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)

I'd much prefer to wear Seasalt's 100% cotton dresses than a high street copy of something high end but cheaply made at £80.

Seasalt

Heritage Clothing comes in at £80 too.

Heritage Clothing

You sound like you have my type of budget. I shop at M and S, and other stories when it's on sale, H and M, Zara and Dunnes Stores (a shop in Ireland). I love And Other Stories but can only afford it on sale. I also look in local boutiques occasionally for pieces. I'm trying to shop less and use the clothes I already have a bit more. I got a lovely Kate Cooper coat last week down from 220 euros for 60 euros.

If you're ever on holiday in Ireland, I recommend a trip to Dunnes. Some nice clothes at reasonable prices.

There are sometimes some decent bits in Apricot clothing. Style wise I find it a bit hit and miss (verges on the frumpy occasionally), but some of the dresses and knitwear can be quite good and everything I've had tends to wash well.

I always want to like m&s, and we were chatting on here about their cords this season, they have good variety of colours. But in store I felt the cord was way too thin. I'd love a pair of chunky cords. If anyone knows of any?

Uniqlo has some chunky wide leg cords, I saw them in store yesterday and was really tempted (only I have about three pairs very similar so restrained myself). I think about £40. There was a lovely blue and a nice mustard and a slightly alarming pale pink.

M and S have some really good stuff - hats off to their designers. Saw some lovely jumpers there the other day.

Next have a clearance tab online. Picked lots of dresses up for around £15.

(Next sale about to start).

I think it's still just about possible to find the odd good piece at the cheaper end of the high street - I keep an eye on M&S, Uniqlo, supermarket brands and, once in a blue moon, H&M still. However I think ideally you need to rummage in person to spot them.

There have been a couple times when I've found something good in Uniqlo so ordered another one online only to find the second one was shite. I'm guessing it's because retailers outsource their manufacturing to so many different suppliers.

@Chocolatepopcorn - the best bra I’ve ever owned was an emergency purchase in a Dunnes when my bag didn’t arrive in a flight to Ireland for a wedding, but thankfully I’d put my dress in DHs suit bag. The staff were fabulous (and everyone had a Ryanair baggage horror story)

I know that eBay and Vinted and charity shops are great, but for the purpose of the thread, it's really good to see links to the actual clothes so that we have the chance to buy the same thing ourselves.

I've had fab leggings and Harem trousers and a copy of the M&S cord leggings from Morrisons. I'm not generally keen on their clothes - I think the tops have a tendency to be frumpy and not a good shape on me, but the plain bottoms are pretty good and reasonably priced. They gave nice wide waistbands that don't go all twisty and so far have kept their shape and not faded. Think they were around £15 last time I bought them, but they tend to do variations every year. Also the sparkly leggings were quite good at Christmas

Thanks everyone. I also wanted to suggest La Redoute, which I never thought of looking at, but which has quite a lot of good cotton. I bought this Sezanne dupe, and am happy with it. Cotton victorian collar shirt with ruffles and long sleeves La Redoute Collections | La Redoute Possibly Sezanne design is better, but as I said, I like quite plain clothes with not too many design elements.

I also need to keep track of sales. I always miss the good stuff. May set up a separate email account.

Secondhand clothing of a good quality will always be better than cheap new clothes.

I agree @MariePaperRoses and I have coats and jackets from charity shops, but can't always find other stuff in my size or to my taste. I still find Vinted quite hard to use with all the back and forth, and lying by sellers. I am in between sizes now, and often I have to try stuff on and send it back, which I can't do with Vinted.

I'm fortunate to have an independent boutique on my high street that carries multiple brands new but often last years prints so a lot cheaper than the mall - seasalt clothes (which they carry) are my go to for work, as do both my 20 something DD's.

Both Uniqlo and Marks have good merino tops in this bracket: uniqlo ones have lasted very well for me. @AgingDisgracefullyHere might this help in your hunt for the cerise polo neck? https://www.uniqlo.com/uk/en/product/100pct-extra-fine-merino-ribbed-turtleneck-jumper-461065.html?dwvar_461065_color=COL11&dwvar_461065_size=SMA001

What's S and B?

I have had lots of compliments when I have recently worn New Look jumpsuits (all under £30). I also love New Look Jeans.

I have had absolute fails in the John Lewis sale. The items were all cheap for a reason!

I know it's often much derided on S&B, but I like FatFace - & if you can buy in the sales or from one of their outlet stores it's often under £50 for decent cotton or viscose dresses, jeans, jumpers etc.
I know it's not to everyone's taste, but I've found it good quality.

Right can we all agree that 2nd hand clothes can be fabulous bargains, and if you are lucky you’ll be able to buy several items that fit and suit you from local charity shops. But it is luck if you’ll find things and those on a low budget can’t bank always on luck to dress themselves well in budget.

now any more posters who are tempted to type “but 2nd hand/charity shops/eBay/vinted” take a moment to think “am I being a dick to those who have limited funds and just want a thread to discuss clothes they are definitely able to buy.”

Vinted too!

You can filter by fabric and by brand.
You do have to look regularly and be prepared to take time to look at lots that you don't want, and prepared to study photos and ask question if needed - however I've just bought:

• A an unworn John Lewis, 100% black cotton dress, with pockets. JL price £125, I paid £7.50 plus fees and postage.
• A pair of Boden, leather block heeled shoes. Again not a mark on them, came with the dust bag. I paid £8.00 plus fees and postage. The current version if them are £160 on the Boden website.

I love finding new things to wear. I often check out brands that I have seen on Vinted, to see if they are good quality.

Oops, crossed post with @LimeCheesecake

I am that dick….😳😉

@APurpleSquirrel I like fatface too - they tend to use natural fabrics and the dresses have pockets. Great for summer clothes which I'm no good at. I also love Wrap for summer and winter - mostly over the £80 budget but they often have offers on a few pieces. I bought a lovely linen and cotton dress (with pockets!) for £79 recently. I could honestly buy the entire winter collection 😂

@Shaw55 🤣

I agree with this wholeheartedly. A lot of my clothes are second hand and I used to spend a lot of time hunting around in charity shops in my London neighbourhood. Over the years got some great stuff BUT:

• it’s a lot of work
• Sometimes you end up with stuff that is not quite the right fit etc
• where I live the charity shops have become very expensive and their stock is no longer as good.

I now buy lots on Vinted, except for items where the fit is really important (e.g. trousers).