If you’re 48 or thereabouts please tell me where you buy your clothes?

[Littlemiss74]

After another failed shopping trip I’m wondering where do other people in their 40’s shop for clothes & how do you put things together? I feel so stuck. I want to look up to date but not overly trendy. Zara has some nice things but I just don’t feel I could wear alot of them, plus my body shape is not right.
I’m 5’3, size 12, bit of a tummy, not overweight but could definitely look better if I toned up a bit. I need to do some exercise.

On my recent shopping trip so many shops have closed down. We have Primark, Zara, River Island, White Stuff, Fatface, H&M & I couldn’t find anything that looked & fitted me well in any of those. Also I think some of the clothing is alot of money for what it is. I don’t mind paying a bit more for something that looks & feels nice and that will last more than one season.

I just want to look nice but am so tired of wasting hours trawling the shops to come home empty handed.
Please can anyone of a similar age tell me what you do?

Well I'm definitely no style guru, more of a jeans and trainers type.

But...I buy a mixture of stuff from M&S, next, white stuff, and more recently John Lewis (we don't have one but I was away and found some nice stuff in there)

We are quite similar OP. I’ve just bought a big haul from & other stories, also m&s, TK Maxx, and Anthropologie

Have you tried M & S ? This past year or so I feel they have improved by quite a bit.
What are you trying to achieve ? Are you looking for basic everyday stuff or for an occasion or work wear ?
If just basics start with a new pair of jeans / trousers and few tops / tees , a nicer top , a jumper or cardi . Live with them for a while , and then expand from there.
Also look at the dummies in stores ,and see if they have anything on that you like ? What are your friends wearing ? School mums you admire their style , people you see when out and about .
If you stick to the same colours , could you try some others ?

Mainly Next or M&S.

EBay, Vinted and Charity shops! High street shops just don’t have anything I want to wear any more.

It takes a lot longer to shop but I am finding I have much better quality clothes and shoes now and it’s cheaper/same price as the crap quality in shops. I’ve recently bought DM boots for 1/3 price barely worn and some nearly new nike trainers for about £25. Levi jeans 3 pairs for £30 which should cover me for a few years!

I do still use primark and M&S for undies and socks but literally everything else now comes second hand. Sometimes even bras.

Marks and Spencer are knocking it out of the park this year.

I also get a lot of stuff from Hush, Me and Em, Cos and Wyse.

I never go shopping without an item in mind, though. I look at Instagram accounts aimed at my demographic (Wears My Money is my favourite, and she’s just turned 50), pick the looks I like and buy the items I need to create them; also using what’s already in my wardrobe.

I’m 47 and tend to buy everything from Zara, River Island, New Look or H&M with a spattering of Primark. Although I’m 5ft 7 so that does make a difference as even I used to find everything in Zara far too long but they seemed to have shortened things slightly.

I hadn’t bought anything from River Island for years but this last year I have found quite a few nice bits in there.

It’s tough out there. Stuff is more expensive and you have to root around for gems. Stores also don’t seem to be well stocked with sizes. Unfortunately it’s now unrealistic to only shop on the high street.

M&S - good own ranges and also stock other brands. I order to store, try on and return anything not right. Same with Next - and you can get a credit account. They also sell Gap.
John Lewis - I search what I am after eg beige tshirt and there’s usually lots of options. Again can order a load of stuff either to store or Waitrose and they are pretty quick with refunds.
Mango - for slightly more modern stuff, especially coats and jeans
Primark - one of the few shops you can actually find loads of stock and loads of options but you must weed out the polyester
Esprit - lots of middle of the road options
Seasalt - avoid the patterned stuff (unless that’s your vibe) and they have some nice plain basics especially trousers
Matalan - nothing groundbreaking but the occasional gem

I prefer to clothes shop in store so I can try stuff on and not have the hassle of returning it - so my usual shops are mint Velvet and M&S.

M&S, petite should fit you better.

In my 40s I use Vinted so I can get nice clothes for Primark prices but I mostly buy Free People, All Saints, Ted baker and a bit of New Look and Hennes.

Next, M&S, Fatface, H&M, Brakeburn, John Lewis.

