Rant - why are so many clothes so absolutely rubbish???!

[Lottapianos]

Went shopping yesterday and it was a rather frustrating experience. I was looking for a light but cozy autumn jacket - nothing too warm. Quite a reasonable request I thought. I quite fancied one of those quilted jackets that everyone is wearing these days. I tried on about 10 and every single one made me look like the Michelin man. Why why WHY do shops not make clothes that have a waist to them? The vast majority of women do not look good in straight up and down, boxy styles. Would it really be so hard to make clothes with a bit of shape to them???

I went to one shop and found a jacket I fancied and found what I thought was a good size for me. I'm size 14, so pretty average, but do have 32H norks which can be a problem. The sizes they had were S, M, L and XL so I went for the XL which was so tight it was cutting off the blood supply to my hands. FFS - since when is an approximate size 10 an XL? Why do shops not make clothes for how women actually look, instead of how they are supposed to look? Fecking sick of it

Anyone else bloody sick and tired of looking through racks of clothes that only look good on supermodel teenagers?

Disclaimer - this is in no way a 'real woman have curves' rant. I loathe that nonsense. I appreciate that there are some slim women around who look great in all this stuff but it's not the majority of us. I'm just asking for a bit more variety.

Try this quilted Barbour jacket. It has a belt, so you can notch it in to help define your waist. I've worn it with just a t-shirt on a sunny day and wasn't too hot, but it's cozy for cooler days too.

And, I was worried about having a Michelin man look too, but it's really tight and neat, not puffy at all.

Thank you AndiMac, that's lovely but I was thinking more around the £50 mark

Zara.com have quilted belted jackets which are lovely

I have been looking for a coat for ages and can't get one anywhere that's makes me look half decent I am also a 14

I think I'm going to have to resort to eBay - maybe look for something in the vintage section

I don't think this shit looks good on 'supermodel' teenagers either. Never understood that perception. The clothes are just crap and can only be somewhat redeemed by excellent photography and styling in the shoots. I don't think age has much to do with it, but younger people are (so they say) less difficult to be persuaded to buy buy buy...

I can't find anything remotely decent in my home town. The high street stuff appalls me, but it didn't always used to be that way. I used to love Topshop in the 90's, and the stuff I bought looked good and lasted for yrs. It is depressing to see prices rising so dramatically, yet the quality and fit of the garments are plummeting. To my mind this isn't just clothing, it's every damn thing we buy.

Sonce trying a few higher end pieces, and seeing the difference in quality and fit, it is difficult to convince myself to be satisfied with the high street. I loathe this fact, because I simply can't really afford to dress entirely in expensive clothes....and of course, not all designer goods are worth their price tag either.

And with regards to your 'rant': I feel similarly, yet I am at the smaller end of sizing, can rarely find anything that fits well, and entirely blame the clothes/manufacturers. According to my mother, they only cater for the 'average', whatever that is. Us smaller of larger folks are kinda fooked, really.

EEEEK, just to make it clear: I do not think a 14 is 'large' but the clothes do NOT cater for women with ample bosoms. And it isn't so much the sizing as the cut.

I have resorted entirely to eBay and lesser known designers (i.e the ones that have to rely on quality rather than their label to sell). High street is shocking this year - entirely polyester and clothes practically disintegrating on the hangers!

Completely agree Toasted, decent range of sizes but hideous baggy boxy cut. Vile.

EVERYTHING is made of nasty, cheap fabrics. Bound to be a static electricity walking hazard.

Dresses have all got this hideous piece of elastic sewn in across the tummy to give them "shape". Yuck!!!! It just emphasises my tummy!

Seams unravelling, buttons hanging off, hems ripped.... even before it leaves the shop!!!!

And everything is aimed at 16-22 age group. Ridiculously short / tight / over-fashionable.

I DESPAIR :-(

I love jeans but I hate shopping for them, I only wear regular ones, because hipsters are too short in the groin area and skinny ones are too small for my calfs but I must wear a belt because I need to get size 12-14 to fit over my arse, if I didn't wear a belt they'd fall off.

The worst thing that happened to high street fashion was the popularity of the 'skater dress'. This style is somewhat uncomfortably reminiscent of little girls party frocks, and to my mind NEVER suits adult body shapes of any description.

The pulled in waist, saggy bodice and super flared skirt (often way too short) is just a bit too infantile for me, and I don't really think it flatter younger people either.

But what bugs me the most about this mind-bogglingly popular cut is how prevalent it is. I have a suspicion that it is cheap/easier to knock up than other styles, just a clump of fabric with some elastic, etc, and this is why we are awash with them.

Huh, and let's not even get started on the sleeveless crap.