Quality clothes that won’t break the bank?

[Conniethesensible]

I’m done with fast fashion
BooHoo, H&M, SHEIN, Primark. I want clothes that will last longer than a year which are proper worth investing in!

What are your brands you swear by?

You just need to check stitching, fabric quality, if the shape has been kept etc.
I will often pick something out, go home and look it up, and find I've got a £60 item for a fiver.
I then bulk up these finds with basics - some of which are perfectly good from Primark.

I'm a big charity shop fan but I always add that a) it's very time consuming - you have to work out where the best ones are (not always in the very swankiest neighbourhoods in my experience) and then you have to go in regularly. b) They're great for me because I already have a lot of clothes and I'm mostly after higher end dupes or naice extras. I'd never recommend trying to build up a wardrobe that way.

I'm also not having much luck with them at the moment as they're mostly full of discarded workwear, although I may just need to get my eye in again.

Primary quality has nosedived recently though. Mins till have a long sleeved T-shirt top I wore through 2 pregnancies that snapped back into shape, that is 13 years old. Much younger versions of the same lasted a year or 2 max.

I'm funny about buying secondhand clothes...right, this is going to make me sound like a total nutcase...I only buy cotton secondhand (jeans, dresses etc). Because it can be tumble dried on high...which kills bed bugs 🤣😬.

I have a weird fear of them ever since I bought a beautiful secondhand sofa from a "smoke free home" which looked great when we got it and the house was being renovated so we thought the slight smell was plaster. Anyway, overnight it became clear that it stank of smoke. We had a newborn and I ended up getting rid of it really cheaply to a secondhand furniture dealer as I couldn't have it in my house.

Anyway, this led me down an internet wormhole of things to look out for buying secondhand and bedbugs were a big feature. Only really killable with heat.

I get that - one major reason I've steered clear so far of buying second hand online is that I like to sniff before I hand over my money.

I do buy a fair bit second have on eBay and the worst smells to get rid of are Febreeze and fabric softener IME

Go to charity shops (in a nice area) I'm buying things that are £100 ish new for around £10, some have labels attached so unworn

Oh yes, febreeze sticks to clothes! Probably the whole point, but still.

I need to try some London vintage shops I think, next time I'm there. I have had the odd thing where we are, but nothing amazing. eBay I struggle with and I have to admit I generally don't love the things I get from eBay. Sometimes I do, but more often than not, I don't. Probably trying on on a charity shop is the best thing.

Hehe thanks @Floisme! Glad I'm not a total freak!

I do love a good pootle about charity shops but yes it can be time consuming, and for me 9 visits out of 10 are pretty fruitless. And then you hit gold dust and it's all worth it.

If you're someone who likes blazers charity shops are great for those. Don't be afraid to root about in the men's section.

Does anyone else watch Karen Brit Chick's youtube channel. She does these great videos on NY street style where she stops all sorts of people to ask them what they're wearing. But she also does lots of videos where she visits thrift and vintage stores in NYC/Brooklyn and, wow, the bargains available in those stores make me green with envy. UK charity shops just cannot compare to those emporia of riches

I also think we like to brag about our amazing second hand bargains but we don't shout quite so loudly about the dud buys. Well at least I don't. I mean I love it but it's not a silver bullet.

@ScribblyBaller YY! I love Karen Brit Chick so much and everyone in Brooklyn seems to look amazing in their "thrifted" stuff. I suppose the only answer is moving to Brooklyn so I can buy all the beautiful secondhand things.

That's basically my conclusion too, @HiHoSylvie!

Cool, grab the passports! I'll meet you there. We'll have a on the plane!

I would offer a kidney, all the hair on my head, and some of my worldly goods for such a jaunt right now!

🤣😩 I just thought as I wrote it, "oh my god I WISH this was true".

To add some really good quality and unique brands:
Ridley
Pyrus
NavyGrey
Creenstone

Quality seems to be going downhill everywhere, sadly, even in the “premium” high street shops. I’ve found the following are still good for quality basics:

Jigsaw (work clothes, tops)
John Lewis’s own range
Rapanui and Finisterre for t-shirts
Brora for knitwear (in the sales)
Sweaty Betty for socks
Toast for trousers / pyjamas
COS for t-shirts and 100% cotton shirts and dresses, everything else seems to have gone downhill, esp. knitwear
Arket used to be a mixed bag, but I’ve had some better luck recently so maybe things are improving
Uniqlo for basic tops, joggers, and hoodies

NavyGrey mentioned by a PP is very good!