Your top gripe with buying clothes at the moment?

[Clotheswoe]

Mine is that often when trousers are described as 'high-waisted', they are not at all high waisted on me. They just aren't hipsters!

Oh, and on the whole I'd love to see more curated selections of items, not 1000+ tops every time I look for something. I'd love it if stores actually specialised in a "look" or a style and then stayed true to that. I get it's probably profitable since people want variety, but I'd love to be able to find the gems in a sea of crap more easily.

Can we start a petition/movement to the fashion industry? Why do we women out up with crap quality, synthetic clothes, when men don't. It's really quite a feminist issue!
DH's clothes as noted, sturdy jeans, cotton Polo's, cotton shirts. Wool or Linen suits. Available in short/long, slim fit, wide. Colours are muted, classy. Often with tailoring available.......... We put up with so much shit.

Can we start a petition/movement to the fashion industry? Why do we women out up with crap quality, synthetic clothes, when men don't. It's really quite a feminist issue!

We buy more and we care more. This should drive more choice, and it does, but as before - crap fast fashion is a behemoth. It has affected almost everything and pumps out new styles literally every day. Nothing can keep up with it.

I don't even think many women do buy a new piece every week to be on trend. But I do think the prices have absolutely skewed our sense of what it really costs to make a quality piece ethically, and that's become the benchmark even if we aren't the Shein/Cider customer. So much stuff is unsold that they now have to cost it low to make it sell and to cut losses when it doesn't. It's like a double edged sword of shit.

But they are cut for a man's shape. I have hips and a waist and these days I can find jeans that fit without needing a belt. Back in the 1970s all jeans were cut for men and I had to wear a belt.

I agree that online shopping isn't great.

I have been forced down that route because there are some things I just can't buy in shops.

Nothing beats the instant gratification of finding something in a real shop that you can try on before you buy and find that it looks good and is a perfect fit.

Thinking about when I was a teenager and got my first job, I remember if I bought a skirt or a top from a chain place like Dorothy Perkins or Topshop, it would cost me a whole day's wages. Buying from Jigsaw or similar was unthinkable- that would be more like a weeks wages.

The equivalent of that cheap top or skirt now would be about 80-85 pounds - that's a days wages on minimum wage. But people don't expect to pay that for something fairly basic from a basic chain store , so that's why the quality has dropped, with a knock on effect to the more expensive shops.

@Almostwelsh I think its because we ( as a society) just want to buy so much that it doesn't matter what quality it is anymore. Its the constant churn of stuff to an ever increasing demand.

and mens jumpers! got so annoyed at the difference in quality one Xmas i bought a jumper from the men's in a small size, great fit but didn't know mens t sleeves would be longer🙄.

Yes to men's jumpers. Made from cotton or wool and with long sleeves for my long arms.

Bloody polyester and similar materials claiming to be "eco" SO crappy and annoying!

What do you actually mean by fast fashion tho?
I still wear a beautiful jacket from Select that's older than DD26. My Primark clothes last me for years, and I find the quality fine.
Things are not automatically better quality just because they're more expensive!

I know what you mean @baileybrosbuildingandloan my clothes last for years.

Quality - polyester, or polyester-viscose mix should be banned. Hanging threads, buttons that fall off after a day, manufacturers labels that show, and need unpicking carefully.

Sizing - I have a waist, I'd like clothes that don't leave me with 6" of extra material around my midriff.

Length - I'm 5'8" which is hardly Amazonian. Most things are too short. I order long whenever there is a choice and I still sometimes have to rehem with seam binding. It's a total pain. Sleeves are often too short. Fitted jackets that fit are rare.

Fabric - In the winter, I'd like wool or wool mix because it's cold outside. I don't mind paying for decent fabric but it's getting harder to find.

Yes, my lovely, heavy quality sweater from Next circa 1998 cost £70. Not sure what that would translate to in today's prices? But I think you'd have to spend upwards of £180 on a sweater today to get the same quality?

With all the comments on synthetics here, may l add that after processing, which is often environmentally damaging, cotton itself is on a long synthetic slope. Don’t kid yourselves about it being oh so natural; it isn’t.

Oh I hate women’s t shirts with those awful capped sleeved that cut into your underarm. They are not long enough. Why can’t we have a short sleeve like men can?
Also see through material and crap polyester/nylon. Again men don’t have to tolerate this, they can get non see through natural fabric.

Sorry I should have said I hate the seeing all the clothes for sale that are the colour of my DH's hearing aids.

OK I hate seeing all the flesh tone colour clothing.

My biggest gripe is that men's clothes (from the same shops) are both better quality and cheaper.

I'm shopping on Vinted in the EU and it's great for kids clothes but I'm finding it very tricky to get the sizing right for me. Even when mostly buying brands I am familiar with. More fails than successes recently.. Might need to do some more in person shopping but have got used to Vinted prices! I'm also obsessed with colour analysis and colours are also not photographed/described accurately.

Yes. I knew that. It uses more water than any other fabric.

I watched a Stacey Dooley programme about how jeans were made. It was depressing.

I guess it depends on the styles you like but I prefer fitted and structured jackets, dresses and skirts so I look for strong, non-stretchy materials that can hold their shape like shantung silk or wool, or if it is stretchy, then it has to be thick and good quality so it doesn't go shiny and see through. Wearing a slip underneath instead of a lined dress or skirt can make the garment move more smoothly over the body and helps stop skirts spinning round when you walk. Similarly cotton and linen - in my opinion the design and construction is more important than the fabric for tops and shirts, so I look for darts, pleats, narrowing at the waist, etc., but medium weight cotton and linen seem to hold their shape more than thinner fabric, without going baggy over time. And trousers - again, higher weight natural fabrics without stretch seem to bag out less. As to where you get these things... I buy a lot of secondhand or vintage clothes! Otherwise it's £££ for dubious quality.

Viscose generally shrinks (I've seen 10% quoted) on first wash - so if I've bought some to sew some clothes, then I wash it BEFORE I cut out and sew. I'm not convinced all clothing factories are doing this, because why would they? It's 10% 'free' fabric they can use to squeeze more things out of the same roll of fabric.

@Meadowfinch I think we might be the same person 🤣
I'm same height and have same problems. I want long sleeves, long legs, and a proper waist!

They do wash it. Otherwise they’d get loads of returns. It can shrink again. It’s really unstable. I try and avoid.

Organic cotton is ok.

Just had a look at their site - really reasonable prices! Thank you!