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

Toast has lovely natural fabrics. American Vintage still has quite a lot that's all-natural. Also ebay is good, because older things are more likely to be made of natural fabrics and not polyester.

For sewing, I love Merchant and Mills - they have a fab online fabric shop and also do patterns and books with lots of things to make, many of which are quite easy. They are quite toast-like but you can always alter the patterns to your style. I also like Japanese sewing pattern books especially Yoshiko Tsukiori's - they are a good way to get a range of patterns for a bargain cost.

You can also search online when you want to buy natural fabrics so you can track down all kinds of gems. I have bought beautiful vintage silk or cotton saris and kimonos off ebay for example, for just a few quid a pop, to make dresses and tops.

Yes, I can also remember my mum and my aunties talking about Moygashel linen in hushed voices, but that was when it was a luxury fabric. You can still sometimes get vintage linen from the 50s and 60s and, even if I don't like the garment, I snap it up now for the fabric alone.

Soz cross post!

Re Merchant and Mills quality, yes it's great IME. You can get linen in a wide range of weights and there are detailed descriptions.

Another tip though is to look on Etsy for fabrics. Some eastern European linen manufacturers sell direct and you can get beautiful linens much cheaper (though sometimes more expensive, to take care). Also great for Japanese cottons and linens and Indian cotton fabrics.

I may have spent an indecently large proportion of lockdown fabric shopping

Have you bought Merchant and Mills fabrics Joys?

Ha ha you can read my mind faster than I can type Joys - thank you!

Synthetics last longer and tend to fit women better than natural fabrics. All of my really expensive good quality Indian clothes (I have I paid £300-500 for) are in natural fabrics and almost all of them have disintegrated (often even before I got a chance to wear them).

I love linen! I think the creasing is part of the look, but you have to work with it. Today I'm wearing a black maxi dress made from lightweight linen from Fabworks (a bargain fabric shop, hit and miss but you can pick up some lovely bits). It is thin, but nice quality and has a floaty/crinkly feel and in a dark colour it doesn't look "accidentally" crinkled IYSWIM. OTOH of you make a formal suit out of a pastel colour linen you will get a baggy, scruffy effect. I think linen is best for casual and airy things, flowing dresses, casual trousers, relaxed shirts etc.

I like Toast but they cut terribly for anyone over a D cup. They always have. You need to be pretty flat chested for most of their dresses to work, even though they are often a loose style.
Brora have lovely silk blouses, be warned the buttons on everything tend to fall off but otherwise good quality. Also snug on the bust.
Cos are good but you do have to try things on, Arket the same. Arket sizing is fairly small, a 36 is a size 8.
It is worth looking at places like Mango as they do get cotton and linen dresses alongside the polyester in the Summer. Cabbages and Roses if you like their romantic style. My SIl wears lots of it and always looks beautiful. It is v expensive though.

Floisme :o I'm supposed to be working but I can happily wang on about fabric shopping forever.

Just to say I wear all natural fibres and somehow don't look sophisticated and expensive!

Sainsburys has some nice summer things made from Cotton and Tencel.
Marks has the cotton chinos in again.

www.meandem.com

Beautifully cut clothes and whose trousers have had a great deal of research to ensure it realistically meets real women's derrières, hips and legs!!

I don't really get the big deal about natural fabrics. I tend to find synthetic fabrics drape better and look neater because of the lack of creases.

I think some European brands are good for this, two of my favourite stores are Sezane and Rouje. I just got a lovely top from Rouje, 100% cotton. The knitwear is made from natural fabrics, tops are cotton or silk etc.

This is the top I got

www.rouje.com/maille-corinne-blanc-10467.html

And the websites:
www.rouje.com/
m.sezane.com/fr

I love Thought, really lovely and flattering things.

Polyester doesn't have to mean cheap and nasty. I don't like viscose, tencel or modal.

Carrier Company has workwear type clothes.
Lands' End is good for basics
Muji
Uniqlo
Hobbs - even I would wear their linen dresses.
Gap
Jigsaw
M&S
Boden
Beaumont Organics

My polyester Issey Miyake Pleats Please dresses and skirts are beautiful. I get them second hand on EBay. No ironing required makes them great for travelling.

Just bought 2 linen tops and a cotton dress from Mango

Jaeger does good wool jackets, trousers and cashmere sweaters.
Stories does lovely plain silk shirts
Poetry is good (but overpriced imo) for linen
I agree Boden's classic linens are good right now.

Yes some man made fabrics do drape a lot better. Which is why I am prepared to pay for good quality man made fabrics too. Just generally not for daily wear as I don’t much like how I feel in them -I prefer to have plenty of breathability and as little sweat as possible.

But for an evening out or an event, sure.

Oh I love a bot of Pleats Please!!!

@JoysOfString have you tried any of the Merchant and Mills patterns? If so, is their beginner rating really a beginner? Wondering whether to have a stab my self.

I've made the Saltmarsh skirt which is definitely very easy. I haven't made any of the others properly - I've used bits of the patterns combined with other patterns from elsewhere, or adapted them (but I'm quite adventurous/rash with my sewing...)

However I have read through all the patterns/text in the M&M workbook in detail (dreaming about what to make when I have time!), and they are very well done and clear. I wouldn't attempt the trousers or jacket yet if you're new to it, but the rest seem straightforward.

Everywhere, it’s nuts you could pay £25 for a heavy cotton twill skirt from H&M and £80 for a polyester top from Mint Velvet, I look at the composition in the online description all the time