Hopefully the website is down due to high traffic numbers rather than anything else.
Was reading an interesting article about how even the high end brands have had to streamline their offering and now produce far more bland items heavily branded with logos than ever before. You just have to look at the sameness of most designer handbags to see this. I find most totally uninspiring. This has really reduced the diversity offered and something that's definitely trickled down to the high street in as much as there's more variety than ever of stores but most seem to offer variations on the same thing. This make shopping for clothes pretty boring and really quite hard.
beanaseireann Where do I regard as having reasonable prices and good quality? That's the $64,000 question and one without a decent explanation.
I don’t really follow fashion and wear variations of the same things, some of which are worn way more than others. If something is going to be worn lots I can justify spending more for it because I know the cost per wear will be low.
I buy a lot from consignment stores/websites and ebay. I mostly buy things I've tried on at full price and waited for them to appear online. So, brands like Joseph, YMC, Folk, APC, COS, Raey, Equipment, and few American brands that I know are made in small production runs. I used to like Iris & Ink (The Outnet's own brand) but their quality in both their design and product has fallen massively since Yoox bought them out. COS was my wardrobe staple but their quality and design hasn't been great for the past few years but they seem to be improving again. I also like HM's conscious line. HM do a lot of natural fibres so that's been a godsend at times and I do find most of their things wear very well. Despite their love of french polyester, I do find Whistles good for 100% cotton t-shirts and they’re often discounted.
Shoes I’m finding trickier to buy as there’s very few styles I actually like and they have to be 100% leather (including insole and sole).
I think that you get to a certain age where you own more than you need, so shopping becomes about filling the odd gap or for something that really speaks to you. I think this makes it easier to be more discerning and able to restrict how you shop.
So apologies if this doesn’t really answer your question but it’s something I’m constantly asking myself too.
As a whole, I think the whole fashion/clothes model is totally broken, and globalisation and the internet has had a lot to do with it.
BubblesBuddy A Chanel handbag would have cost £1000 in the early-mid 2000s. I remember my mother buying a 2.55 in the 90s for £850, and can clearly recall being with her in their Sloane Street store while she counted out the cash! Chanel started increasing their prices by 4-6% a year in the mid-2000s.