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 ...'

On the back of this thread I've just done a quick scout round - £125 for a 100% polyester, unstructured, no zips/buttons (pull over head type) dress. And one of the seams was wonky. And the size 8 was huge. No thank you Whistles.

"We get all the garish, shiny crap."

Same for kids clothes. Even my 5 yr old looks in the boys section now.

I bought two t shirts from French Connection(about 8 years ago.
They were in a beautiful soft jersey material that clung slightly, but not too much. They were the perfect hip skimming length and had gently rounded necklines that were neither too high nor two low.

The sleeves were short and came to that perfect length that just covers your bingo wings.
they were the best looking/ fitting tshirts I've ever owned.
They were in beautiful bright colours that never seemed to fade.
I've had so many compliments on them.

As you can guess, I have virtually lived and died in these t shirts over the years. I have a small hole in the one (one of those mysterious holes that appear near the belt buckles). Rather than throw it away, I keep re darning it.
I wish I'd ordered 20 pairs of each because I can't find any tops to match them.

I couldn't agree more, I've had several trips looking for a few new flattering outfits for this year. What a waste of petrol and parking fees. Same on line. I have two weddings and a christening this year, and for all three events I'm now planning to wear old clothes. Namely, a beautiful Karen Millen dress from 2005, when they used to make much less body con and much more proper clothing. A Boden dress from 2009, before they put their prices up to silly levels. And a Ted Baker dress from the same year, in a very fine cotton lawn with a pretty tropical print, cut to flatter, and suitable for warm weather without exposing every inch of flesh. I won't even be buying new shoes for these occasions, as I can't find anything I like more than my old but still perfect LK Bennetts.
I love beautiful clothes, I want to feel comfortable and suitably dressed. But I can say with perfect honesty that for the last couple of years I have bought nothing new except for undies and socks. It's dispiriting. Don't know what I'll do when my current wardrobe wears out!! 😱😱😱😱

I've just checked the labels. They were from Oasis, not French Connection.
Although I do have another similar top from French Connection (also bought a couple of years ago) which is cut really well and in a nice soft material.

It just goes to show that the fabrics, cuts have changed a lot in all of the shops in recent years. Things weren't so bad a couple of years ago.

I'm now planning to wear old clothes.

I'm wearing stuff from years ago.
I refuse to buy anything new this summer.

I think a lot of people are going to be doing the same.

Yes the fabrics have changed. The tummy holes problem has become rife in recent years.

yes I agree with everything on this thread. Often when in H & M I wonder why the womens dept can't make the same sort of normal looking nice quality things which can be found in the mens. I've considered starting shopping in the mens bit instead tbh but it'd all be too big! I've actually bought a boys top in GAP lately as I got desperate
Long gone are the days where you could walk in a shop and see loads of things you want to buy.
For me COS is all too shapeless and quite pricey.

Yes I have bought men's shirts and pyjamas recently. Because I want 100% cotton or linen shirts and don't always want "sexy" nighties or ones with "funny" slogans on, I just want some checked pyjama bottoms!

Finding cotton nightwear is really difficult. I can't sleep in synthetic fabrics.

I was given some Next pyjamas a couple of years ago, thankfully with a gift receipt because they were bloody polyester viscose. I wanted to exchange them for cotton.

Next didn't make a single pair of cotton pyjamas for women. Not one!

There have been a few threads this year on this very topic and I always find it strange that nobody who works as a designer/retailer/buyer/etc. comes on to put their view point forward.

I went shopping with a friend at Trafford the other week and we just spent our time laughing at the clothes. Most other women were doing the same.

I also found it odd that Mary Portas did what she did after promising to 'tackle' the dearth of good women's wear in the UK. She simply created a more expensive Wallis.

I agree about Boden colours- The "crazee prints or navy" what is that about? For the girls clothes too. I would buy more from Boden if they did some soft and subtle colours and less whacky prints.

And nightwear, agree there too- why is there so much synthetic stuff? Reminds me of my childhood brushed nylon nightie in the 70s.

Nettle - cotton nightwear is where M&S comes in handy.

re men's clothes - I've just looked online and found some of the nice jewel colours I was after in men's ranges but mostly in thick cable jumpers which is not I'm after. But as a pp said - there they are! Deep green, claret, heather, richer blues....grr.

Absolutely agree with the article too.

I'm tall and an 18-20 with big breasts, so my predicament is even worse than smaller sizes. And most stuff is polyester.

I took up sewing again and have started making dresses & tops to get around the problems with shopping. Bit of a hassle but at least I can tick all my own boxes and use natural fibers etc.

Going to attempt to make a skirt this weekend.

I usually shop online so haven't really noticed, apart from the preponderance of 'exotic' prints.
But I am partial to a gypsy or peasant style so where should I look for these?
Agree with pp about cold shoulder and neck lines which require specialist bras. Though I do like a sleeveless top (maybe because my shoulders are the one decent part left of my body!) or a slightly low back.

Even M&S offer their menswear in much better fabrics.

DH gets the odd sweater for work with a decent natural fibre content and they're quite cheap, wash well and last forever. I wanted a simple grey v-neck, last year and chose one for being less synthetic than the others. I washed and dried it more gently than the label suggested and still only got 4 wears out of it before it was far too small for me. I paid more for it than DH's jumpers ever cost.

I end up over-buying pyjamas because I'm just over-excited when I see some cotton ones I like! I've had some nice ones from Next but like a lot of their jersey, they've twisted badly in the wash.

Is there any way that we can mount a campaign? There seem to be sooooo many of us all saying the same thing with the same complaints.

If I had the resources and the know-how I would DEFINITELY be setting up my own brand.

Simple but elegant designs
A nod to latest fashions, but emphasis on style not fashion
Natural fibres
A range of flattering colours
Will work in different seasons
Built to last
Price - reasonable but not out of range (mid high street, not upper end)
Wash on a 40c washing cycle

Target market women who want to look good and who need clothes to last school run, working day and evening drinks.

Good this resonates with me!
I'm 44, hourglass bit with FF boobs and a short torso
I need a dress or skirt and top for 2 occasions in July
I do ideally want to lose a bit of weight before then
I see NOTHING on the high street For me

Good this resonates with me!
I'm 44, hourglass bit with FF boobs and a short torso
I need a dress or skirt and top for 2 occasions in July
I do ideally want to lose a bit of weight before then
I see NOTHING on the high street For me

I wonder if the rise of "street fashion" and blogs etc have contributed to this. People like following bloggers etc and their "looks" etc so the brands create these kind of "edgy" clothes but people who have actual shit to do don't actually want to dress like this on a day-to-day basis.

Yep, totally agree with this article, I think that's why I've pretty much edited my wardrobe down to 4 shops: J Crew, Hush, Baukjen, the White Co, plus the odd thing from&otherstories, and Kurt Geiger/Superga for shoes.
I'm late 40s andstill got a good figure, curvy 12 with boobs and good legs, but I never liked the whole bodycon look even when I was a size 8.

It's actually liberating not bothering with shit high street any more. Everyone I meet claims to love Zara and TopShop but I go in there and find rails of clothes more suited to and the same size as my ten year old daughter!

Am also looking and falling flat. I like People Tree, but my budget doesn't really run to their clothes this year.

Going to go back and look at the suggestions upthread now...

Yes, yes, yes! Absolutely agree. I have all but given up on clothes shopping as it's so utterly depressing.