To find clothes shopping depressing. It's all the same

[IShotTheDeputyItWasMe]

I'm fat and broke so clothes shopping is never going to be fun but its just so depressing. Every shop is selling exactly the same stuff and it's all just so soulless.

20 years ago when I had lots of disposable income, each shop had its own personality. You knew you'd go to Next for suits, Warehouse for something a bit flashy, Oasis for lovely day to day stuff (I miss Oasis, the online shop just isn't the same), Dorothy Perkins for something more grown up etc. Kookai in the sale. I knew that Zara wasn't cut for me so I didn't go there and so on. Some shops were expensive but the material etc generally justified it. You knew there were shops you'd almost guarantee to find something you liked in (Oasis) and others that you just didn't bother with because you didn't like their stuff (River Island in my case).

Now it's All. The. Same.
You could be in Tescos, or River Island or New Look and it's all the same.

Even to my untrained eye, the "alternative" shops are all the same. None of them are original. You could have bought that bat bag from any one of them.

No wonder all the teenagers around me look identical. They have no option to dress any other way or find their own dress sense.

It's so depressing.

Take me back to when you had a choice of what to wear. Or when you'd have "tribes" based on where they shopped. In college there were 3 distinct groups of people and they identified themselves by what they wore but even then there were differences eg if their look was tarton, one person would wear a tartan shirt, another tartan trousers, another one would have a tartan lined coat etc. Nowadays the tartan crew would all just be wearing a red tartan shirt perhaps with different buttons depending on the shop.

Top tip: £5 fitted tees from Nutmeg (Morrisons). Really great quality - I live in the black or white ones most of the year and pick one up whenever my size is in stock. And I love jumpsuits from Lucy & Yak - not cheap, but they do offers every so often. Really quirky and different. Also agree with Tu, although they're not cheap any more.

I can’t sew for shit but thinking about teaching myself because I’m so fed up

Uniqlo isn’t in most cities though. And yes you can buy online but I think if you want quality you want to see it first

Fully agree. It’s absolute shit. If anyone has any advice of where to look for clothes for a woman in her late 30s, who doesn’t want to look 65, please let me know! It’s all overpriced, ugly and awful quality.

God I thought I was the only one. I can’t stand shopping now, and I used to love it: beige leggings suit no-one and I look like a cartoon character in barrel-leg jeans. I like Joanie - the fabrics are a bit crap (a LOT of polyester and viscose) and you have to wade through things with patterns that look like a 70s caravan’s curtains, but there are always some gems in there and definitely no sludge.
(School tribes: always an indie goth 🖤💜)

I've been banging on about this for ages but fashion is so homogenous now.

I loved all the shops on your list, but nowadays I can still get excited by Mango, H&M, Oliver Bonas, & Other Stories, Dunnes (I'm in RoI).

And M&S - A bit.

All of those have their own vibe.

You reminded me how much I loved Warehouse and Oasis though. RIP. 😢

The problem is that teenagers all dress identically, because social media means that none of them has the courage to stand out and make a statement.

this

Plus parents, grandparents everyone dresses the same as 15 year olds.

and this

Other than jeans I make 95% of all my own clothes. Interesting fabrics, unique items, and they actually fit properly!

HOw can you complain in your OP that Every shop is selling exactly the same stuff and it's all just so soulless. And then a few posts on complain:
Just too much choice.

So odd.

I disagree completely with everyone on this thread. Yes, of course teenagers often wear similar clothes but that's completely normal. And there are still "tribes" of course - around here there's the girls who still wear leggings and swishy hair, the girls in the wide legged jeans and funky tops/hackets and a strong contingent of the "sporty" girls - but as a nearly 50 year old, I'm spoiled for choice. Admittedly, as money is tight, there are lots of places I can't go which would even further expand my options, but I know if I want jeans these days I go to M&S. Next is my default for tops and trousers and dresses. New Look is less reliable but I have a few great things from there for specific occassions. I go to Mint Velvet to spend a bit more on slightly nicer tops and jumpers for work.

I hate shopping. I am fat which makes shop hard but also tall for a woman which makes it nigh on impossible!

You missed out three words in the title. In the UK.

I agree with you completely OP.

I live Seasalt - it doesn’t follow trends particularly- you can buy the same style shirt or trousers ten years after the original wears out . It does a range of pallettes so no wondering if my colours are in fashion this year or not. Of course it’s not fashion

I like things that are a bit unusual and they're getting harder and harder to find. So if I'm wearing jeans or trousers, I like to wear a more individual top. Whether that be the pattern, cut or whatever. Just something to add interest to an otherwise dull outfit. Likewise if I buy a dress, I want there to be something a bit different about it.

I even have a relatively healthy budget for clothes but I still struggle. I've lost count of the hours I've spent trawling various websites looking for stuff. I probably only buy 2 or 3 things a year now, when I just randomly see an item that I do like.

Well I agree with bits of that and disagree with bits. Theres a whole world of other types of shops out there other than the high street. Small independent labels, boutiques, vintage. The last 3 items I bought was man’s shirt from a charity shop, trousers from Studio Nicholson and a jacket from Cos. I have Karen Millen pieces from the 90’s that are considerably better quality than anything you find on the high street now but those pieces were expensive for me to buy. All of them cost me over £100 at the time. People don’t want to pay more money for clothes and to a certain extent you get what you pay for

I love Joanie. I do find the cotton blouses shrink though. 😒

Because you walk into New Look and there are 75 types of jeans and 14 types of black jacket all squashed together so that when you pull one out, you can't get the hanger back on the rack neatly.

If you want jeans and a black jacket, it's overwhelming. If you don't want jeans and a black jacket you're stuffed.

Its not even as if you can go elsewhere because all the shops will have an abundance of jeans and black jackets.

Not sure what's "so odd" about that.

I'm pleased that you like this however as you see, lots and lots of people don't.

Yes. In the UK.

Agree. I would also like some things that are fitted. This shapeless stuff in fashion at the moment just makes me look swamped. But if I wear my more fitted clothes I look out of date. Bah humbug.

I don't know if it's just that I'm old and less in touch with fashion, but I do look at shops and I don't feel like I know who they really are. It just feels like stuff. It's not helped by the fact that so many of the old faithfuls have disappeared (RIP Oasis). But I look at a new to me shop and just can't be bothered. I hear you, OP!

The smell of cheap plastic clothes full of toxins just makes me turn around when entering some shops .That and the sea of beige and black .Absolutely awful.

@Namechangetry have you looked at Hollister for jeans? Someone posted about their jeans the other day, they have a huge variety. I had a quick look but will have a better look when I’ve actually got some money.

Maybe I'm taking it too literally but I always thought "high street" meant any physical shop within a certain price range. So charity shops and independents are high street. Designer boutiques might be or might not be depending on what they sell.

Charity shops by me are full of Primark. I've given up trying them for clothes TBH.

The only independent we have has lovely clothes but apart from charging ££ for what should be £, it's very much going out clothes which I don't need.

There were 2 independents I loved but they closed a few years ago.

I need to try stuff on so Vinted etc is no good even for brands I know.

I'm willing to pay £££ for something that is well made. I'm not willing to pay that for things that aren't.

I haven't but I will, thanks!

Agree. Next is terrible for that smell