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Original poster

Shops you don't go to anymore...

126 replies

libertychick · 17/01/2013 22:26

Decided today Hobbs is off my list of shops. I went in and tried on several dresses, skirts etc. It all looked exactly like everything I have ever bought before from them. It's a bugger as it suits me, is appropriate for where I work and v gratifying as in several items in there I fit a size 10 (and I am not a size 10) but if I keep shopping there I will look the same way for ever...

Any other shops people have decided to abandon?

OP posts:
notyummy · 18/01/2013 19:04

Only go in Next for kids stuff. Even before they became as naff as they are now, the cuts never worked on me.

New Look - fab, fab handbags. Amazing array of clutches etc for every occasions. Clothes - not so much.

Some places I will buy clothes from online but not so much in person as dont like the store - Dotty Ps for example (or most Dept stores...HOf, Debenhams etc.)

Bunbaker · 18/01/2013 19:06

Top Shop
River Island (didn't it used to be Chelsea girl?)

I wish we had a Uniqlo. I keep seeing threads on here praising them.

ZenNudist · 18/01/2013 19:13

Interesting thread. Posted once and now interested in where people do shop. It seems there really is a gap in the market but how anyone fixes it I don't know . It's impossible to find reasonable quality at a decent price.

Wish I lived near a kos. Someone else mentioned the kooples, might give it a go. I still stand by that next has recovered somewhat if you don't mind one season only wears.

It seems you really have to trawl the shops if you want to get a decent wardrobe. I tend to do 2-4 main shopping sprees a year, with my September/October and may/June ones keeping me going for the rest of the season. It's hard work dressing even slightly ok.

orangeandlemons · 18/01/2013 19:15

Thee seems to be nowhere to buy anything atm. All the shops are full of overpriced polyester tat. Surely it can't last for ever.....can it?

Next...please please explain to me the demographic of this shop. I was in today taking something fo d back. Blue shiney nylon trousers like tracky bottoms described as jaquard (my arse). Who buys this crap? I really do not understand this shop. And yet they keep pulling in the profits Shock

noddyholder · 18/01/2013 19:20

Cos and gap are my staples plus charity shops

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 18/01/2013 19:30

The Kooples have lovely things for tiny people with no norks and lots and lots of money.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 18/01/2013 19:31

I went into Cos last week. Lovely bracelets etc but I didn't like any of the clothes and they seemed v expensive for thin and shapeless things.

MrsCampbellBlack · 18/01/2013 19:32

I am put off the kooples because of their adverts with the grubby looking Pete Docherty

akaemmafrost · 18/01/2013 19:33

Dorothy Perkins, used to love it now everything is cheap and chatty.

Next last spring was abominable, not one garment I would even have used as a duster. It's a bit better this winter.

M&S, I used to buy quite a lot of stuff there, I might go back when I am 65 should just about fit their demograph then.

akaemmafrost · 18/01/2013 19:34

Uniqlo is wear I shop now. If I am going out then it's Mango or River Island.

akaemmafrost · 18/01/2013 19:35

Where! Not wear obviously, though I suppose not entirely inaccurate given the subject matter.

drjohnsonscat · 18/01/2013 19:43

Can't shop in:

Next: polyester central
LK Bennett: overpriced sloaney stuff
Jigsaw: still doing those drab colours...

Occasional success in:
M&S Autograph or Limited though quality has gone downhill
John Lewis first floor, not own brand

Usual haunt:
Hobbs: although I have enough navy linen and jewel coloured dresses to wear to summer weddings thanks
Jaeger: sale only but the odd lovely thing.

Bunbaker · 18/01/2013 20:25

Does everyone else think that clothes these days are too thin? You can read a newspaper through most tops and blouses that you can see in the shops.

Original poster
libertychick · 18/01/2013 21:21

I think some of the issue with Primark, H&M etc is the timing - I find stuff there when I go in at 9am on a Monday and it's quiet and the place is tidy. But working full time means I usually can't do that - one of the reasons why I love S&B is effectively getting a style edit that beats any magazine or fashion blog.

Good tip re River Island jeans MrsCB - I shall take a look. It's one of those shops that scares me a bit as it looks from the window like it will only work for the super skinny.

OP posts:
Corygal · 18/01/2013 21:24

The new 'dry' polyester, which is hilariously boasted about as 'fine crepe' is skinny and transparent - It's also violently unflattering.

