What brands to go to for good quality stylish clothes?

[CorporateBull]

I am at a loss. I have a decent budget for new clothes but want to buy good quality stuff that will last. I’m just emerging from a longish period of buying very little and living in the same clothes.
Many of the brands I used to buy from have disappeared or now seem to sell expensive polyester, and current trends just don’t suit me.
I have no idea which of the brands I see ads online for are real decent ones and which are dodgy resellers from China!
Please suggest some nice places to try for natural fibres and classic styles? I’m late forties and tend to be a jeans and jumper type - overweight and not very groomed!

Navy Grey are ££££ for knitwear but really lovely quality and (IMO) classic basic styles without being frumpy. And not a manmade
fibre in sight.

Me & Em have some lovely things, and they have a sale atm.

Thought clothing, scamp and dude, fatface and esprit.

I like baujken, Finisterre, Massimo dutti

@Lentilweaver we have very similar body shapes!
I have great hair thanks to my hairdresser. That is one thing nailed.
I’ll have a look on some websites. I don’t really know what I want other than a lot of the current fashion trends and prints just don’t suit me at all, and I don’t like polyester.
Tunic type things just make me look pregnant.

I'm 52 & I buy my clothes from ME+EM, sezane, whistles, Wyse, maje, Sandro, mint velvet (the least good quality of those listed but I buy in sales), jigsaw & have had a couple of recent successes in zara for party wear.
I am v selective & also lean towards the edwardian librarian at times!

That’ll be me then👍

Sezane is my latest obsession, their knitwear is wonderful.

I bit almost everything I own from Sezane. The quality is fantastic and I always get compliments on my clothing. It's not cheap but not as expensive as Me and Em and Wyse for example.

It really depends on what kind of style you like but I seek out second hand Margaret Howell and (for knitwear) John Smedley, which I mix with bits from Toast, Cos, and Uniqlo, with the odd thing I've made myself and with charity shop silk shirts - pretty much any label.

If you haven't bought new clothes for a while, I would warn you that quality has been tanking at most price points and that very few brands will be as good as you remember.

Arket for basic t-shirts and the occasional other thing.

I still get quite a lot from M&S, especially jeans, work trousers and knitwear (have to look through a lot of crap for the latter, but they do have some lovely basics, although I don't rate their cashmere).

What is the Amish widow look? Anyone could please share a photo or a link?

I like the websites that sell a range of brands and I always check the make up of the fabric - I don’t do polyester! Eg, John Lewis, and ASOS, and even M&S these days.

Go straight to MaxMara, @CorporateBull - online for the widest choice. It’s kind of adorable at the moment. And the sales are in full swing alongside new stuff - so you can spend a couple of hundred or a couple of thousand depending on your inclination.

Studio Nicholson is worth a look. I don’t love most of their current stock but there’ve been seasons when I wanted everything.

Mouki Mou has a great list of brands - though the shop tends to choose the more conservative items to stock. But it’s a good place for finding new names.

As is La Garçonne - brilliant website but look up the individual designers for better prices, especially if European.

Also, if you’re not spending at least an hour a week browsing the Matches Fashion site you won’t have a clue what other people with money to spend on good clothes are wearing - or how to wear them. (The clothes, not the people.)

I've rediscovered Ralph Lauren.
I buy my linen dresses from Etsy

Whoever said things now are either mother of the bride or Amish shipwrecked widow - so true. Plus a lot of milkmaids last summer.

I am partial to Edwardian Librarian though. I feel that's more fitted and stylish.

Look for a dress agency in your affluent market town. I am in the SW and buy all of my clothes from one store - Jaeger, Mulberry, Hobbs, Jigsaw, Mint Velvet and other relatively expensive brands - all for less than 50% rrp; often bnwts. My store does a Facebook video every Thursday showing what’s just come in. It’s great, fun and sustainable - and I give things back to them once I’ve worn them a few times.

Can I recommend as a basic Land's End long sleeve crew neck teeshirts made from tencel (plant based) and cotton? Some hideous colours/patterns but also good plain black, navy, grey, cream. Still good quality - they last years - though (as others have said) even trusted brands are not as good as once they were.

Also - these suit my lifestyle because I live in snowy/muddy northern countryside - M&S cosy jeggings. They are made of an ethical cotton blend and are best purchased a size up to avoid the 'sausage-leg' look. They're probably all sold out by now but they wash and wash and wash - as I said, lots of mud - and recover their shape and are warm and really comfy. The narrow legs are snow-boot compatible, also.
I like Seasalt Lamledra jeans, as well - though in my opinion the fabric is much worse quality than years ago. But otherwise, It seems to me that Seasalt have changed their designs for things such as sweatshirts and jumpers. Now all are too short for me - and I'm short waisted - not just in the body but in the arms. But perhaps that is just my experience.

Otherwise, as others have said, EBay and charity shops will be your friend. This takes time and patience, rather than lots of money. Charity shops are full of rubbish with a few amazing bargains. It really is often a matter of luck. EBay is full of 'good' brands going for a song. But as always, as the old saying has it, 'buyer beware'. Most sellers are OK but others use weasel words or make deliberate omissions. There is also a phenomenal amount of new tat on Ebay these days. I mostly use the search filter for 'used', to avoid being overwhelmed by cheap rubbish. The vintage things I'd be extra-careful of are sizes - vastly smaller than today's vanity sizing (look or ask for precise measurements) - and also at all times knitwear, because that so often is sagged or stretched before being put on line to sell.

Reiss is pretty much the only high-street brand I wear.

COS
Reiss
Phase Eight
Boden
And/Or
White Stuff
Hobbs
Mint Velvet.
I bought this on Monday.

I agree with prevous poster who said MaxMara - excellent, but not cheap.
Finisterre also very good - but it depends a great deal on your shape and build. I am never, ever, going to look "French". I find posh German or Scandinavian or Dutch brands - all available secondhand - look much better on me.

I think Oliver Bonas are good.

It might be worth starting with a basic 'uniform' and then working from there. For example, I like thin black turtle necks in A/W - wear them with rolled up straight jeans, or with skirts, plus boots. So it makes sense to buy decent quality versions of these for me.

Uniqlo is good for the basics - they do merino wool jumpers at a good price point.

I dress very conservatively 😂 and find quite a bit in M&S.

Wolf and Badger