I just don't like the current clothes fashion

[Jourdain11]

I've been on a few clothes-shopping expeditions lately - trying to replenish my Covid-depleted wardrobe - and I've come away virtually empty-handed because I cannot find any clothes I like or which look good on me. I don't know whether my perception is weird, but the current fashion seems to be for women to wear clothing shaped like sacks! Some women look amazing in it, but unfortunately I am not one of them.

Am I being weird about this, or does anyone else wish they could find clothing with some semblance of shape? Even dresses seem to be either shapeless or like something out of Little House on the Prairie!

I'm not very 'girly', but nor do I wish to dress in a duvet cover with holes for the arms and neck 🤔

YANBU, it looks as though shops want us to look as frumpy and unattractive as possible. I'm way past the age of caring about fashion but at the same time I do like to look vaguely presentable!

I don’t often buy stuff from Next but I popped in recently and yep, linen sacks. Nothing very nice in there at all.

I got a trendy track suit in grey looks like im in prison or something high fashion utilitarian

Yes, so much linen. It's so crumply! Therefore = crumpled sack.

I thought it might be me, transitioning from 'young' fashion to more, er, middle-aged. But I just don't have the right body-type to look good in sacks. I'm kind of glad it is not just me!

Oh yeah, the prison jumpsuit seems to be a current thing too! And some people look great in them. I just look like an actual prisoner.

Yep it's impossible... Also my fall back for t-shirt has decided everyone wants a crop top tee.... Nope! (H&M)

Ah .... you are my opposite tribe. It's only in the last couple of years that I've been able to find more than the odd item that I really like. Now I'm spoiled for choice - and no I don't buy linen sacks!

Genuinely curious - what are you buying? And where from?

I hear you! I’m in my early 40s and have no desire to dress like an extra from some BBC drama about land girls. Nor do I want to resurrect the micro minis and cropped tops I wore in my teens. It’s just all so relentlessly awful! I’m not very tall either, so this fashion for shapeless midi dresses just makes me look like I’m wearing an ankle length tent. I’m actually feeling quite stressed about it as I really need some new clothes and I can’t find anything I like or that suits me. Pre-covid I lived in (slim fitting) COS but their designers seem to have completely lost the plot . Glad it isn’t just me but it doesn’t much help our predicament.

Thankfully fitted clothing is making a comeback.
Shapeless, oversized jackets and tops do nothing for my petite frame. I look like I'm wearing my dad's clothes.

I'm the opposite in terms of size, but I look awful in the current fashions too. Just doesn't suit my body-type at all.

I’m hourglass with a tummy and have found the last few years awful. Starting to see a few more pieces I like lately thankfully but still not great.

I totally agree. Big nightdresses and shapeless sacks. Presumably aimed at hiding all the weight we put on in lockdown, but actually just makes us look even baggier. Bring back waists, even if they are somewhat thicker than before. And put the waists in the right place, not halfway down our bums or halfway up our rib cages. I don’t think designers even look at actual real women.

This is why I now only shop on vinted, although I can't try it on first.

You all need to discover the joys of second hand (as new/gently used) - on vinted, ebay etc. Much more variety!

God yes. I'm short and fat. Puff sleeves are not my friend.

I also find clothes shopping a nightmare, as, like you describe OP, everything is shapeless, but also the actual quality of clothes has gone to pot too I think.

One example, I bought some smart trousers for an occasion from Next the other day, which were exactly the same as ones I bought not too long ago, but the quality of the material is now crap and they’ll be going back. I actually held them up to the window to find that I could completely see through them when the sun shone in.

I actually like the loose floaty styles, but also those with long pin tucks at the waist. There are lots of those around too e.g at Cos and Other Stories.

I am sympathetic OP. A lot of the really flowy stuff seems to be best for a rather willowy figure. More mature figures are often better off with more structured clothes. But I also find that sometimes it's just that when the look changes so much, it just doesn't seem quite right because it's so different.

I have found I can wear some of the things that are out now, usually the less extreme variations. I find if you find a few things that look good it keeps you looking more or less updated even though you mostly wear a standard set of styles that flatter you.

It took a bit of time to get used to the silhouette, so it didn't just seem wrong. It can be helpful to look for people close to your own build wearing the newer styles and see how they make it work.

But how does this work? I don't want to spend hours scrolling to look for what I need, like and is in my size, which we all know isn't necessarily going to fit.

I bought some M&S jeans on eBay some years ago and even though they were the size I normally bought and a named style, they weren't the same as the ones I'd bought from M&S fairly recently and didn't look right, but because the seller hadn't actually misdescribed them, there was nothing I could do.

Even when I buy new and have carefully checked size guides etc, I can't predict what size will fit, trouser being the worst, it's probably about 1 in 10 that does, so even if I do find something from Vinted, I'm going to end up with a lot of stuff that needs returning, which I bet you can't do for free on there?

Genuinely curious as to how people shop for clothes second hand, either online or in charity shops without spending hours trying to find something that they need, fits and like and when buying online, don't end up with a load of stuff that needs returning/reselling.

But I don't know if I've seen people wearing sacks when out, at the moment it all seems to be about leggings, crop tops, cycling shorts and hot pants.

In charity shops most allow you to try at home and return if no fitting room. On ebay I used a lot of the filters to narrow down what I’m looking for and a lot of zooming in at the photos…

Agree OP, everything is either so big or so small. I tried on a dress I liked in H&M yesterday. I was enormous but thought it would look good with a belt. I ended up buying the size small. I'm a size 16! Ridiculous

I have resorted to Shein. I’m not exactly happy about it as I’ve never been a fan of fast fashion, but needs must - I needed new smart(ish) tops for work (as my role has changed and I’m now more ‘in the public eye’) as well as some summer clothes and had exhausted myself trying to find stuff on the high street.

There is an awful lot of dross on there, but if you can bear scrolling for an hour or so you’ll find stuff you like. Also the photos of real people actually wearing the clothes they have purchased helps a lot.

I managed to buy 8 tops and 3 dresses for less than £100, and all bar one fit well and look good enough on me (and not a sack in sight!)

yanbu! It’s all such boring colours as well I’ve started learning to sew so I can make my own clothes