Random observations from shopping centre today

[EmmaH2022]

I have just been to a shopping centre for the first time in about ten years. It was for mum rather than me. I don't really go to shops in person.

For no reason at all, I thought I'd share the morning's observations. I did a lot of observing today, normally I never do it.

1. cashmere - thought this would be the height of luxury but the M&S cashmere jumpers really didn't impress me. Looks like they'd bobble as well. My jumpers are a much cheaper fabric, probably polyester, and look better? I wasn't expecting that.

2. ageless dressing - I appear to have been doing this by accident, except last week I got a leopard print coat online and it seems that younger people don't wear animal print? I vaguely had that in my head when I ordered it. And today I overheard a lady in Zara saying that "only mums wear animal print". I am 46 but not a mum and still jump out of my skin a bit at the idea that I'm not 22 😂

3. slim women with smooth hair look good in pretty much everything. Colours, prints, plains, neutrals. Anything. I guess they just always look nice.

4. the oversized trend is a problem for a lot of short women. I think a lot of us are wearing lightweight coats that we'd like to be about six inches shorter but they aren't many available and that goes back to last year?

I am trying to lose weight but really got to accelerate that. Also, maybe I should get a Meghan Markle type treatment for my hair. I don't want to lose the curl though, just the frizz. But it makes such a difference. My hair doesn't grow as fast as it used to so it might be worth doing, as I won't have so much of a problem with frizzy regrowth.

here end my random observations.

Sorry but I'm loving oversized! I've been wearing it for at least 5 years (a friend is a fashion designer so she definitely influenced me to be an 'early adopter' by giving me free clothes). I'm 5'9 though so that helps. I'm a size 14 these days (Covid weight) but I do a lot of gym/weights and I'm told I have long, shapely, toned legs (one of the very few things I like about my body) so oversized works well. I do the old volume trick though so massive top/jacket/upper half etc with leggings/legs on show or wide legged trousers with a fitted top/sweater or something that is nipped in at the waist and/or shows my arms. So basically half Michelin woman, half normal size. 😂

I remember oversized from the 80s/early 90s. I loved it then, I love it now. I was gutted when fitted came back in the 90s. I'm ready for it happening this time and just trying to enjoy it while I can - and hoping to get back to size 10-12 before fitted clothes arrive!!

I'm also very relieved that frills are OUT. God they were awful. I don't do frills. I tried once and it was just awful. My fashion designer friend wanted to give me a frilly black almost ankle length dress that she said looked great on me but I just couldn't. I felt like Morticia the Gothic Bride. Pretty sure I offended her saying that (sorry!) but.... 🙄Down with frills, long live oversized! 😂

I can, however, recommend a great London hairdresser OP if you're willing to go to Holborn. Go to Brooks & Brooks and book an appt with Jamie (Brooks). He's been cutting my hair for 30 years and I trust him with my life.

You clearly don't understand how they've studied this.

They will have studied two groups, and compared the observed rates of uterine cancer between those two groups: Group 1 - women use use hair straightening products; Group 2 - women who do not.

For obvious reasons, men will not have been studied.

"We estimated that 1.64% of women who never used hair straighteners would go on to develop uterine cancer by the age of 70, but for frequent users, that risk goes up to 4.05%"

Equally, if they were studying tampon use they would look at rated of cancer in women who do use tampons, and compare them to women who do not.

That’s a really dangerous statement to make unless you were running the study. A lot of the Brazilian blow dry treatments use formaldehyde. There have been concerns for years about them. I’m not even vaguely surprised that a study has found negative health issues.

Alright, alright, I concede I was wrong about the hair straightening study !

I’m a size 6 and I can’t shop in ‘mum shops’ like M&S, John Lewis, Hush etc as everything is too big. I was looking at a Whistles dress yesterday - they only go down to size 8 and it was huge.

Has to be New Look, H&M, Asos

Why do we need to hide from pervy men?

