Reasonably priced, decent quality clothes under £50? Share your suggestions.

[CharlotteRumpling]

Like many of you perhaps, S and B is often too expensive for me in this climate. I am also not a Shein shopper, though recently become a Tu shopper! However, I think there are still bargains to be had if one hunts, so starting this thread to share them. Please share yours! Preferably cottton or at least viscose if possible.

I am sharing this dress I got from Hush in the sale. Not cotton, but decent quality viscose which hangs well. Looks dull on the model, looks better IRL with accessories. The kind of useful dress that can go to work and then out to dinner. I am 5"7 and a bit, size 10-12, not busty. Louisa Jersey Dress | Midnight | hush (hush-uk.com)

What, no one? Should I increase it to £80?

£80 enables a fair bit of:

Community Clothing (prices have shot up but they’re still exemplary in terms of ethics and environmental aims).

& Other Stories sale / last chance stock is always worth careful browsing.

And you can find some glorious American Vintage sale stock (as well as full price t shirts / tops) at that price.

I rarely look at the Cos or Arket sites these days but I’m fairly sure £80 would buy lots of desirable things in their sales.

Toast also. Tops, shirts, accessories - maybe even trousers would be accessible in their sales, too.

Unless in the supermarket ranges (or Uniqlo or Zara) I wouldn’t generally bother to pay that amount as a full price. (Because it’s not really enough to cover both fabric and style, so would mean compromising on one or the other.) I much, much prefer to get the best quality I can, reduced in the sales or pre-owned if it’s something precious. (Also means 99% online shopping. The Hight St seems mostly a waste of time, energy and money these days.)

There’s a new brand whose name I forget who are quite aggressively aiming to undercut several purveyors of good quality clothes. The clothes look fine but I’m not keen on their selling tactics.

Hmmm... let's make it £80 then. I was going to suggest the new Uniqlo range by Kate someone. And some Monsoon dresses which have been floating by on my social media.
I seem to prefer fabric over style, because I am not very keen on contemporary Little House on the Prairie style. I do charity shops but Vinted drives me mad.

Charity shops. Not the answer you are probably looking for OP but if you can get to some decent ones then £50 can in some cases get you an outfit, certainly in some of the ones near me.

Vinted. I recently bought boots worth £180 for £45. They were brand new and in excellent condition.

A lot of brands now have their own eBay shops where they sell brand new end of line items. I just bought a Hush dress for around £40 the other week from their eBay store.

I do tend to wait for sales and offers in general - pretty much every brand I like does a lot of 20% off codes and sales on specific categories like jeans or dresses. I've had some bargains this way - Thought Clothing in particular comes to mind, they are quite expensive full price but nearly always go on sale in every size and style sooner or later.

@Britpopbaby I do go to charity shops; nearly all my winter coats are from there. But was wondering if there are any bargains on the high street. Just upped my budget as clearly £50 is too low. Just that even that is a lot for many people these days.

@caramond I like Thought too. Nice cotton. Though I always have to size down.

I do think you can dress perfectly well spending very little, at supermarkets for instance, if you stick to fairly basic items in natural fibres. What’s annoying is the ‘fashionable’ High Street shops churning out football fields full of nasty polyester, barely held together by thread - and charging obscene amounts for it.

I'd say M&S at the moment. They seem to have some lovely things right now. Or be on the sale email lists for more expensive brands that you like.

I really rate Vinted though. I've used it to plug gaps and have had done bargainous brand new things.

Tu is my general only new place to buy. Occasionally boden or m&s. And sometimes H&M or tk maxx

That hush dress is lovely.

I’ve had a lot of success in TK maxx recently, a silk shirt for £60, viscose blouses from crew clothing and brakeburn under £20, some nice cotton or viscose knit jumpers from Benetton and Scotch&Soda under £30.

Not so much luck in the dresses or trousers but I find those rails much more overwhelming.

Uniqlo wide legged or pleated cords - all around £40

What size did you get that dress in please @CharlotteRumpling ? I am similarly sized to you and on the hunt for a dress like that!

