Why are the shops SO disappointing?

[JanisMoplin]

I went to Oxford Street for the first time in 2 years hoping to buy a couple of nice simple tops to go with black or grey trousers. It was like the 7th circle of sartorial hell. I am 50, 5"7 and a size 12 so not Alexa Chung but not massive either. Went to
& Other Stories
Zara
Massimo Dutti
M and S
John Lewis

Hated everything. Everything was recycled polyester, frilly great yokes, oversized, too cropped, see through or with principal boy sleeves. Even Uniqlo has succumbed to huge poufy sleeves and it used to be great for basics. Baukjen and Hush in John Lewis were no better.

There were some nice coats but I wasn't looking for coats. The dresses were horrible too; completely sister wife territory
I returned with a boring black knit top from M and S which was £12. Returning to my athleisure!

Forgot to mention Community Clothing. You couldn’t get plainer, more simple, ethically produced clothes anywhere. And their take-down of marking-up practices is epic.

At a higher price point, with even more elitist production policies, you could have a look at Old Town clothing and astonish yourself with their old-school design and fabric choices.

Or you could carry on picking over the detritus of what was once the High St …

TottersBlankly thankfully, I can afford to shop beyond the high street and dont buy from there but many others cannot afford that luxury, that's what's concerning.

I have spotted some pure cotton muslin shirts at Benetton. Definitely not cutting edge but these kinds of shirts work for me in summer under a blazer for meetings. And no frills or puff sleeves. gb.benetton.com/blue-shirt-with-botanical-print-in-100-cotton-blue-5OA95Q8U4_75K.html

But - Benetton’s heyday was in the 1980s! (I know, I was there.) Why would you bother with them now, long, long after they have lost all creative impetus? Do you really not find their stock unspeakably depressing? Everything looks so dated compared to say, Uniqlo - which is at a similar price point.

(I am aware that ethics and environmental concerns influence buying. My online browsing involves an awful lot of reading below the garment description. But I find most places now are quite eager to display their environmental credentials and try to explain why their clothes are being made wherever.)

Totters I don't really care about being up to date or in fashion as should be apparent by now.:) I want plain and simple cotton. I have bought a lot from Uniqlo in the past, but now they have puff sleeves and 100% rayon and oversized fashiony stuff like everywhere else.

Please have a look here, OP,

communityclothing.co.uk/collections/womenswear?page=1

There are no frills, no fashion-y stuff. Natural fabrics, garments produced in England.

Love that shop Totters.

Live the utility symbol on the socks too

I second / third Community Clothing: Plain, simple basics, made in England, fairly priced. My only complaint is I don't think I've ever seen them do women's long sleeve T shirts (except for stripes which I don't want). But I'm about to give the men's L/S Ts a go.

I miss the real shops like hell but our local high street has been tanking for a long time. And given the last two years, and especially the losses that suppliers presumably had to swallow when all those orders were cancelled in 2020, then I'm kind of amazed there are any left standing at all.

@TottersBlankly

But - Benetton’s heyday was in the 1980s! (I know, I was there.) Why would you bother with them now, long, long after they have lost all creative impetus? Do you really not find their stock unspeakably depressing? Everything looks so dated compared to say, Uniqlo - which is at a similar price point.

(I am aware that ethics and environmental concerns influence buying. My online browsing involves an awful lot of reading below the garment description. But I find most places now are quite eager to display their environmental credentials and try to explain why their clothes are being made wherever.)

@TottersBlankly - I’ve not been in a Benetton for 2 years but if I were to go I’d be impressed with cotton etc.

Last time I was there I bought a wool skirt and long sleeved embellished T-shirt and a couple of wool cardigans.

Thanks, Totters, CC looks promising. I also looked at Thought and like some of the things on there.

I moved from UK to rural Ireland a couple of years ago, last weekend I was in London and one of the things I was looking forward to was having a nose round shops. Buy some fashionable city clothes from the big metropolis! So disappointing! The clothes all seemed to be winter ones still, and who needs new winter clothes in March? The fashion seems to be for drab/ugly colours, patterns that look like they are from my mother's 1970s curtains, and unflattering shapes. I bought nothing but a basic pair of M&S jeans.

What I have realised is that if you have lost your waist, wearing something baggy and shapeless only makes me look more shapeless. I need something with a bit of shape, not bodycon but with slight definition.

