Sali Hughes on high street fashion for women over 35

[elotrolado]

Just read this - so true.

www.the-pool.com/fashion/fashion-honestly/2017/20/sali-hughes-on-the-british-high-street-dressing-women-over-35

I too long for those 'flattering frocks, neat at the shoulders, sleeves and neck, but with enough fabric around the middle to invisibly accommodate a bottle of red and more than 19 calories ...'

Agree with Sali.
I don't want anything with the back missing of even a hole cut so my bra shows it's just tacky. I'm 37 and a 6-8 I'm 5'3.
I have had moderate success in perks, Wallis and mango recently but clothes are thin on the ground.

Skirts - has anyone ever tried on a paper-bag waist skirt? I did recently. It was so bad it was hilarious. I literally looked like I was wearing a sack tied with string and it was incredibly unflattering. You really do not need an extra metre of material bunched up drawing attention to the one area of the body many women are trying to hide.
I'd really like some smart knee-length skirts for summer but I have looked in vain in many shops. I am far too old for mid-thigh!
I know there are lots of recommendations on here for online retailers but I do like to try clothes on as I just don't trust the photos on the websites and I find the sizing so variable.

No doubt I will have to resort back to wearing my only decent skirt - bought from Top Shop about 10 years ago! It hasn't faded or bobbled after all these years, which just shows these things are not impossible.....

Paper bag waist? Wtf is that then?!

I bought 2 paperbag waist skirts in the sale last year.

I threw them out when I went through my summer clothes this year: they just look wrong

It's another fashion trend that looks good if you are tall and slim... which I am not

tall, slim...and have no arse

Just googled paper bag waist - urgh yuck and very 80's

I had a paper bag skirt back then. I loved it, it was maxi length, perfect it was.

I quite like paper bag style as my waist isn't bad. It also draws the eye away from my thighs. As Tanaqui says a couple of pages back, I don't think we should assume we all like the same things just because we're middle aged. You can tell from the threads about Boden/Cos/Joules that we have different tastes and rightly so.

I think what we share is to do with quality not style. I'm not too bothered about the ruffles and cold shoulder trends - they will pass. It's the trend for badly made crap at all price points that pisses me off and that looks like it's here to stay.

Most fashionable clothes at the moment are incredibly easy to make - I've started sewing my own Cos style tops and dresses at a fraction of the price, all in good fabric made of natural fibres.

Any good online sites for really lovely fabrics? I wanted to make my dds school dresses, but couldn't find any pure cotton gingham locally. I don't know where to look for lovely fabric.

Sir Vix John Lewis

Sir Vix - for fabrics you can do much better than John Lewis.

Minerva Crafts
Truro Fabrics
Stone Fabrics
Plush Addict
My Fabrics

All have huge ranges. More niche

Fabric Godmother
Merchant and Mills
Ditto Fabrics
The Drapers Daughter
M is for Make
Fabworks

Although having said that JL have a reasonable range and are v good for haberdashery.

I'm only 27 and I'm in full agreement here! The situation is just as bad in the US, the clothes here are bloody awful this year. I just want nice summer dresses that cover my lumpy size 14 stomach that don't show my bra

Thanks for the fabric links. I am nowhere near a John Lewis, so it has to be online.

Not everyone on this thread is middle aged or over weight or slim or young. We're all different apart from the desire to buy nice looking, good quality clothes.

Think that's worth bearing in mind as a few posters have assumed it's just middle aged and over and slightly larger women with the problem.

I agree with Enid, I think size has little to do with it. On my disastrous shopping trip yesterday, I figured out that if I'd been size 8 and small-boobed, I still wouldn't have wanted the ginormous sleeves, cropped tops, exposed shoulders, and horrible fabrics.

SirVix (and I love your name, Sir) thanks for tip. I definitely need to get to grips with Etsy - it seems full of hidden treasures.

Yes, we're all different. And if you'll allow me to stay on my hobby horse for one more post, middle aged women are all different too This is where I think retailers who try to cater for my demographic so often go wrong: they assume we all look the same and like the same things whereas all we really share is a desire for more forgiving fabrics.

I've seen Zara mentioned a few times here. Can somebody show me what they've bought there recently? I went in yesterday and found nothing remotely normal and wearable for somebody a touch on the curvy side, who works in a smart/casual office part-time and runs around after three kids the rest of the time. I'm sure I'm not alone.

Zara used to do some lightweight, slouchy knits that I liked, even though they were acrylic, because they skimmed but didn't cling. They may still do them but I don't live near a branch and it's one of those places where the fit is too random to make ordering online worthwhile.

No one has mentioned massimo dutti. I was in there today and very impressed! Do they not have one near most people?

Nope - but then we don't even have a Zara!

I have yet to find ONE dress this season that I like. or rather a dress that is under £200.

I have scoured JLewis online and in person, Boden, Jigsaw, Karen Millen, French Connection etc etc etc.

They are all too dressy. I don't want something I can only wear once for an 'occasion' - my life isn't like that. I want something smart casual that is flattering, shows off my figure (8-10) , has short sleeves, is knee length or just above, is washable - it IS summer - and ideally is not polyester.

I refuse to pay £100+ for a summer dress because in reality there are 12 weeks of summer (June July August) and it's not worth spending a lot for my lifestyle.

enidbutton the original article being discussed was about lack of fashion choice for the over 35s, so I guess that is why a lot of posters (me included) have mentioned being middle-aged in their posts.