Can we talk about clothing brands and target demographics?

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Because I’m thinking about the brands that form the core of my ‘going out to meet other grown ups’ wardrobe, and laughing at the Margaret Howell mail shot I’ve just opened. (Socks and sandals photo.) Beautiful young model, and each garment will be wonderfully well made - but I know no one under fifty who wears MH. That’s fine - but I wish the marketing acknowledged the fact.

When a brand does make an effort to engage with the real buyers of its clothes I’m full of awe and gratitude - Raey at Matches is usually great at this.

Studio Nicholson hovers somewhere in between. Again, everyone I know (in the UK) who wears their clothes is older and richer than me, probably in a creative profession. Not a wispy 20 year old.

I never used to care. But I’m wondering if marketing is the reason 99% of the middle aged and older women on MN exclaim that there are no decent clothes for them. There are - but not every brand tells you so.

excellent, thanks!

I'm not a fan of Brora either.
The Poetry I've owned was all pre-loved. Knitwear mainly. The cashmere was lovely.

I don't own alpacas but I hear they're really friendly but can be very dumb.

WRT all brands being samey. Yes, very annoying, go play spot the difference between British sustainable/responsible cashmere brands Aethel and Oyuna. All new brands do the sustainable/responsible/green spiel, they can't afford not to, but I suspect none of it is actually that meaningful at this point and it's very tied into an aesthetic.

I think a major issue with the bringing it altogether thing is that most brands seem to have outsourced this to influencers but their contribution is pretty much the equivalent of passing off a press release as journalism.

I've just started reading this thread, greatly enjoyed investigating the various brands and websites you've posted. I'm only halfway through - @botemp that work wear site, I won't quote. I bloody love you. I've talked myself down from spending every penny I have there but it was closer than I like 😂

Several of those Bosie and Carrier Company Fair Isle knits are now on my watch list! Thanks Enheduanna for the links and the fine beasties

Do you always start by knowing what you’re looking for?
How does that accommodate a thing you might never have thought of owning, which a designer presents to you as an entirely new idea? Would you reject it or embrace the experiment?

I might see something online or in print, or see someone wearing something, and think, 'ooh, I could do something with that look', or that would go well with (something I already own)
If I was out and about, I'd keep an open mind but also look for my wish list.

I buy lots second hand, and often it just needs a tweak, or the style/size isn't great but the fabric is fab.

An example might be a circular skirt I got in a charity shop. I'm not a tiny-waisted person, and am not tall. The obvious way to wear it would be 1950s style, but that wouldn't be 'me', so I'd wear it with a chunky jumper and DMs.
Not sure if that's style, but it makes me happy.

What does' work wear' mean tho? In a clothing context, outside of manual labour, or office attire (which is decidedly isn't).
It's a really significant sort of vibe right now and I can't make out exactly what it's getting at. Kinda feels rugged, no pretensions, that sort of thing.

while we await your exegesis on 'uniform', to pass the time here's a photo of a cashmere goat, isn't he handsome?
Please tell me you're not pulling my chain, I have waxed a bit lyrical and feel vaguely embarrassed now
I can rattle on about this kind of thing all day tbh

Work wear could be office clothes, or WFH clothes you can wear when in online meetings, or it could mean painter's overalls, artist's smock, boilersuit type clothes, I think.

Do you always start by knowing what you’re looking for?
How does that accommodate a thing you might never have thought of owning, which a designer presents to you as an entirely new idea? Would you reject it or embrace the experiment?

For me personally, I know what I want and can rarely find it. I have fairly distinct ideas and the market won't tally. I'm perhaps somewhat out of time, since many of these ideas come to fruition watching tv or films from the 90's. Not the youth stuff like cargo's and Nirvana tshirts, but the more mature, easily forgotten things. I was a teenager then, and loved anything 60's.

I've never understood designer or brand campaigns. They're not me, and they are offering a ready made version of a desire that isn't relevant to me. They often do it well though, and my head turns. Like a poster on the Monty Don thread said - I could happily dress like Withnail, albeit with a more 'feminine' edge, for a lifetime.

Yup, pretty much, a slightly off fit of not fitted but not oversized basicness that reads as boxy if you're lucky (there's some logic to this to offer size range without offering all the sizes). Materials also can feel a bit off, like an attempt of texture or body but it never quite gets there. It definitely expresses a sort of moral virtue of being above designed clothes (it's really anonymous in terms of pattern design but it's not Tilly and the Buttons basic either, there's definitely a designer at work working really hard to be invisible) but that got hijacked by the depop aesthetic of very obvious old, tattered, and unwanted 80/90s clothes that the late teens/early twenty year olds embraced during the pandemic, dodgy hairstyles included.

Thanks, sometimes it is hard to tell online/MN!

I have no knowledge of anything style related, only my feelings and thoughts. It's an area of fascination for me though, so I do notice stuff.

I also think the concept of sustainability is a very worthy one, but am cynical considering corporate or business spiel. Greenwashing is a thing.

A recent example, my large yoghurt pot recently did away with it's plastic, secure lid. Now, what a brand places in text is most alway to benefit them, rather than the planet, or you. Best to get that out of the way. So they'd placed bold text on the foil lid stating 'we have replaced our plastic lids with foil to help the environment'!

However, the foil lid is useless, and won't keep the product as fresh for long. You will replace the product more often - bingo! Who wins, the planet or the brand? It is definitely a gimmick, although one we do actually need to get used to, I think. It's cynical, but if it makes people aware of stuff...

Also, we don't have to be elegant - isn't it a state of mind?
I have felt elegant in leggings, my seasalt raincoat, my pyjamas. Can you even sell elegance? We can certainly sell emotions and desires.

Agree about the bulk. I think it's a trend. A sort of anti Hollywood trend, aimed at the middle aged, middle class, tired consumer. In consumer terms, the working class are the big spenders, so there's a niche market gagging for the unrepresented, in clothing, entertainment and lifestyle.
'Class' is a bum steer, of course, and lowers the tone of any argument or discussion, but it sells.

Eribé does it beautifully too. From the Scottish Borders

www.eribe.com/

Sorry didn't see you'd posted this.

My boy was just this way. Say no more!

Most cats are elegant (apart from my short, dumpy, tortie)