I am mid forties and also struggling to find stuff I like. I'm tending to get skirts from White stuff, jeans from H&M, knitwear from Uniqlo or John Lewis (anyday section I think), basic t shirts (long and short sleeve for layering) from Matalan, leggings and tights from M&S, trousers from Benetton or Esprit.

I'm not excited about any of it, and I also don't see anything in charity shops if I look. The odd thing I've bought on Vinted tends to look a bit tired on arrival and I really prefer to try stuff on before buying.

If I had lots of spare money I could do better!

Mainly Lidl and Zeeman.

Same apart from Hush (poor quality) plus Mango, Jigsaw and Massimo Dutti. Used to buy a fair bit from Whistles but haven't liked the last couple of seasons.

John Lewis is useful for carrying a range of brands and its easy returns process.

I also buy a lot from a preloved 'designer' (actually mainly high-end high st) second hand shop locally. You have to find one with realistic pricing - some of them expect to sell at almost the original price - but a good one is golden.

Arket, Cos, Toast, Plumo & Folk and a few bits from Andotherstories. Also get loads from Ebay, and Vinted. I'm getting better at saving for something I really love rather than buying lots of £30 bits here and there.

The high st clothing shops are really crap now, just awful quality, fit and fabrics. I pretty much only buy secondhand now just do I can get decent quality stuff. I may buy a new coat every few years but have to spend a fair bit for quality. I refuse to pay good money for clothing made shoddily just so the CEO of the company can make the same £. I remember high st clothing being much better in the past but they are cutting margins now and it all a homogeneous pile of cheap crap.

Mainly M&S which I think is easily the best on the high street at the moment. I would say that after not setting foot in there for about 15 years 90% of what I've bought over the last couple of years is from there. Also H&M, a bit of Zara, outnet especially their sale pages and then I go proper high end on coats and bags

I am 48 and am wearing a lot of Joe Browne and a lot of Gurdun Sjoden at the moment.
I know not everyones tastes but it is me
I dont go near shops anymore, i find it so despressing

58 here. If I look through my clothes then apart from lycra cycling kit...there is mainly COS, All Saints, Reiss, Arket, other stories, Mint Velvet (but only block colour stuff) and a few things from H&M. Tried a few things in ZARA the other day but it was all a bit meh apart from their jeans.
Personally I steer away from White Stuff ,Seasalt, etc and even Whistles and Jigsaw now because there is just too much pattern and floral.
I'm probably just a really boring dresser 🤔

Supermarkets!

M&S, Cos and Arket mainly. Seasalt and Joules for stripes.
(not the random sequinned and here's a flower on top of the stripes felt transfer ones obvs) What I like about M&S is I can grab a £7 white t shirt and also a £25 one if I want it for more than one season. I mistakenly bought 3 from Zara on holiday last year and after one wash they're crop tops. Yay!)

Decently priced and decent quality and not made for 14 year old size 4s (looking at you Zara) And I know this makes me sound shallow, but the H&M near me is the clothing equivalent of WH Smith. Dark, scruffy, smelly, all the clothes look like they've been handed in at a jumble sale.

I buy a lot of last season's M&S and Arket from Zalando.

Still like Boden trousers but no need to pay Boden prices anymore as M&S are just as good if not better.

I’m 46.

Zara, H&M, Cos, Ganni, M&S and Next. A real mix of expensive and more budget choices but I like to wear both together. I try to keep a fairly capsule wardrobe rather than buying just one outfit that only works together and I will always make sure I’m going to get at least a couple of years out of it rather than something so “fast fashion” I won’t want to wear it next season.

I'm in my 50's & it's mainly M&S at the moment amazingly. In my youth I remember M&S was fantastic for all ages. I also buy a lot off eBay that's new with the tags still on. Coats are still Whistles, Jigsaw or Jaeger ones. Cos used to be brilliant but is now rather boring. Likewise Arket.
H&M are generally good for basic cotton/linen items in the summer. But the quality has dropped sharply in the last few months.
I am so fed up of returning multiple things that I buy now after I can try things on first or return clothing to the store quickly. My nearest town ( 12 miles away) only has a m&s, h&m, Primark & a jigsaw pretty much. So that severely limits my shopping. Oh & also a Fat Face, Seasalt and a Joules. But they really don't appeal & I don't shop in them.