I’m sorry but as someone who has a wardrobe full of charity shop bargains - always suggesting charity shops isn’t helpful. Some sizes are more likely to be found in charity shops than others, and even then, to have a full wardrobe from charity shops requires you to be able to put the time in to trawl them week after week for things that suit you as well as for you. Now my kids routines have changed on weekends, I’m just not in our town centre regularly with time to spare to have a good rummage.

theres a lot to be said for a thread for cheaper but good clothes that can definitely be bought. Everyone knows about 2nd hand bargains, there’s space to discuss 1st hand bargains too.

(and I am typing this wearing a Bella Freud cashmere jumper I got in Oxfam 2 years ago for £15.)

Uniqlo merino wool jumper

There’s a few of the cashmere Uniqlo jumpers from last years collection on sale at just over budget at £59 - https://www.uniqlo.com/uk/en/product/100pct-cashmere-3d-knit-seamless-crew-neck-jumper-450635.html?dwvar_450635_color=COL52&dwvar_450635_size=SMA004

lovely quality, but I’d size up.

Thanks for all the suggestions. Not been in TK Maxx for years. I like M and S for trousers, but their jumpers usually go bobbly for me.

@DaffyDaffy I bought that Hush dress in a 12. because it is slightly nipped at the waist, and I have quite a squishy tummy.

The Uniqlo cords are lovely. I also like this Uniqlo dress in pure wool. I know it's quite plain. I like plain and slightly masculine ! https://www.uniqlo.com/uk/en/product/boat-neck-long-sleeved-knitted-dress-460606.html

For several years my best coats all came from TK Maxx Gold Label. I find that section quite fun (once or twice a year!) but don’t generally look at the rest. (Though I did recently find an excellent rucksack from a reliable brand - much reduced.)

I happen to live in a town centre with at least a dozen charity shops and I volunteer in one. I agree that the only way to really succeed is to be in them frequently. If you have the chance to pop in every week, like I do, you'll get a lot of stuff.

I'm a size 14 and I have to be very disciplined when I'm looking at clothes - I prefer shops that hang by size rather than by colour. This helps me not to find amazing things that don't fit me. In shops that group by colour, I keep my eyes fixed on the size tag on the hanger and only allow myself to look down if it's my size.

Unfortunately, this kind of shopping leads to impulse buys where you end up with a closet full of nothing to wear. I'd really like to find a cerise turtleneck, but the odds of finding one in the charity shops are extremely low. I would be better off searching Vinted and filtering for pink.

M&S here, especially shoes, boots and tailored jackets.
Charity shops in posh towns especially for winter coats.
Very occasional SHEIN item (have to trawl for anything classic / decent and return the majority to find something plus the ethical dilemma)
Odd thing from Next including vests / T-shirts and basic cotton dresses.

I like classic / preppy / slightly 70s style. I’m also plus size which makes it an even bigger challenge. Currently following a couple of plus size blogs who seem to favour shopping on Amazon 🤔

I don't find much on Amazon... Maybe because I'm too cheap. Seems like it's all cheap Chinese stuff with iffy reviews. I was looking for turtlenecks and I found plenty in the colours I liked but the reviews were very spotty and they weren't as cheap as I'd want for such lukewarm reviews.

I got a really lovely Ralph Lauren dress in TK Maxx for twenty quid recently. Agree that you have to go regularly for the bargains. It's mostly awful but now and again there is something really good.

@AgingDisgracefullyHere yes that’s my worry re Amazon - just more of the shoddy same. I’m old enough to remember Rackhams and Debenhams having decent quality basics!!

I just bought this. I figure it will be warm enough for winter with tights and a cardi. It is lovely.

I don’t know about their winter range, because I discovered them before summer, but I spent the whole summer wearing two dresses I bought from Threadbare (online shop) and got loads of compliments and they’ve turned out to be very good quality, super comfortable dresses.

there’s also an online store called Bricks and Stitches (look them up on Instagram) with loads of lovely dresses and great knitwear and blouses/tops too.