&B posted something absolutely fab for £900 . But, you know what, I wear my dressing gown morning and evening and keep them for 15 years. So why not - it's just the dry clean only and potential.for runny egg on the silk lapel that puts me off