I think these clothes are cheap to produce in terms of fabric now and also it's easier to make loose flouncy clothes because no tailoring is involved

Yes I would love some shaping

@Ohdearthatwasntgreatwasit

I’m with *@TottersBlankly* on this one.

When you can’t find anything in the shops that suits your personal style, then it is your personal style which needs to change.

I’d agree that current fashion is not designed to flatter the figure, but is that the end of the world?

If it’s important to you to appear slimmer, then perhaps lose some weight?

I disagree. I don't want to wear clothes I feel ugly or frunpy or fat in.

As for losing weight. You what? I'm towards the lower end of the normal range of the BMI normal range, and if I lost weight I'd look ill

I assumed that those flouncy un-tailored, hang-from-your-shoulders dresses were popular because the people buying them think that they will disguise excess weight?

I can’t think of any other reason for anyone wanting to buy them!

Retailers aren’t daft. They only sell what people are buying. I’d like more choice of styles, sharper shapes, more fitted clothes, better fabrics, and I’m happy to pay more for those things. But, I’ve realised that the high street shops aren’t selling what I want because there aren’t enough women who want the same things at a realistic price to make it sustainable for them.

You can see it on this thread: posters complaining that £20 is too expensive for a cotton T shirt but they still want thick cotton and an ethically-sourced garment that lasts, please. Or they have seen decent trousers in Seasalt but still wait for the sale to buy them. If you are a retailer you would very quickly get the message about what’s going to sell in quantity and which garments you are probably going to have to take a hit on. Then, if you want to stay in business then you follow the money.

Had a long shop in our local city yesterday trying to get some new clothes and didn’t buy one thing! It was full of flouncy shapeless tops and dresses with huge baggy arms or thick jumpers. Really disappointing!

What were you hoping to find?

I went shopping with a friend in Bluewater a couple of weeks ago. She was looking for something particular and I was helping. I think we went in every shop, so I went in plenty I had never been in before. I saw one thing I liked the whole day. Everywhere was just full of animal print polyester.

We even had a 'who can find the most hideous dress' competition.

@TottersBlankly

What were you hoping to find?

If that was aimed at me-I was looking for a top. Something that wasn’t a thick jumper and didn’t have massive balloon-like sleeves or ruffles. There was very little in the way of normal tops.

I no longer wear dresses but I genuinely like the oversize trend in shirts and Ts and knitwear. But otherwise I agree with Iamthewombat's post that much of this is surely driven by pricing.

£20 for a T shirt doesn't sounds like an unfair price to me - it's roughly what Community Clothing charge. But I'm not having a pop, I know that's unaffordable to many people. And this is the dilemma retailers are in: wages have stagnated, energy and food prices are soaring and, although we might (fingers crossed) be coming out of the pandemic in Europe, I'll hazard a guess that suppliers are largely in countries where vaccination rates are low.

If I were a fashion retailer, I imagine the question keeping me awake right now would not be, 'Where can I source well made clothes in decent fabrics?' it would be: 'Where can I find suppliers to make T shirts that I can ship in, sell for under £20 and still make a profit?' I would also be looking for a new career. I adore clothes but I would not want to be working in this industry right now,

Wasn’t so much aimed at you Howshouldibehave - (at least not in a hostile way!) - just wanted to know if we could assist your search.

Floisme, I agree, it must be a nightmare trying to keep a clothing business afloat right now. Btw - Goodhood has these long sleeved t shirts. Though only in white, and I think they’re actually from the Men’s dept so sizing needs to be adjusted.

@BalloonSlayer

I went shopping with a friend in Bluewater a couple of weeks ago. She was looking for something particular and I was helping. I think we went in every shop, so I went in plenty I had never been in before. I saw one thing I liked the whole day. Everywhere was just full of animal print polyester.

We even had a 'who can find the most hideous dress' competition.

Yes, a lot of it is hideous and unflattering on most people

I would like to buy basics like a straight cord knee length skirt or A-line even

Midi isn't always flattering and can look frumpy

Cotton tops or shirts possibly scoop necks

No polyester

I agree, there is just nothing that catches your eye, Zara seems to be catering for a younger market and their clothes are so skimpy, as an older shopper I need way more fabric.

Thanks Totters - unfortunately I don't want either white or black! But going to give Community Clothing men's Ts a try. They also do a cord skirt in a knee length woodhill and one in denim too - I've seen their raw denim and it looks decent.