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!

Yes completely agree re crap quality materials and lack of choice on the high street. I often think Next should be struggling due to all the polyester they are now using but apparently they're doing better than ever sales wise 😏

I'm finding clothes are generally way too long in the arms and legs these days. I'm 5'3 which isn't very petite but everything is so long!!

Lack of pockets!

I hate purses, so I just want pockets that will securely hold my phone, keys, small wallet and chapstick!

Is that so hard to do? I've bought and worn men's pants before just to get decent pockets.

Everything being see through

The sizing!!!
I am a standard size 12. But lately I've had to buy size 16 sized jeans!

This in bucket loads !

That there are too many pairs of high waisted jeans / trousers out there. Uncomfortable and unflattering on those of us with long legs and short bodies.

That shops where you could once buy a dress / blouse made from silk (and happily pay a commensurate price for the item) now only sell the items in polyester but have not adjusted the prices accordingly (looking at you Whistles & And Other Stories).

And Stop The Fucking Crops.

My number one hate (of many ) at the moment is the marketing of nasty, cheap, shitty fabrics as a selling point in women's clothing. Ecovera Lenzing can fuck off, and if a garment is made with 50% recycled polyester, do not be trying to charge a premium price for that. And no, I don't want to pay £126 for a Nylon-Acrylic mix sweater, Varlay. Or for 100% viscose, Whistles.

Men's clothes are still available in cotton, wool, linen and reasonable blends, I notice.

Lack of pockets as others have said, and lack of proper cuffs that actually meet your wrist. I know it's not always the style to have a cuff, but when there is one, what is the point if it's so loose that it gets in the way or gets caught on things, and you can't even push your sleeves up to keep them out of the way?

Also, shoe sizes seem to have changed. I used to order from catalogues (I'm old) and then online and always just ordered my normal size, but now I have no idea what size out of at least 3 will actually fit me!

Horrible sweaty artificial fibres everywhere.

How thin the fabrics are. I want nice thick wool, crisp cotton, linen that hangs instead of crumples, etc. Also shoe half sizes, Boden used to do them but no longer.

Horrendously ugly, poor quality synthetic fabrics - where seven or ten years ago you would expect wool, cotton, silk or linen, now you get polyester, viscose or acrylic instead — for the same or higher prices! I get the point that costs have increased - but nowadays I can’t even find a single thing I want to wear, so I just don’t buy anything most of the time. I haven’t bought anything that isn’t from eBay or a basic cotton t-shirt for bloody ages.

The designs are rubbish, the fit is awful, the cheap synthetics also wash badly. I don’t want to be sold some polyester / viscose tat by Whistles for £200, that looks identical to something I bought at the market for ten quid 25 years ago as a student. I also don’t want to wear athleisure leggings: I’d like some natural fibres to wear for work and everyday! I can afford a few nice pieces, I don’t want to wear baggy nineties-style tat, but I just can’t find anything that’s decent quality and design.

It’s been like this since Covid, when all the shops were full of ugly polyester flowered tops that looked like cruisewear for The Love Boat. Hideous! Then it was scratchy maxi dresses in cheap viscose - I love the look, but every dress I tried was badly cut, too baggy, too long, terrible fit, or bumps along the hems. Gave up. No dress for me.

The difference between the clothes you could get 10–15 years ago in terms of quality, fit and fabrics and now — it’s just not comparable. I wouldn’t mind paying double the prices I paid then; — but where are the decent items?

Boobs.
I have them, and if I walk out onto the street, I'd say that over 75% of the women I pass have D cups or bigger.
And yet.
EVERYTHING IS CUT FOR B CUPS.
Which makes no fucking sense to me whatsoever, because boobs not fitting into a top means you don't buy the top, whereas if the fabrics a tiny bit loose, it's not a big deal.
Why are boobs being ignored?

That and the fact everything is black white beige or brown.

I'm in my 30s. I have a shape. I've worked hard for it. But I have boobs, and therefore if I want to dress in something that shows off my shape, it's either Boohoo because everything is stretchy, or it's 50s style brands. I don't want either of those!

None of it is comfortable or warm or attractive to me I miss the styles from 2010 -2013 where you could get a nice v neck jumper which looked feminine , dresses that weren’t made with holes all over them no cropped t shirts or big oversized trousers . I do almost all my shopping on Vinted now because I’ve just given up with the high street whether it be in person or online .

YY to high waisted. I have a pair of jeans that when i sit down, come to just under my tits, but I'm forever yanking them out of my fanny.

Same!

I have a naturally very high waist, hourglass.

I think manufacturers should have to state the rise in inches as it impacts the fit enormously. Leg length can be altered or called fashion, but rise is make or break unless you're quite slim hipped.

I really wanted a jumper dress, but all of them were either polo or high necks, which I didn’t want, or they had slits up both sides which I really didn’t want. I ordered one or two, but the yarn was scratchy and itchy, as well as having the slits. The only one that came anywhere near what I wanted was by Reiss. I can’t afford £198 for a dress.

We are all going to drown in a sea of neutral coloured polyester mesh at this rate. It’s all horrible.

I would pay more for well made clothes, decently cut in natural fabrics, but even in the higher end it’s just more polyester.

If they accommodated for curves, they'd have to put some actual time, effort and money into the cut and construction of the garments - and might have to use better fabrics as well. As it is, they can just chuck together the most basic shapes and use "relaxed fit" to hide the fact that there is no shaping. I wonder if it will improve? Or is it all downhill from here?

I have boobs and find Joe brown good. But might not be your style! I agree though having bigger bust is so difficult to shop for!

@Bluevelvetsofa I'm looking for jumper dresses too. I just order six from the next sale, all went back, 3 were 80%acyclic i don't wear acyclic, 1 was too long and shapeless, one from phase eight very odd fit.

Measurements of the actual clothes. A few manage to do this, it would save so many returns.
More choice in a range of sizes and heights. You can be short or plus size and still want quality clothes.

Any stretch in an item renders it baggy and misshapen after a few hours of wearing. Stretched knees in yoga pants, baggy knees in tracksuit bottoms and weird elbow baggyness in jumpers. I try to buy good quality items and still find the same problems.

This

Too much flimsy viscose (nothing against viscose but some of it is really thin and bad quality and I want thicker fabrics in winter).
Not enough longer length trousers.
Crap clothes design. No darts or yokes or any nice tailoring on tops so everything is a bit shapeless. I'm getting nearly everything on Vinted now.

Everything is cropped and acrylic.