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Original poster

Why all the Roman love?

43 replies

anon2022anon · 27/08/2023 21:26

I've only ever been in once, and it looked like Select but aimed at people who go on cruises, instead of teens.

I've seen so many links, and most look like they're made of bad fabric. The dresses that get static-y and stick to your legs.

What am I missing? Why are they shared so often? It's a similar price point to new look, it looks like similar quality, but new look almost never get shared, I've seen Roman mentioned on just about every 'I need a wedding guest dress' thread this summer.

OP posts:
DustyLee123 · 27/08/2023 21:28

I’ve got a couple of their tops for winter. I like a top to cover my bum, and they often have pockets, so win win !

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 27/08/2023 21:30

You can feel the air crackle in the shops, because of all the polyester.

I have one cotton top from there. Their stuff is mostly very, very nasty though, imo. Having said that, I've got a friend who gets a lot of stuff from there and always looks nice, although not my style.

SoIinvictus · 27/08/2023 21:31

It's pretty good quality. I've not bought anything from there, but I rarely dress up.

Didn't realise there was a certain demographic for going on cruises. The only people I know who go on them are people with young families.

NatashaDancing · 27/08/2023 21:33

And SilkFred too. I assume because they're both cheap.

I was amazed on a recent thread about boho style wedding dresses where someone posted a link to a beautiful cotton dress in Warehouse at the same sort of price point. I hadn't seen Warehouse mentioned before.

BansheeofInisherin · 27/08/2023 21:34

Isn't everywhere full of polyester these days? Cheaper places have normal polyester, the posher shops have recycled polyester. But it's all polyester wall to wall. I have started buying cotton in my home country and getting it tailored there.

HateTheView · 27/08/2023 21:38

I don't like that much of their clothes but I have found a few nice tops that are really flattering. So it's always worth a look to me!

NatashaDancing · 27/08/2023 21:40

BansheeofInisherin · 27/08/2023 21:34

Isn't everywhere full of polyester these days? Cheaper places have normal polyester, the posher shops have recycled polyester. But it's all polyester wall to wall. I have started buying cotton in my home country and getting it tailored there.

No it isn't. On the high street Anthropologie and M&S for example have a good range of cotton dresses and shirts.

HappyAsASandboy · 27/08/2023 22:22

I have bought a few things from Roman that are absolute staples in my wardrobe.

But mostly, I think it is awful quality and doesn't look anywhere near as good as the website makes it look.

I have kept maybe 5 items out of 20 or so that I've ordered.

Original poster
anon2022anon · 27/08/2023 22:33

@SoIinvictus I don't think there's a typical person who goes on a cruise, but I do think there's definitely clothing aimed at people who go on cruises- I imagine it's lots of long dresses with layers/ beading/ floaty bits (delete as necessary) and floaty tops to wear with cropped trousers. What to pack when you don't know how formal they're going to be of an evening.

OP posts:
Original poster
anon2022anon · 27/08/2023 22:37

I also think that polyester has levels of polyester -ness. There's the stuff that might make you sweat, and there's the stuff that you might be worried to be near an open flame in.

OP posts:
JesusMaryAndJosephAndTheWeeDon · 27/08/2023 22:46

It is 90% crap but there are some absolute gems too.

I got a lovely crepe sun dress, and a cotton one for my holiday this year, both great quality. I saw a nice linen one after I got back too. But each time there was only one good item in the store in a sea of shite

AppleDumplingWithCustard · 28/08/2023 01:37

Mint Velvet receives a lot of accolades on here but much of their clothing is polyester or viscose. The difference to Roman is that Mint Velvet charges three times the price for the same crappy material.

GarlicGrace · 28/08/2023 01:47

I get denim skirts from Roman. Definitely not polyester!
Their sizes are insane, though - at least as big as M&S.

GarlicGrace · 28/08/2023 02:05

AppleDumplingWithCustard · 28/08/2023 01:37

Mint Velvet receives a lot of accolades on here but much of their clothing is polyester or viscose. The difference to Roman is that Mint Velvet charges three times the price for the same crappy material.

Yes, this. I'm frequently ... surprised to see adored dresses linked, at well over £150 and often more like £300, that have no extraordinary features although they're nice. Scroll down to 'materials' and it's viscose or polyester. You could get something just as nice, of the same quality, for £60-ish from somewhere like Roman.

