What brands do posh people wear in London

[MrsDeadlock]

I am northern, and not posh. However I do have a fancy job that usually requires a level of travel.

There is a dress code that I'm not very good at reading for my London based contemporaries. Think Meg and Julia in Motherland types.

What brands do these types wear? I can spot a Mulberry handbag at ten paces usually but the rest is baffling and I'm genuinely intrigued. They always look so well dressed!

Please help me, I can't ask in real life!

Given that I don't have any budget or need for new clothes, I felt i could be magnanimous on this occasion @PoulePouletteEternellement.

I remember hearing once that Kate Moss donates (or or used to) loads of her old clothes to the Sue Ryder in Highgate and got very excited... until I remembered I wouldn't fit into KM's cast-offs in a million years

Fridgepants Charity shops in family areas like Richmond, Barnes, Chiswick, Kensington High Street etc have lots of larger sizes if you’re willing to ignore them being maternity clothing. Having three or more children is perhaps the most obvious sign of affluence in London.

@Annasgirl

I have now moved on to the Sunday Times lockdown cliche - Sweaty Betty leggings and long puffer coat - not a look for a posh London workplace, but definitely required for walks around my very posh Dublin suburb with the dog.

This made me laugh. I'm in Dublin too and I finally cracked and bought this ankle length Cos puffer coat.

www.cosstores.com/en_eur/women/womenswear/coats-and-jackets/coats/product.long-hooded-puffer-coat-blue.0916508003.html

I looked at this too, but it seems to come in and out of stock and was sold out the day I wanted to buy it.

www.arket.com/en_eur/women/jackets-coats/product.long-down-puffer-coat-black.0911176001.html

I'm just so sick of being cold that I'm just going to have to put up with how unflattering it is. At least it's not a Dry Robe!

I also live in either my Sweaty Betty leggings or my Spanx leather look leggings when
I want to feel slightly more dressed-up!

My sweaty Betty leggings arrived earlier this week and I regret not buying more in the sale. I have decided that I will live in them forever.

I can't bring myself to pay £80-100 on leggings though.

Has anyone had luck with lower priced brands?

DPD is taunting me with my Ally Capellino bag delivery. So close yet so far...

I love my Sweaty Betty leggings so much. I honestly think it's worth spending on good, sucky in leggings , because cost per wear is so low , when you end up wearing them for months!

@MrsDeadlock they are giving a 25% discount to NHS staff (and maybe other key workers too?), you just need to send them an email from your work email account.

By “them” I meant Sweaty Betty!

Working my way through this thread, thank you OP!

Love the sound of manure brands but so much talk of oversize this and that...

What about brands with this vibe which cater for those with boobs, a waist and big bum... so much just looks matrony/pregnant.. please help!

Really "posh" people have their clothes tailor made and they last for decades, always look appropriate and smart.
As an example, my mother had a dress and jacket made for my brother's wedding in 1999. She wore the same outfit (taken in) for her grandson's wedding in 2018.

Work in the city, and would say expensive shoes and handbag, with plain clothes and nice accessories.
Uniqlo do great plain basics.
Longchamp leather bags, not the canvas ones. Fantastic and so useful.
Silk, Scarves - Liberty Hermes, Weston

Vintage jumpers from ebay.

Tiffany Diamond studs. The bigger the better! Get second hand if worried about the ethics.

People tree is lovely and ethical

What a way to kill the thread, FraughtwithGin!

I'm also, actually, descended from people who look askance at ready made clothes. And generally hate the thought of people noticing I'm wearing something new. (Absolutely love the detail in, IIRC, Edith Wharton novels, where the young ladies, on receiving trunks full of the year's hottest Parisian couture, were made to put it all away for a year to avoid looking too eagerly, greedily modish.)

And yet, I would die of misery if I were condemned to dress only in the perfectly fitted outfits I swanned around London in, years ago, in another life. I like the evolution of my mind, body, spirit to be reflected in the clothes I wear ...

Really "posh" people have their clothes tailor made and they last for decades, always look appropriate and smart

Indeed. I said so upthread, but was told I was provincial & dowdy. I don't consider clothes made to order to fit me exactly in shapes & designs like those of Claude Montana or Vivienne Westwood (various pattern companies do these) to be either provincial or dowdy.

But this thread just demonstrates what we all know - that taste is often quite personal. For example, I thought that some of the bags linked to upthread were clumsy and hugely expensive for what they actually were (plastic). Not my style or my taste. The boots linked to, ditto. But that doesn't mean they're wrong or bad. Just not what I'd drop £300 or more on.

As an example, my mother had a dress and jacket made for my brother's wedding in 1999. She wore the same outfit (taken in) for her grandson's wedding in 2018.

My father wore the morning suit he had made for his wedding to the weddings of all his daughters! Although I don't know what happened to his top hat - I think we used it for dressing up as children ...

I am "Temple" rather than City but agree with @HoegaardenHappiness in general.

I would just add, for shoes, I would stick to a basic Gucci loafer, or Carel Kinas. Nothing other than black. For boots I think you can get away with the top end H&M brands like &Other Stories, Cos and Arket.

I have been wrestling with myself for so long about whether or not to get a Givenchy Antigona, I don't think they are even "in" any more

I think this all depends on your definition of 'posh'.

For the purposes of this thread, I imagine it's actually just people who are successful in their field who have also learned how to dress stylishly along the way and have the money to fulfil all their sartorial fantasies!

Agree @hollyangel

I know one proper aristo family who dress like absolute tramps.

@hollyangel

I think this all depends on your definition of 'posh'.

For the purposes of this thread, I imagine it's actually just people who are successful in their field who have also learned how to dress stylishly along the way and have the money to fulfil all their sartorial fantasies!

Yes, I think the OP is thinking stylish people who are interested in clothes etc., and can afford to spend quite a bit on their clothes. She doesn't want to dress like Princess Anne.

Was talking to a posh person in the last week and admired their dress and asked where it was from. They told me it was Kitri. Thank God for this thread as I was able to immediately give a genuine reaction of recognition, lol.

It's all been very educational!

I have three Ally Capellino bags and swear by them. They don't look like a sports bag and have withstood a hell of a lot. Think commuting on planes with a small child, shop ups with a child and bike and all the rest. I got given the changing mat too. Great to have a bag that feels on the hipper as opposed to Sports Direct or Mothercare vibe.

Does this make me posh?! :)

@YouCanTakeTheGirlOutta apparently not judging by the comments above!

I, too, took it that the OP wanted to look well put together, in a professional manner, not that she wanted to pretend that she was a member of the royal family