I only buy them in the sales!

[Butterismylife]

Usually on topics about clothes, but it is becoming repetitive. Why does everyone who admits to purchasing from brands that have high price tags have to insist they ONLY buy in the sales? (white co, Toast, etc)

Is it some new kind of virtue signalling, to literally have to remind everyone that you never, ever pay full price? Who cares? It’s like insisting ‘I have impeccable taste but I am so terribly thrifty!’

So much bloody posturing around the virtues of thriftiness - surely this is designed to insinuate that the poster is of a certain class, whilst sheepishly insisting they don’t believe in it.

It’s a sort of extension of the repetitive class related posts that always insist they grew up working class but are (of course!)……middle class now! Every damned time. Are we a culture of clones?

Who days this crap in real life ?
For the record, fairly lighthearted rant .

Ha ha - a colleague complimented my outfit yesterday and I felt the need to inform her that I had in fact pulled the trousers back out of the dirty washing basket that morning as the button had popped off my clean ones and I didn’t have time to sew it back on. But thanks!

Anyway, someone upthread said something quite profound…poor people are judged for wanting or having expensive things like quality clothing. They’re supposed to shuffle about in Matalan knowing their place. They often feel the need to explain themselves. I got it in the sale!

I’m not well off but I don’t buy cheap clothes. I’d rather one pair of Seasalt cords over 10 pairs of Primark leggings. I do rather well out of the Seasalt sale for work basics that I can wear for actual years…and do. AmI not supposed to talk about it? Please advise.

@Peanutbuttercupisyum

I don’t get it either. I don’t get how it works. I mean you see something, love it, then what, wait 6 months for the sale only to find it not on sale, sold out prior to the sale or only teeny or massive sizes? So you’ve spent ages tracking something you’ll never have? OR, you only look when there’s a sale on? But surely you just see loads of stuff you like that’s not on sale. Lots of these brands are expensive, sale or not. If I’m spending 50 on something, the leap to spending 70 doesn’t seem much

This.

To reliably buy what you want and need in the sales, or second hand/charity shops, you have to be exceptionally lucky, put a lot of time to shopping around and monitoring prices/sales, be flexible about what you buy, and for clothes, probably be a smaller or larger size than average.

I do shop around, look for things in sales, look for 20% events and similar, but even at full price, often the chance of finding something I like and that fits, is quite low anyway, so adding another hurdle to all this, in reality means that I'll spend an awful lot of time looking for something that doesn't exist, because as a curvy size 14, very few clothes actually fit me anyway.

And if that mythical size 14 item that I need, want and like would have fit me, it's likely to sell out well before it gets reduced from full price.

Plus you have to add on the cost of 'fails' in that it's increasingly hard to find online retailers that do free delivery and free returns, so it costs money to buy a selection to try on and return things. See also buying things from eBay - it's generally not worth returning things if they don't fit, so it's money down the drain.

For me, there are certain shops where the clothes aren’t worth the normal price - White Stuff is a prime example. So If someone comments on WS I’m wearing, I’m likely to tell them I bought it in the sale as I’d feel silly for paying full price.
I have more expensive clothes from better labels at full price, and a lot of M&S that I don’t even remember whether it was reduced or not.

OP your post isn't light hearted at all, it annoys you for some reason. It isn't virtue signalling. I love a bargain as do many people.

I buy sale clothing in primark jeans for £3 and boots for a tenner yes please.

man I'm so tight arsed.

Then you have nothing to do with the OP’s post, do you? She isn’t talking about people who buy clothes in Primark.

From the OP:

Why does everyone who admits to purchasing from brands that have high price tags have to insist they ONLY buy in the sales? (white co, Toast, etc)

I wish people would read the flipping thread, or even the OP, before chiming in.

It may be that although these people could afford to pay the full price they can't justify paying the full price. They may like the quality of the clothes but grudge paying full price.
I can't see anything wrong with saying it

Not sure people can win.

I may recommend Hobbs but point out I don't pay full price, because while I like their clothes and they last, I do think at full price they are over priced. So I would not recommend someone pur have them at flat price. In the sale they are worth the price.

As an example I got a hobbs dress for mums funeral. In S&B someone asked for a recommendations for a dress for their mums funeral. I recommended mine, it was smart, practical, had pockets, well made. But it wasn't in the sale anymore and had gone up in price. I was honest and said I paid less and wasn't sure if I would pay full price. It wasn't that nice. It was to be virtuous, it was to give an honest recommendation.

My clothes and (recently) my jewellery are often commented on for being nice or good quality. People often also comment they couldn't afford it. I don't see them as saying 'oh I am so virtuous because I wouldn't spend alot of money on clothes'. Its simply a factu statement as is my response of 'oh I will buy then in the sales' or 'it's inherited jewellery, it was my great nanas....I couldn't afford it either'

On the other hand, everytime there's a thread about expensive hand bags or clothes or shops or make up/skin care there's always a few posters that come on to sneer and tell people how shitty they are for spending money on these products.

