Gosh I love clothes.

[OneOfTheGrundys]

That is all.
They’re a hobby when I’ve free time, my armour when I’m feeling low and just all round fun too.
Ebay and charity shops are my favoured hunting grounds as I love a good rag pick but clothes shopping on the high st I also enjoy.
Just had to share. 😊

There’s a nice article by fashion historian Sandy Schreier in the FT (Friday I think) to accompany an exhibition of her vintage collection at the Met.

She says for her ‘fashion is a form of escapism and awe’ but she’s never wanted the clothes to wear herself.

Must admit that on the whole I’m not drawn to museum displays of fabulous clothes. OTOH I’m too good at throwing things out or giving things away, so have very little to actually show for my own half a century of obsession.

Oh me too! Love them, love buying them (too much really) and enjoy getting ready in the morning and putting on clothes that I love.

occasionally get it wrong and buy stuff I feel lukewarm about.

Someone once accused me of being shallow which is ridiculous really given the rest of my life. It's just about doing things that make you feel good. And for me, one of those things is shopping and (sometimes) buying clothes

I remember once chatting with a colour consultant who tried to sign me up for one of her sessions by telling me it would mean I wouldn't have to think about what to wear any more.
I was 'But I like thinking about what to wear!' I told her. She didn't seem to get that at all.

I absolutely love clothes too! I love all the different fabrics and colours and shapes! Having spent some lost years as a SAHM in my 30s, I have rediscovered just how much clothes can lift my mood and how important looking good (or at least feeling that I do ) is to my sense of self-worth. Connected to this, I've also fairly recently developed an absolute love of dressmaking - I get so much joy from imagining the garment that I want to make, choosing the fabric and pattern and then sewing it up. I wish that I'd learnt to do it years ago!

I bet we all love the "what are you wearing" threads on MN? I love clothes threads in general, I'm a lurker on the Parisian threads and absolutely in awe of the knowledge and style there. (I definitely wouldn't fit in, I have a Mohican for fucks sake ) but there is something I absolutely love about them.

(My DD has just gone to work in one of my 90s cropped T shirt She has her hair in space buns too. I feel old )

You should join in WeBuilt. As I often say on there, I don't look remotely French and don't really aspire to. I just like the discussions and it gets me out of my British high street mindset.

Yes, the shallow accusation is rather silly. And ‘shallow’ in itself actually.

Fashion rather intimidates me-the idea that something is either good taste or bad takes the joy out of my clothes shopping I always think. I try not to think of the taste aspect. Just whether I like it or not, if it’s comfortable or not and if it’s relatively flattering. I’m a 16 though so slimming outfits will only slim me so far! 😂

And yes, we had home clothes day at school recently and it was like time travel back to ‘93!

Oh thank you @Floisme, I know you all have your own style and aren't all French but i have about two styles that I wear (and they're both dresses ) so it's not really a thread for me as such, I just love lurking and reading it. I do find tailoring tips useful and the way you all think about the quality and the fit etc. I'm small so take in/up a lot of my clothes.

The "shallow" accusations around fashion really annoy me, but ironically I spent my 20s (ish) thinking that women who wore make up were tools of the patriarchy etc. Then I grew up and whilst I still have huge problems with the messages that our society gives women re appearances etc, I think that women should be encouraged to really think about their own style and what they like and make their own choices. I've tried to encourage my DDs not to be influenced so much by current styles but find what they like themselves and have the confidence to wear whatever they like and look however they like

I'm probably not articulating this very well but I see fashion as that individual choice; rather than following the latest trends. The way MN name it "Style and beauty" not "fashion and beauty".

Well it makes sense to me, but I've had about two hours sleep and lots of painkillers I've probably been a right killjoy too

And actually @OneOfTheGrundys that's a really good point - that the 90s are back in fashion now! Yet in the 90s I thought they were influenced very much by the trends of the 60s. For example my DDs are wearing an A line mini skirt I bought in a charity shop in the 90s (good quality, lined, possibly actually from the 60s!) and that is the style of clothing I still wear (although I could fit about one ankle through the waistband of that skirt let alone my waist )

Funny how trends come back in again and again.

I think it's interesting that so many of us feel guilty about it. I'm very conscious of the ethical issues around fast fashion, nevertheless I have yet to meet a man who says he feels disgusted by his made-in-China gadgets or his season ticket.

No guilt here, i adore shoes, i have lost count how many i own, jeans, tops, jackets. Im currently tossing up between 2 pairs of boots, i dont need either, they just look cool. Im just not sure i have a spare 300 right before xmas

Dont even start me on my WWE collection of merchandise
Ethics never enter my mind while shopping.

I've been "meh" about clothes for years. 8 don't really like shopping. And I put on weight so buying new things became a needs-must, not an enjoyment.

However, suddenly the last few months I've had a real about turn. I've realised, I am the weight that I am. I have enough disposable income.
And I have been shopping!!!
I've moved up in shop levels - from Tu to Whistles, Phase eight etc ( though still sales discounts). Better quality boots, Clarks. So nothing has cost a fortune but my wardrobe is changing, becoming more classy, more appropriate for someone 50+.
It feels really good.

Next honest step is to sort out and sideline the clothes that are genuinely too small. Don't think I can throw them away yet but maybe I could store them in the loft as a halfway house while I see if I ever lose weight ( despite trying for years, but I won't ever stop trying - that's another issue)

Last purchase, yesterday, a Desigual dress.

