Just where are these beautifully cut natural fabric clothes?

[Badgergrey]

I'm using lockdown as a chance to overhaul my style and wardrobe and have been following the 'how to look expensive threads.

They all talk about buying well cut and tailored clothes in natural fabrics.

That's all well and good, but where do you buy those? Especially online and if your lifestyle doesn't usually demand being dressy?

I am handy with a sewing machine and can alter clothes (but wouldn't attempt tailoring), so any suggestions for buying lovely fabrics to make my own would also be great.

Thank you

Jigsaw, Hobbs. You do need to check the fabric but some if theirs are natural fibres. And someHush.

I'd love to know this too.

Polyester is to be avoided at all costs, I agree, it's like wearing a plastic bag, but even the higher end labels use an awful lot of it.

Monsoon also has quite a bit of natural fibres. You do have shop around and be prepared to pay more for it though. The scourge of cheap polyester has well and truly taken over

Lots of suggestions on here : www.mumsnet.com/Talk/style_and_beauty/3797652-thanks-to-s-b-i-m-finally-winning-in-the-pursuit-of-elegance?msgid=95983742#95983742

Jigsaw, Jaeger, Hobbs, Toast, Whistles, White Company, Reiss, Lucy and Yak.

@Ninkanink one of those is not like the others I adore my L&Y dungarees but not sure they could be classed as tailored and expensive looking

Heh that was more the fabrics I was thinking of...and I do know a couple of people who manage to make them look expensive! I don’t own any myself...so actually now I’m doubting myself...they are good cotton fabrics aren’t they??

Thought clothing - organic cotton, tencel (made out of wood pulp), hemp

I get loads from there, beautiful prints

Also article in Daily Mail today has a designer called Mother of Pearl on John Lewis with everything made out of tencel and organic fabrics

I have to say I only buy from Thought and People Tree now - and M and S as they also do the odd organic linen and cotton piece

Toast attracts strong views but, if it's your kind of style, they do a lot of natural fabrics.
Likewise Cos - although synthetics are creeping in. And Arket (sister organisation) - not bought myself but seen lots of recommendations.
Poetry sell a lot of linen and cotton.
Seasalt - although not particularly tailored.
Landsend - mostly ignored on here and it'll never be fashionable but worth a look as they use a lot of pure cotton and their basics are generally good quality from what I've seen.
Uniqlo - but it's increasingly random and I can be bothered less and less.
Margaret Howell - but you need either the budget or a good second hand source.

Fabrics - I'm just dipping my toe into sewing so I'm still learning. I think Fabworks is still doing orders.
And I've bought a couple of patterns from Merchant and mills who sell a lot of natural fabrics. They're expensive and I can't vouch for the quality but they can certainly talk the talk. They're opening online about once a fortnight at the moment.
And if you're ever in the north west or birmingham, Leons is a treasure trove but I don't think there's an online shop.

Poetry. But they do have mostly a very pale/ neutral pallette, which sadly doesnt suit my colouring , I do wish they had more bold colours.. Also expensive but then youd expect that

Brora is also brilliant for natural, excellent quality fabrics.

Another saying Toast. Their sizes usually come up large, if you are thinking of ordering anything online from them.

Do natural fibres need lots of ironing? I'm a shameless ironing avoider in general.

Ooh, thank you. I'm going to take a look. I have bought some of these brands previously. I've also done my Kibbe body type and had my colours done years ago, so it's finding things that fit into all those categories.

And, I'm growing out my hair colour (I'm on the thread about going grey in lockdown), so no-one will recognise me when it's all over.

@Ninkanink
Reiss unfortunately use a lot of polyester these days. Things which in the past would have been silk are now polyester although the price doesn’t reflect this. A lot of their “silk” tops are only silk at the front and are viscose at the back. It’s really annoying.

I've bought several Hobbs summer dresses in linen - well cut and lined. I can get them from Ebay now I know my fit.

Boden seem to be very good for natural fibres at the moment. That said, yes, cotton and linen do need a lot of ironing, so a little manmade fibre mixed in can mean you look a bit neater for longer.

I have gone the other way, I've accepted I will always look a mess in linen, so I've stopped buying it. I'm just crap at ironing and thinking about how I'm sitting to avoid adding creases.

@EarlGreyT oh yes, you definitely have to be choosy within all brands, no matter where on the high street they lie. I always pick carefully, and generally only buy natural fabrics (making the odd exception for polyester et al if it’s not a daily wear item).

Agree with op White Company. I adore their clothes, pricey but oh so lovely.

I don't mind linen creasing if it's heavy enough, but I hate the way the cheap, thin stuff goes saggy and droopy. I bought some Irish linen fabric just days before lockdown - I daren't use it yet because at the moment I'd trash it, but the difference in weight is something to behold

I bought this recently. The material is beautiful and is well made. More than I would normally spend but I will wear it for years.

www.and-daughter.com/collections/dresses/products/vivian-tiered-shirt-dress-in-navy-seersucker

Plumo is good for linen dresses and classic shirts and shirt dresses.

Smaller companies tend to do better. How do you feel about ethical synthetics such as Tencel?
I bought a skirt from Palava recently which is just beautifully made - some of their stuff isn’t really my style but it fits beautifully and is made in the UK.

Nomads have some lovely things in natural fibre materials

Oh, is that why people on sewing blogs rave about linen? I’ve always been meh about linen looking wrinkly and baggy, but perhaps when it’s decent quality it’s different!