The straightening thing - from the study itself:

Hair product constituents, including formaldehyde (24–27) and formaldehyde-releasing chemicals (28–30) in some straighteners, and oxidized para-phenylenediamine and 4-aminobiphenyl in hair dyes (25,31–33), have also played a potential role in carcinogenesis, supporting an association between hair product use and cancer development.

The keratin treatment has no formaldehyde, I’ve had it done twice a year since 2015 and even then, the product was formaldehyde free. I don’t think the ‘Brazilian Blow dry’ was ever as widely available as the Keratin version.

The study talks about how it has NOT divided results by race - I think we would need to know more about a) the types of straighteners and b) how race impacts results.

@Scarydinosaurs i don’t use straightening products. I only linked to that study as I read it the day when I saw this thread, so it was fresh in my mind. I didn’t mean to cause alarm. I also know association does not necessarily mean causation, so there’s still lots to be researched. However, it’s interesting that the subject was research-worthy.

I love people/fashion watching. I mainly do it on the tube (Londoner) as I hate shopping centres.

I tend to look at women of around my age these days for ideas, as obviously the young uns look great in anything so I’m not going to get any inspiration from them .

My main takeaway recently is that covid fashion (comfy lockdown clothing) has gone too far. It’s SO boring. I’m all for the death of high heels, but that aside I do wish tailoring and well cut clothing would make a comeback . I love coats and dresses with a waist, trousers that are properly cut, fitted tops. I think they suit a wider range of womens bodies, too. Shapeless stuff pretty much only looks good on the slim and/or young.

What do you mean by a "mum shop"?
You think that women who are mothers have no style? Or are always large?

One of my daughters is a fashion student and wears an (oversized ha) leopard coat.
Maybe she knows something we don't as I'm.oretty sure she's not a mum.

The oversize thing is bizarre. I needed to buy a shirt recently, so bought my normal 10 - it was like a tent! Had to get an 8, and that is still fairly big around the body while only just fitting on the arms (I'm tall, so my arms are long).

I'm tall and slim and the oversize stuff looks dreadful on me, so I don't know who it suits.

Tbf, shops which are aimed at an older demographic (30s and up) tend to have more generous sizing than shops aimed at a younger demographic.

We all know sizing differs from shop to shop, no point in pretending otherwise.

True, sizing varies enormously. However, I dislike the common expression "mum shop" and "mum style" it's such a silly generalisation.
Also, H&M - clothes are huge - what's the demographic?

No idea, I've not shopped there in ages.

I try to buy sustainable natural fabrics, which rules out a lot of what you find on the high street these days.

Yes, it's all a bit polyester. However, my point was about the sexism and ageism rampant in style discussion.
I think you can be stylish larger than a size 6, also if you're a mum.

Re frizzy hair - sleeping in a silk hair wrap apparently solves the problem (I haven’t personally tried it though).

You know exactly what I mean!

And no, I clearly don’t think all mums are large - but the shops do.

I never mentioned anything about how stylish the clothes are 🤔

Was simply talking about sizing.

The oversize trend isn't just a problem for short people imo. For anyone with sizeable boobs, oversize clothes hang off them and make you look like a marquee, never mind a tent!

Cashmere needn't bobble. Not all cashmere is equal.... dm has some cashmere jumpers from the 1970s 1 from Daks, 1 from Harrods- so they weren't cheap, and they still look fine,there are getting on a bit, but no bobbles!

Bobbles happen when short fibres in a yarn snap. High end cashmere is so expensive because it only uses the longest a cashmere hairs. High St cashmere uses shorter hairs eg: the goat's beards.... which bobble much more easily as they are less well integrated into the knit.

I disagree with expensive cashmere not bobbling

Sadly, yes. All cashmere will pill no matter what you do - but low-quality cashmere may pill immediately if you rub a layer of it between your fingers. This happens due to the grade's shorter, thicker fibers. When spun together, natural fibers interlock, which is how we get yarn.

I had Costco cashmere from over 10 years ago still around which hardly bobbled, Pure is good as well

John Lewis maybe not so but was more affordable