£23.80 per outfit for 10 outfits?

[BecauseICan22]

I'm attaching pictures of my basket, what do we make of getting 10 outfits for just under £24.00 per outfit or item I guess.

There aren't enough trousers and the dresses are too short for me. But if you're happy with your selection go for it.

Personally I don't feel it's my place to lecture on the origin of anything when I'm typing this one mobile phone (not produced ethically), consume fish or meat occasionally and presumably knowingly or unknowingly purchase items that aren't sustainable around the home despite sincere and frequent efforts to reduce that considerably through a number of other ways.

What I would say though is that if it's the case you're trying to save money I don't think the prices there are anything special and wouldn't expect the quality to be either. I rarely buy clothes now and have a small capsule wardrobe so can't imagine buying that much at once or needing it. I would also not consider any of those 'outfits' in and of themselves, just items of clothing.

Apricot are stocked in new look so presumably those who object don't shop there either- or indeed most of the low to mid priced high street/chemist/shoe shops at all.

Don't think they're overly cheap. I've had an odd thing out of there and find it quite cheap in quality though. Order them and see how you feel when they come.

It's all polyester so I wouldn't buy any of it. Not 'pontificating', I just avoid polyester.

Honestly other than buying second hand, where do you suggest those on lower incomes buy their clothes?

I could be wrong but it seems that those on low incomes often shun second hand shops, prefer cheap fast fashion but want their garments to be new.

I've just returned 7 dresses i ordered from Newlook, I just wanted one or two shorter day dresses to wear with tights and knee high boots, but they were all crap material, the only one I liked, had a high neck with a abtract pattern but at the back was a big cut out bit, so looks a bit silly in the winter.

I'm not really sure what you are asking OP, or what you are hoping for from this thread?

Some sort of boast you can buy 9 new outfits at a time ?
Some sort of boast you can spend £238 on clothes in one go ?
Or are you just advertising the website ?

S&B is often used for advice, but I'm not sure what you are asking for.

Bacon, please do not feel like you are not able to share your opinion on account if percieved hypocrisy. Our society is not set up to make ethical decision-making particularly straight forward. It is not the default position of many institutions, structures and corporations. As individuals we often have to go the long way around, do extra legwork and think twice about what the most ethical or sustainable thing to do is. Nobody is 100% ideologically pure.
Your phone example is a good one: most people have just one phone (because that's all one needs), which will hopefully last years before needing to be replaced. Like it or not, most of us need our phones, but do not necessarily upgrade with irresponsible frequency. The market for refurbished, second hand phones is huge. I've had my phone for 9 years and it's second hand. The OP is thinking of buying loads of similar garments from a retailer strongly linked to fast fashion, all in one go. I think one can use a phone without feeling like a hypocrite.

Definitely items not outfits.
On many websites you could equal that, on some you could get 10 similar items for less, others that would get you one item.

Why do you need to buy that many clothes?

At those prices they’ll look and feel cheap and won’t last. False economy. Some of them aren’t nice, either. 2/3 washes and that fair isle copy dress will not look good at all.

The shirt dress isn't an outfit

Nor is one pair of trousers

Apricot clothing is shoddy and looks cheap. They use an awful acrylic fabric that loses it's density and colour when it stretches. You could go on Ebay or Vinted and buy new, still tagged, better quality, more ethically sound clothing for a lot less than most of those items.

I’m not opposed to spending £250 in one go on an outfit or a couple of outfits but I find it depressing that someone would drop that money on so many cheaply made items and that other people would defend it. I can get understand that someone can’t afford more expensive items but that whole argument is undermined by the purchase of 10. I bet they won’t last a year before they’re in some landfill. I don’t give a shit if that’s considered pontificating.

One of the dresses is in size 8 by the way but the others are all size 10 just in case it was all for you

The problem with buying second hand clothing is that sizes are so inconsistent - even across one particular brand .

Nothing wrong with buying second hand. I do it all the time. If the OP is buying 10 items she's just wanting quantity over quality.

I personally would avoid Apricot anyway. I bought a few dresses from there last year (I needed breastfeeding friendly clothing and they have a lot of dresses that suited my needs). Anyway, every single dress shrunk in the wash! I didn't have this happen with clothes from anywhere else. I can only assume it's because they use cheap/horrible fabrics. Never again!

I now tend to only buy stuff from Vinted, it's amazing to be honest!

I would wonder why you want to spend your money on so many, low quality dresses.

Sure they are around, and cheaper if you need it. But then you just buy the one you need.

If your happy to spend £250 at once, to me I would think why don’t you just buy one decent dress and one decent jumper.

I would never just buy 10 new outfits at once, as 10 of my own haven’t just fell apart at once. Especially as several look very similar. I expect things like jumpers to easily last 10-20 years+, so would just be replacing 1 a year maybe as it gradually had holes or something.
A dress would be just 1 to replace old, or for a special event

Nowadays I would expect to be paying £80-200 for a dress ( and would look in sale if possible), and £100+ for wool jumper

If you are well-off and probably have plenty of clothes, it's very easy and pretty patronising to lecture people about shopping ethically. You can spend your £80 - £200 on a dress but those on lower incomes shpuld buy all their clothes from charity shops and never have anything new?

Yes buying 10 dresses at once may be excessive, but maybe the OP has had a significant change in weight or hasn't bought clothes for ages or is going back to work and has no work clothes etc.

Urgh OP, what a gross response.

Until your update you had the benefit of the doubt as there was a possibility you didn't know that your purchases couldn't possibly be ethical, but confirming you do know and don't care? Yuck.

@Fairislefandango - no. I just don’t think anyone needs 10 things at once. If budget is an issue then Op could buy 2 dresses ( £80 ones in sale at £40). And she would only have spend £80, ( or £160 if not in sale) not £250 if budget an issue.

I don’t have an unlimited budget. I always check sales, last seasons stock or similar to get higher quality items at a lower price. But the main thing that saves is just buying less

I buy all my clothes from charity shops and Vinted and rarely have anything new, and I'm not on a low income. It's no hardship to have great quality clothes for a very low price rather than a closet full of cheap-looking, cheap-feeling, unethically produced clothing that will be worn a few times then goto landfill as clothes this cheap and nasty have almost no chance of being bought on the secondhand market. A better strategy for spending over £200 on new things if you really want to would be to buy one or two items to go with the clothes you already have, and wear them more frequently. Fast fashion does no one any favours.