Middle Class Ugly Clothing part two

[RoyalFamilyFan]

Original thread here.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4446999-To-think-so-many-middle-class-clothes-are-ugly?pg=40

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?

Loads of high street shops online and instore. I went in Urban Outfitters recently and they had loads of dresses like this. ASOS, New Look, River Island etc… I’m forever getting a Boohoo advert where the women are wearing dresses with slits up to their waists. I’ve never shopped at Boohoo but continually get their adverts.

I got a lovely dress at Christmas from Hope and Ivy that I had to have altered because you couldn’t wear a bra with it. I’ve got a M&S dress that I had altered because my bra was constantly out with it a few months ago.

@elbea okay, maybe I am just not the demographic? I never get adverts like that and never see anyone dressed like that either. It looks like clubbing gear to me.

@HedgeSparrow I agree men's clothes are much better quality. Nice cotton jumpers and t-shirts in plain colours, and cheap.

If have the apartment, Chelsea and runway. The Chelsea came up a little short in the leg, it is fine with flats. I’m 5’3 and a size 14/16.

This men's jumper is all cotton and £26.

To those describing clothes as grannyish, and mentioning Prue Leith's use of accessories, I think we should be proud of Prue Leith. In her 80s, and a successful and stylish businesswoman, author, tv presenter and role model

@WinterDeWinter

They're supposed to be frumpy. It's an extension of the art school boiler suit idea - shows you are not subject (either in class terms, or ideologically) to gender roles or sexualisation. It's the new Bloomsbury group look.

I agree it definitely tends to be upper middle class women who gravitate towards it but not exclusively - I know others who have ordinary backgrounds like me and a strong aesthetic/design interest coupled with strong politics who sees like this. I love it. I find sexualised clothing really depressing - all I can really see is the oppression, the imperative to catch a mate.

I don't have the mad purple plumo trousers but I have the slightly less mad writers pants!

Exactly this! Although personally I think of these clothes as strong, not frumpy. And I rather like the Plumo purple elf pants....although thesedays have fat cankles so would make me look like a clown. Sadly.

I do envy the quality and lack of faddiness of men's clothes. I was a teenager through the granddad cardigan stage of the 80s. I couldn't join in due to aforementioned short arms. I had to roll up too many times to look anything short of ridiculous.

@WhoppingBigBackside nobody has criticised Prues use of accessories. It came up in a discussion about using large accessories when wearing grey Toast clothes.
Prue has always worn unusual accessories. Some people will like them, some will hate them.
My own view is don't wear very unusual and stand out clothes or accessories if you want nobody to notice them or have an opinion.

@WinterDeWinter I can see the concept behind those clothes. But I think large shapeless clothes go further by almost denying we have bodies. I have a large bust, why should I wear something that denies it even exists?
It almost harks back to puritanism where there is a denial of a corporeal body at all.

@WhoppingBigBackside I can't believe Prue Leith is in her 80s, I just don't "see" her as elderly at all for some reason.

She doesn't look like she is in her 80s at all.

I like @WinterDeWinter's idea that this stuff is sort of modern day Bloomsbury set though. And definitely no puritanism there, they were at it like rabbits....

@RoyalFamilyFan

This men's jumper is all cotton and £26.

Very nice

Neither do I.

Alyson Walsh does the middle-aged look well. The clothes look a bit 'middle-aged' but would look fine on a 20-yr old or elderly person.

[quote HedgeSparrow]@alliscalm start shopping the menswear department! Total revelation. Better fabrics, nicer colours, cheaper price.

Love an M&S man’s v-neck. V necks suit me better as I have big boobs but I don’t want a woman’s v-neck which draws more attention to them.

I buys womens trousers and shirts but mens t-shirts and jumpers are just perfect - slightly slouchy in a fashionable way but not tent like. And - did I mention this before ;-) - much better quality at a cheaper price point.[/quote]
Thanks for the tip!

Can I just big up the M&S footwear. A friend of mine is friends with an upmarket cobbler who rates the quality highly.

I understand the desire for natural fabrics. But it is not simply about natural fibres and comfortable clothing. Otherwise, all these Toast fans would be shopping in Cotton Traders.

