Help me find a ‘nice top’ that’s not £198…

[mumofboysinlondon]

I have chocolate brown loafers and jeans, and I’d like to find a nice top to go with them for a birthday dinner.

I made the mistake of going into Reiss yesterday and I love this - it picks up the brown tones I’m looking for to complement my shoes but I cannot spend £198 on a top. Has anyone seen anything similar?

www.reiss.com/style/su914715/y34361

No advice but that blouse is gorgeous.

I used to lecture textile science.

Viscose IS very cheap to make. That’s why it’s so widely used.

Tencel/Lyocell are less cheap to make because they are more environmentally friendly. However they are still not expensive. All viscoses are wood pulp based so very cheap. Even Tencel/Lyocell.

All fibres are more sustainable than cotton ( unless it’s organic cotton) as cotton is the most polluting fibre to produce.

I still think your point is nonsense. Tencel is a lovely, heavy weight fabric, with a silky texture which drapes beautifully. It's far nicer than much real silk.

Oh and part of the cost of Palava's clothes who use a lot of Tencel, is because they are made in the UK.

Thanks for that, & weighing in with your expertise!

I did wonder how much more expensive the more sustainable types of rayon viscose were - as they seem to be used lots by H&M, Zara etc, so I didn't think they would be dear.

Is it, though, straightforward to say that (apart from organic) cotton is the least sustainable fabric? As it's not just the amount of resources & pollutants used?

Polyester etc - unless from recycled sources - come from fossil fuels, which are dwindling & finite, plus they shed microplastics & aren't biodegradable? Though they are probably more durable than a lot of other fabrics?

I wish it was really easy to compare - the topic makes my head hurt!!!

Cotton needs land which could be used for food production. The plants used for viscose can be grown on poor quality soil.

All that money for a viscose blouse that looks as if it cost no more than £30!

But as far as I understand that's only one of numerous factors that need to be considered & weighed up?

And though I know cotton needs lots of nutrients & water, I think there are different varieties & some can be grown on poorer soils with fertiliser?

I just don't think it's that straightforward? Though I wish it was ...!!!

No cotton is horrific.

Land and fertiliser and pesticides are part of it. But it’s the amount of water, bleach and finishing processes it goes through that cause so much harm. Lots and lots of chemicals.

Polyester can be spun in any colour and into any shape so it needs hardly any processing. It can be recycled too as long as it’s just polyester and not blended with anything.

Wool is the least polluting and silk as they can’t tolerate lots of harsh processes. But then of course there’s always the poor little silk worms…

The only sustainable viscose are Tencel and Lyocell. The rest are pretty polluting. Uses lots of chemical to spin and form it. It’s spun into an acetate bath on the whole. Then all the same finishing processes as cotton. I wouldn’t call viscose sustainable. I hate the chemicals in it, they make me itch and sweat.

Tencel and lyocell are only environmentally friendly in terms of reusing chemicals as part of the manufacturing process. There’s a lot less chemical waste but they are still full of chemicals.

Viscose can be posh or crap depending on the type of fibres produced.

I did read that new forms of silk are being produced where they let the silk moths emerge ...!!

It does seem that recycled polyester is increasingly commonly used, which is good (I think?!). Ditto with organic cotton - it's being used by mainstream high street fashion labels, whereas it used to be limited to more expensive brands. I buy both - & EcoVero/Tencel viscose etc, which i like - & wool & silk.

What about other "wool" - cashmere, angora, alpaca?

Damnit that Reiss Blouse is gorgeous!

I think that’s cruelty free silk where they are allowed to live. More expensive though and really hard to find.

All hair fibres are delicate like wool so can’t stand rigorous bleaching and processing. It’s how kindly the hair is removed. Some of it’s horrible. Baby camel is really soft and sometimes they just pull it out. Same with angora.😭

Cashmere and mohair is usually removed properly. Goats are quite feisty!

But they’re all keratin fibres like wool so delicate to process and bleach.

New season River Island

This totally won't help, OP, but I did a reverse google search on the Reiss blouse to see if there were any near matches. This came up: https://www.net-a-porter.com/en-gb/shop/product/etro/clothing/shirts/floral-print-crepe-shirt/1647597343510407

Also lovely, but the budget is somewhat going in the wrong direction 😆

Ha - a girl can dream! Thanks anyway.

Not a shirt, but a printed Reiss top on sale https://www.brandalley.co.uk/burgundy-printed-vanna-top-23402974.html?srsltid=AfmBOooEqf9-GYjVYhw6zdUb8WRCSbwS4fLtmZqTgnYH02-CsCNw_9_K

Sorry, I can’t get the link to work. It’s the Reiss Vanna top from Brandalley

I find the ecovero viscose shrinks really really badly unless washed on cold. There were loads of reviews saying the same when it came out via Monsoon and Fatface.

I bought and swiftly returned an M&S blouse for this reason. It was lovely, but I suspected that it might be a shrink risk so I washed it on a 20 minute cold cycle when I got it home. It shrank so badly the previously long arms were half way up to my elbows. I took it back and complained and they gave me my money back

Something like these from Sezane?
Other brands worth looking at if you like prints: Anthropologie, Boden, Ba&Sh (super pricey but sometimes they do sale), also on vinted

Just buy the Reiss one and wear it a lot. Cost per wear will make more sense than buying a cheap one you don’t really like

Is this any good from River Island? 🤎🤍🩵

https://www.riverisland.com/p/cream-floral-beach-shirt-930505?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=nonbrand_shopping&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22636952365&gclid=CjwKCAiA-sXMBhAOEiwAGGw6LH2aoNyBnPe-YvbWS9qSHEIFwFKSE5qzAHkSCVGsb1-C8QdrYHEeQxoC2q0QAvD_BwE

The Reiss one is gorgeous. What about any of these?

https://religionclothing.com/products/inversion-brown-floral-printed-shirt
https://ba-sh.com/uk/p/blouse-samantha-bordeaux-3664784953913.html
https://ba-sh.com/uk/p/kamala-blouse-chocolat-3664784930815.html
https://www.selfridges.com/GB/en/product/whistles-floral-print-tie-neck-woven-blouse_R04542135/#colour=MULTI-COLOURED
https://www.sezane.com/en-en/product/pyerra-shirt-sezane-x-antoinette-poisson/large-poppies
https://www.whistles.com/product/222107.html
https://www.thekooples.com/gb/en_GB/p/rose-print-blouse-in-burgundy-silk-blend-3615872530912.html

Thanks everyone for all your brilliant suggestions (and for the informative chat about viscose!!). I have bought a Jigsaw silk blouse for a tenner from Vinted - so we'll see! Otherwise I will be panic ordering one of the other fabulous ones here.