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.

I just yesterday discovered a Rifat Ozbek wool skirt I’d hung onto since my twenties (it was a huge and uncharacteristic splurge at the time) has been eaten by moths. It’s devastating.

I’ve tried many things over the years. I dent the population, but they always come back. I think ziplock bags might be the only solution.

For moths in Britain, you need to either use your jumpers repeatedly or then wash and store them in bags. They can never just lie on the shelf throughout half the year they don't get worn. Once I understood this simple wisdom, I never had a problem with moths-eaten jumpers. And second fresh pheromone traps out at all times.

Ziplock bags are definitely useful in the War Against Moths, if only for damage limitation purposes😱

But back to Japan’s influence and appeal to some clothes fans : maybe it is also because the culture and aesthetic is so different and so rigorous and so “other” in comparison to ours (can you imagine a national holiday in the Uk to celebrate all the cherry blossom coming out and -if we ever did have such a thing - that people in the UK would genuinely observe this rather than enjoyjng the extra day off to go to the pub and watch the football?🤡) so it is its otherness that is so appealing. I’ve I found beautiful pieces by Yohji Yamamoto and years ago went and mooned over the CDG in DSM. I don’t remember it being sexy but it does make you look twice and just revel in it. Ps I remember reading a quote about a man who had bought his wife a beautiful voluminous red kaftan by Kenzo (in the 70s or 80s, I imagine) and he was quoted as saying that he found his wife irresistible in it - even though no flesh was on show - and he could never make up his mind whether to tear it off her in a frenzy of passion or get in there with her!!!! The implication being that for some people suggestion and imagination are far more powerful than anything overt.

I came to this conclusion by accident, having found myself in the situation of owning very few clothes. It wasn't a planned or 'curated' choice, more of a whittling down over time. I lost faith in most brands and as shop closures increased I felt the urge to physically shop much less.

Now I have a stupidly minimal wardrobe, much touted by the 2010 era anti-fashion bloggers that I used to love to read. Except they weren't really anti-fashion, simply selective and perhaps a bit obsessed.

I own 2 pieces of cashmere, one of them from Ebay, and they have managed to remain intact without ziplocking. Back in the day when I shopped less judiciously a lot more I came to loathe stacking them and folding - I'm not much of a Kondo person

I now own a couple of trousers, 2 pairs of jeans and some tops. The tops are mostly tshirts from Fatface (great quality for plain white tees with my preferred scoop necks) and a few good quality jumpers from Toast, and either handknit and second hand White Co/Poetry. The second hand stuff is easily the best quality. I won't stick my neck out for a higher price bracket as it hasn't been necessary as yet.
I also have two pairs of boots, 2 trainers and one pair of Birks. Coats are my first love so have 4 of those and just a couple of bags (one cross body, a rucksack and a cotton tote).

This way you truly do end up wearing it all to death, so if there's something important here, maybe double the purchase in case they sell out. I have managed for 5 years like this and have not felt the need for much in the way of new. It is certainly do-able, but you really do have to love the things that you do have.

I'm not a minimalist, although my exDP is stunned to finally own more shoes than me. It's more that over a long period of time I developed a very fixed idea of what I wanted to wear, and just doubled down on waiting for it to show up.

I'm starting to realise that living in a cold and draughty house has its benefits as (touch wood) we have never had moths. Of course, we need more jumpers to cope with living in a cold and draughty house.

But it's a house with lots of cupboards. I'm impressed by the capsule wardrobe and like the idea in theory. But I love wearing colours, lots of different colours, so don't think I would be happy with only a limited number of things to wear. Having lots of cupboards means that my wardrobe has expanded a lot since we've lived in our house, as I can store them. And I enjoy buying clothes. The wardrobe is pretty full now though.

I live in a tourist area and see quite a few Japanese visitors (as opposed to UK Japanese people) and do perceive a fairly wide variety of difference compared to the cultural 'image' we see online or from well known designers.

What is noticeable are the looser, wider cuts, from trousers to skirts to tops and coats. Cut off wide legged trousers, usually cotton (not jeans) seem to have been in favour for the past 6 years with longer flowing tops whether tshirts or jumpers.
I also see a lot of long flowing cardigans and huge wool coats and scarves - an interesting choice for a terribly rainy county, but they're not afraid to use umbrella's!
I don't see a lot of monochrome, but rarely any pattern either. Backpacks and enormous canvas totes are a thing.
Skinny jeans and sportswear less visible, with the younger crowd (both make and female) sporting visible Kawaii touches, from teddy bags to clip on toys.

I am sure it's quite different in London or more cosmopolitan areas, though?

I'm currently swishing around the office in the Batsheva Laura Ashley dress worn with flat lace up ankle boots.

One of the advantages of formal tailored office wear going by the by is that I can wear dresses I wouldn't pre-Covid have worn to the office. Ok it might raise an eye brow, but I don't care.

batsheva.com/en-gb/collections/batsheva-x-laura-ashley/products/laura-ashley-x-batsheva-waverly-dress-in-blue-manafon?variant=43238764740857

Yesterday I wore this Cabbages and Roses dress.

www.cabbagesandroses.com/hope-dress-in-black-and-white-flannel-check.html

I love that Cabbages and Roses dress NatashaDancing

I love both of those dresses @NatashaDancing ! Gorgeous!
What boots did you wear with them?

They're beautiful dresses, @NatashaDancing, I bet you feel fabulous swanning around in them!

My Plümo primavera dress arrived today, after snow prevented delivery yesterday! It's this one, and is surprisingly heavy, due to the appliqué flowers.

www.plumo.com/products/Primavera-dress.html

Both dresses are lovely, @NatashaDancing .

Made an attempt to eradicate the moths and I suspect they came via a 2nd hand lambswool jumper, but I'm not going to buy pure wool again.
The acrylic jumper I put on today felt scratchy, but it's not M&S, and I like the style of it.

That's a striking dress, @CrunchyCarrot , very summer holiday. Are the flowers felt?

I fancy a minimalist wardrobe but I bought a pair of summer trousers today. They're by Kew (remember them?) and very me and were £2.

@MerryChristmasToYou Are the flowers felt?

No, they're knitted:

With the Cabbages and Roses these Lanx boots

lanxshoes.com/collections/womens-boots/products/chipping-black

And with the Batsheva these Joseph Cheaney boots

www.cheaney.co.uk/cheaney-anna-d-balmoral-boot-in-burnished-burgundy-plum-suede-p867

My husband thinks I'm heavily influenced at the moment by the Amazon BBC series The English

Plumo dress is beautiful too.

That black and white dress is as you describe.

I ordered, but had to return, this one as it was very fitted at the bodice but too tight. The black and white in the same size is a good fit.

(The blue one is very beautiful but also completely bonkers and weighs a ton)

www.cabbagesandroses.com/martha-dress-in-blue-recycled-brocade.html

They are my dream boots - both pairs 😍 I've actually bookmarked the burgundy ones some time ago & look at them regularly.