It can be a single shop, or item, or moment that changes your attitude. It’s nice to hear you’re gaining pleasure in clothes amiga.

I love the idea of that mini skirt going round again! I have a faux fur jacket (v old) that ds2, autistic, loves soft things, loves and has adopted to snuggle with.

@OneOfTheGrundys I also have a faux fur coat that my son (who also has ASD) loves to snuggle 😂 it is leopard print, which is a double win in his eyes!

Oh, I love clothes, I've had a genuine and deep love for clothes for over 30 years, my first big fasion memory was saving up and getting the train down to London when I was 15 to buy a pair of Gucci clogs I'd seen in Vogue (so that would be in 1988), and buying Pam Hogg catsuits and John Richmond clubwear, and neoprene and fur coats and Wolford bodies, I threw myself into a deep and abiding love of clothes and how they can transform the wearer from an early age.

I remeber my mother saying to me once, 'You wear clothes like a disguise, you dress for the situation almost like costume' (I was wearing a Miss Jean Brodie style ensemble as I was in a slightly pedagogic role at the time). But clothes are theatre, I love waking up and thinking 'Who am I going to be today?' depending on what I'm doing.

That's not to say I have a mad dressing-up box approach to my wardrobe, it's evolved over time, and my style is most definitely 'me', but I always enjoy the thrill of slipping on a persona and striding out, knowing the particular face I want to world to see today is the one I'm projecting.

Thinking about outfits and finding the elusive 'finisher' to a particular imagined get-up is a very happy place for me.

And it shouldn't be seen as shallow or patriarchal. I sport a long silver mane these days which I love more than any hair I've ever had, it's slightly subversive but beautiful, it looks super luxurious which makes me want to dress more sumptuously.

There's something rather wanton and extremely feminine about it that has fuck all to do with the patriarchy and the male-gaze.

Yes! I’m dressing for me. No one else. I love the idea of a silver mane. I saw a lady in Portugal once with beautiful long silvery hair in tortoiseshell combs, couldn’t stop looking at her, hoping I’d manage that look when I was her age!

Misery, that’s brilliant! My DS has an... eclectic approach to outfits. Luckily he feels the cold so understands what to wear when he’s chilly.

I’m currently obsessing over a beautiful vintage clothkits dress on eBay. It’s £70... but so pretty.

I really hope you got that dress, OP. Yes, clothes have to be my drug of choice (especially as I’m a TT non-smoker). I love planning an outfit and putting it together, never follow trends and have a bit of an off-beat style. If I’m in a new place I’ll locate the best chazzie shops with my in-built bargain-detection software, and I think eBay will send me a Christmas card this year as I’m on it that much (I also sell things). I grew up in a household with very little spare cash and used to go to jumble sales with my mum on a Saturday afternoon - I can still remember the thrill of queueing up and waiting to get into some draughty church hall to jostle for the best bits. Since vintage kilo sales have become a ‘thing’ it’s taken me back to the jumble sales of yore. I know it’s got a lot to do with having to ‘make do’ and then learning to love it that’s inspired my sense of style and my creativity with clothes. Whoever posted that getting dressed up is a little bit of daily theatre was spot on.

Oooh, you are my people! (Says she who recently returned from a school fete with some stunning costume jewellery a three-for-$5 deal and clothes by exxy Australian designers for $5-$10 apiece. Heh heh.)

There's a common theme here of people like us being taunted or disrespected for our Nice Vice by folks who consider themselves very intellectual and deep. I suspect they envy us and feel shabby next to us. To put them at ease I like to quote some famous intellectuals back to them:

Virginia Woolf: "Clothes change the way we see ourselves and the way the world sees us."
Dorothy Parker: "Where's the man could ease the heart like a satin gown?"
Bette Midler: "I firmly believe that with the right footwear one can rule the world."

Chuck any of those into conversation, elevate the discussion and help the intelleckshules feel good about themselves Tho I wonder if they also hate the clitoris, that, too, being purely for female pleasure.

Ok.

Silver mane! Super!

Groover... we need those framed. Somewhere prominent in the house.
Also, crafty, I was raised on the church hall jumble sale. The 5p table I was allowed anything from I liked. But the 50p or £1 tables were ONLY for my mum. Big ticket items needed better judgement than mine.

I’m always excited when this thread has new posts! I always feel sad on here when someone posts a pic or a link to something they like and get a slew of responses like ‘vile’, ‘minging’, or my pet hate ‘nana’. I always want to shout ‘who cares, just style it your way and enjoy it’. I hate when someone tries to rob someone’s joy about an item of clothing. I also love, just love, that my daughter at 24, is starting to ask if she can look in my wardrobe to see if she can find something to style a particular item.

Gorgeous hair, hairyhands. I’ve had alopecia most of my adult life, and some days I go bald with loads of makeup and ‘statement’ glasses, but I also have more wigs than any person really needs, so deciding what hair, if any, to wear is also part of my thoughts every day about how I want to present myself. My favourite wig at the moment is a very sharp, sleek silver lob, I just adore it.

I don't actually feel guilty about my clothes - it's a carefully curated collection! I don't buy really cheap throw-away fashion, I look after my clothes so they usually last well and I just love looking at and stroking them!
Also, I agree ilovecherries - some people are just mean-spirited.