@PickAChew

I'd be so uncomfortable in that necklace of Pru's. I'm already dealing with a rash caused by a badly placed and rather harsh seam on a vest that's left a big red, itchy spot on my chest.

Someone was pushing woven gypsy (?) on the previous thread. Yeah, that would keep my wobbly, stretch marked thighs warm when the feels like temperature is - 4, like today.

Errrrmmmm that was me (pushing Woven Gipsy Clothing)!! 😋 NOW THAT I AM SOBER (!!! it was Russian Xmas yesterday), I realise I should have explained, these clothes are obviously not for everyone, but what I love about them is that Evelyn and Laura don't just model the clothes -- they design and create them, recycling fabrics with hand stencils and weaving. They can turn a plain, boring old T-shirt into an elaborate steampunk corset... etc etc etc. This for me is what fashion should be about - experimentation and self-expression!

However, most of us lack the talent to make stuff like that. So we are at the mercy of clothing manufacturers.

Re this trend for "modest" clothing, I am not sure if I am clever enough to put this properly, but do you think it might be to do with the way popular culture increasingly dresses women like, erm, hookers (can I say this? I think I am always using the wrong words on MN!)? I mean, you only have to look at an old episode of Top of the Pops to see how differently female entertainers are expected to present themselves nowadays. All so that we will buy their music etc. I suppose the "sofa cover" look favoured by e.g. Toast might be a way of saying "Look, I don't need your money."

As for clothing brands that are nice, what's wrong with White Stuff? I saw a MN thread once where everyone was sneering at it, and I didn't dare ask why, because I have loads of their dresses/cardigans etc and really like them, and in fact consider myself dressing up proper nice if I wear them!!!

@Alcemeg I think White Stuff do some really nice things. I don't have any clothes from there, but the best-dressed woman I know often wears things from there.
Yes, you are right that women celebrities are expected now to show way more skin than in the past. So many wear barely-there outfits.
I can see that would make some women want to try and emulate them, but others react against that and go in the opposite direction.

The few bits I have bought from Toast I bought because they
a: flattered my body shape which is rubbish no waist or bust to speak of, strong shoulders, long back, tall.
b : were simple shapes without trims or additions (which i happen to prefer)
c: reminded me a little of the clothes my mum used to make for me. She sewed most of my clothes, including my wedding dress which she copied from an Issey Miyake design. I had a shaved head at the time and looked ok - but was 3 stone lighter.....
I haven't bought anything from Toast for a while now, but that's because I'm not earning anywhere near what I was.

I'll admit I'm curious, what do you yourself like to wear?

On the issue of comfort, I’d be interested to see a poll comparing the Toast and Cos etc haters with the significant number of Mners who come home, rip off their bra practically on the doorstep and immediately change into pyjamas, and seem genuinely shocked at the idea that they might make dinner or lounge on the sofa wearing whatever they had been wearing at work or whatever else they were doing outside the home. This always suggests to me that their day to day clothes and underwear must be uncomfortable.

@mathanxiety

www.theguardian.com/fashion/2018/sep/14/batsheva-hay-prairie-dresses-new-york-fashion-week

It is definitely a look, @SquirrelG.

The NYC designer Batsheva Hay is credited with originating it.

Two years after this article was written all those Little House on the Prairie Target dresses were lampooned on TikTok.

Prairie style existed long before that. Fashion goes in cycles. I bought a Prairie dress from Wallis in 1977. I had a Toast sack style dress from Dorothy Perkins in 1979.

I once bought a grey White Stuff jumper from the charity shop for about £3. It was absolutely the most gorgeous boring jumper I’ve ever owned.

@Cornisharchitect

I once bought a grey White Stuff jumper from the charity shop for about £3. It was absolutely the most gorgeous boring jumper I’ve ever owned.

Mine are all second-hand from eBay. Glad it's not just me!

I like Toast and Cos, and many of the other brands mentioned on here and the previous thread.

The prairie look isn't a new thing.
I remember the styles from the 70s or 80s, including the puff sleeves, tank tops, gilets (body warmers back then), dungarees, midi skirts

I have at home clothes and always change when I get home from work or wherever