Those people don't give a shit that posters may have saved for something the really want or how much they are spending. Its become acceptable to tell people they are bad people if they do anything above the absolute basics when it comes to buying things.

So no one can win on any discussion, can they. Point out you get things cheap = bad. Talk about spending money at all = bad, vacuous and morally corrupt.

I noticed this thread just after posting something for the OP to rant about.

I like value for money. That’s all is to it. No subtext.

It can be a number of different things.

Some people just love a bargain and love talking about one. My mother will never resist the urge to show off about a bargain, even if the recipient is unlikely to be impressed by it. 😆

Equally it can be self deprecating. I'm Irish and Irish people do this a lot. It's like they'd hate you to think they were particularly well off, or stylish, so they downplay it. The contrast with Americans is stark.

@Lineofconcepcion

Perhaps there are some of us who like nice clothes but can't really afford the full price?

Because the quality is so shit (even decent brands) that I resent paying full price

Luckily I am a "massive size" and can usually predict when something I have my eye on will sell out before the sale.
None of the retailers in question make particularly out sized clothes.

I say it because my mother gives off about splurging... so I would take a high ticket item, slash it in half and then maybe take another 10% off the price I communicate to my mother!
I think it might come from protecting one's self against the old attitudes common among working class people which sneers at people who have 'lost the run of themselves'

I think people sometimes do it to justify/apologise for having nice things. Because it's often in response to 'I like your bag, lucky for some to be able to afford such a nice one' type comments.

But comments like that often come from people who will buy something new and cheap every week/month and can't see that they too could have something nicer, and often spend less, even if paying full price, if they bought one good quality bag every five years instead of four cheap ones every year.

@heyitsthistle

The one that gets me is "oh, I like your jacket" "Thanks! I got it from Primark, £15". I have so many friends that do this and it gets on my nerve

The appropriate answer is "thanks!".

My friends and I do this all the time, because inevitably, the next questions will be how much, and was it a recent purchase?

And before the ''that's weird'', or ''how rude for asking about the price'' comments start, it's what we do and have always done, because we are close friends.

@Luredbyapomegranate

You are over invested.

It means one or more of -

• they couldn’t afford the full price
• they like a bargain
• they don’t want to make people with less money feel bad
• they were brought up to believe/still belief you shouldn’t spend too much on clothes
• they don’t want people who know they don’t have much money to think they are overspending

Occasionally it might be virtue signalling, but mostly not.

This!

I say it because if people who know me and my financial situation thought I was buying Boden or Seasalt at full price, they'd question my judgment. I shouldn't care if they did, but I do.

I'm just bloody proud of it though. I love my £50 fb marketplace miele dishwasher, and my £50 neff oven. I love charity shops and finding great brands - picked up a toast top for £4 last week. I scour ebay for my favourite clothing brands and that tends to be my payday treat. I was brought up by a granny who ran a market stall and spent weekends at car boots and charity shops, so for me it's the opposite of some kind of class bragging.

Interesting.
So many responses say it is because we can’t afford a £32 shirt.
Yet MN is generally stuffed to the gills with people bragging about 6 figure salaries (marrying well, grrrrl pwr!) and owning several properties.

And remember, MN is also where you have to state that you were born poor but ARE REALLY MIDDLE CLASS NOW, because you worked hard and were ‘genetically’ blessed with intelligence. Because hard;y,anyone on here admits to remaining working class, 0h the horror!

There’s a curious disconnect. It’s fascinating. I suspect a lot of competitiveness and insecurity writhes beneath

@saraclara

I say it because if people who know me and my financial situation thought I was buying Boden or Seasalt at full price, they'd question my judgment. I shouldn't care if they did, but I do.

Thank you, this makes sense and sounds genuine. The general tone on here is disingenuous at the very least.

What’s disingenuous about not being able to afford high end prices other than in the sales? I could afford full price Toast when I was working, now I can’t but I still like it so I wait for the sales.

The general tone on here is disingenuous at best?

What do you mean?

I do it, I wouldn't tell you unless you asked though. I like dresses and coats from monsoon for my girls. I earn well even part time but I can't justify £70 for one dress when I could get two or three in their sale.

And remember, MN is also where you have to state that you were born poor but ARE REALLY MIDDLE CLASS NOW,

I wasn’t born poor. I still like a bargain though.

@Iamthewombat

Then you have nothing to do with the OP’s post, do you? She isn’t talking about people who buy clothes in Primark.

From the OP:

Why does everyone who admits to purchasing from brands that have high price tags have to insist they ONLY buy in the sales? (white co, Toast, etc)

I wish people would read the flipping thread, or even the OP, before chiming in.

High price tag is relative