Agreed, though, that stylish dresses made ethically from properly natural fibres are hard to find on a normal budget. Some made in India can be really good, but you're gambling on quality and ethics there.

SoIinvictus · 28/08/2023 10:01

AppleDumplingWithCustard · 28/08/2023 01:37

Mint Velvet receives a lot of accolades on here but much of their clothing is polyester or viscose. The difference to Roman is that Mint Velvet charges three times the price for the same crappy material.

Oh yes!

I'm not in the UK and when MV started their not so subtle product placement 👀 I fell for the "oh my god, I'd never wear anything else" reviews and ordered some tops. Basic t shirts. Colours looked lovely. Prices at the time similar to what I'd say was a fairly "high end" basic T shirt, so like Jaeger, Hobbs etc.

They were like those "slub" ones that everywhere does for about £4 and which at the time, everyone was doing for about £2. Dreadful quality, the colours nothing like the website. See through.

See also Hush. Again, when they were having a very successful promo campaign on S&B, as soon as I went to London I went into JL on Oxford Street for a look. I almost laughed out loud. Talk about Emperor's New clothes. If they did a social experiment and stuck a Per Una label on the inside there would have been threads on here and press articles about the shit quality and ludicrous designs.

I guess some people are just taken in by the labels. You only have to look at some of the clothes posters suggest on here and their price tags. 😂 Call me old-fashioned but if rather people didn't point at me on the street.

KirstenBlest · 28/08/2023 14:06

I don't get the love for Hush. I've only seen it in charity shops, but it's all been bobbly viscose. Roman seems to be slightly better than Shein, but maybe what I have seen hasn't been representative, but I would want to stand near an open fire in the stuff.

Deathraystare · 28/08/2023 14:11

I happen to like some Roman stuff. Not all. I went in one shop and it was all bastard viscose but have bought on line and yes, bought for a cruise!

Blinkinbloodyhayfever · 28/08/2023 14:11

I used to like Roman for work wear. We struggle where I live for clothes, I needed a black suit for a funeral and the only shop in our town with one was matalan. Roman was sparkly Christmas wear, m&s Jean and Ts, Primark was okay if you are short and under 18.

GettingStuffed · 28/08/2023 14:29

The stuff I've had from Roman has been decent quality, certainly from the price point.

They're especially good if you want something smarter but don't want to pay a fortune. I had the perfect sundress that they did for years, Mine had been worn to death and the year I needed a new one they stopped doing them

Cyclingmummy1 · 28/08/2023 14:35

I sing in a chorus where our dress code is 'black and bling'. Pretty much everyone from 30 to 80 is dressed from Roman.

YYURYYUCICYYUR4ME · 28/08/2023 14:38

Roman is like every other shop, full of hits and misses, fabrics of multiple origins and styles generally cut for their target audience. I have a great faux aviator jacket and a couple of cotton mix plain jumpers from there in my wardrobe at the moment and in the past have found the odd gem. Brand is no longer an indicator of quality at any price sadly and I dare say some investigation would find that much is made in the same factories of very similar fabrics, just in varying designs. I am just as likely to be unimpressed in Jigsaw, or Mint Velvet as impressed in Primark or even New Look these days and I think that generalisations as to clothing brands can limit where the gems are to be found, either virtually or on the reducing high street. I am a complete shopping tart and will wander far and wide, new or second-hand, to find an item that brings me joy and know that far too much of an item's price now is tied up in the marketing and not in the production!

Chewbecca · 28/08/2023 14:44

MV used to be really good, the styles were spot on for me with many a nice neckline, shoulder or drape. And they used a lot of cotton and dressy dresses were in silk and under £150.
Unfortunately the materials have definitely deteriorated. I do still quite like the styles. I think they are aspiring to 50+ wishing they were rock chicks.
Roman - big fat No from me. Cheap, crackly very unstylish.

KirstenBlest · 28/08/2023 14:58

Matalan stuff is OK, as is Peacocks, M&Co, Bon Marche, supermarket ranges, Primark etc Some of it is good, a lot of it isn't.

I don't understand why M&S gets so much hate on here, especially Per Una. What's on the web site looks great.Per Una Clothing | M&S (marksandspencer.com)

BIossomtoes · 28/08/2023 17:56

I have a navy faux fur coat from Roman. It’s about to go into its third winter and it still looks like new. Every time I wear it at least one person asks me where I got it.