FreePeaceSweet · 18/01/2013 22:57

I don't go in the Body Shop any more. It used to be great in the 80s and 90s, They really were doing something that nobody else was doing, and it was reasonable for even then-students like me to buy stuff there

Yep. Thats before L'oreal got their mucky paws on it and took its originality away. I used to love the Bodyshop..

As a big lass I'm restricted as to where I can shop so i tend to stick to Evans, New Look, Yours, and Simply Be (some nice stuff but very expensive) so don't really have the luxury of chopping and changing. I get jealous when my sister turns up in her £6 pants from Primark and I'm there in my sale rail £25 jeans from Evans. :o

MrsCampbellBlack · 19/01/2013 08:27

Amber - the amelie are really good and at £30 - if the knees go because you're spending time on the floor with toddlers - its not a big deal

Deathwatchbeetle · 19/01/2013 09:37

Never mind boggin' polyester, it is smeggin' viscose that I hate. It is EVERYWHERE! Brings me out in a sweat! Have limited choice due to being 18/20 (yes, I know a lot of shops now cater for 'plus' sizes but not everything fits). Plus, fed up of everything being for those that want to show ALL.

Amazingly, found some long sleeve t's in Primarni that were not viscose. £3.99 Woohoo!

marriedinwhite · 19/01/2013 09:47

Agrees with all of the above and adds Phase 8. Used to love it.

I think we need something new. Adds, Laura Ashley seems to have reinvented itself a bit and I have been buying things from there quite often. It isn't cutting edge but it's nice and it fits and is about what I want to pay for day to day stuff - helps that it's a three minute walk from our hous.

SilverAndSparklyKat · 19/01/2013 09:47

I am fussy about fabrics. I want to wear cotton please, and wool, otherwise my skin goes weird. Therefore I do all shopping online, order loads and send loads back again.
On ebay you can select by fabric, and then loads of random stuff comes up- some of which is lovely, some of which is utter shite.
I almost never buy on the high street, and wouldn't even consider buying full price on the high street. Although I do love an hour or two alone in TKmaxx with nothing in particular in mind Grin

Bunbaker · 19/01/2013 10:18

Yes to natural materials. I also want to buy jumpers that have full length sleeves, not those stupid 3/4 length ones that mean I have to wear a cardigan over them. And tops that aren't so ridiculously low cut that I have to wear another layer underneath.

AndiMac · 19/01/2013 11:21

I used to love shopping at Next, because I knew I could find something I liked and it would fit. I went in during the fall and was astounded at the frumpiness of all the clothes and looked around me to see most of the other shoppers were at least 60. I left as quickly as I could, before I aged another 20 years simply for looking.

I've never understood the appeal of fat face, I agree with the assessment of it being toddler clothes for grow ups.

SueFawley · 19/01/2013 11:27

About 10 years ago I had three favourite places and bought maybe 75% of my clothes there. They were Boden, Monsoon and M&S. I no longer buy from any of them, except M&S for knickers (and food). My clothes shopping now is a stressful and random exercise, not something pleasurable.

It's been interesting to read this thread, as I had assumed it was just me that was struggling. I thought this was part of being 50 - nowhere suitable to shop. So it's clear from the thread that my age has very little to do with it and has everything to do with the shops themselves.

Sonotkylie · 19/01/2013 13:39

White company - like OP and Hobbs, not because i don't like their stuff but (unlike OP) because I look rubbish in it even when I have carefully chosen to suit my shape, life etc and feel very demoralised.

Shop less at Next (and expect to send a lot back but the odd gem), Boden (ditto but no real gems now I think about it) m and S (pants only). Never really shopped at Wallis River Island, or New Look or T K Maxx and find them off putting. Discovered H and M and Tops shop but ONLY online ... Body shop - have odd bits I buy but only online as the offers can be insanely good eg 50%off and free postage if you spend £5... I kid you not. Why would I bother driving there?

survivingwinter · 19/01/2013 14:12

Totally agree with others that something new is needed or retailers do need to make some significant changes (or reduce their prices for what is mostly cheap tat)

I'm a basics kind of person and still quite like GAP and FF but only in the sales.

Other than than that I've stopped even bothering to look in most shops I used to buy clothes from and wish there was more choice - loved Old Navy when we were in the States!