Who actually wears Cabbagees & Roses?

[PaeoniaPlease]

*please excuse the typo in the title!

Newbie here. I'm from the US but love British style and follow British fashion and culture. There's one question to which I can't seem to find the answer - who is actually wearing Cabbages & Roses clothing?

I've really loved Cabbages & Roses lately, but few in the US seems to even be aware of this brand. I know it's a very small brand. I'm also aware that it is not "in style" or even very practical. It would be considered really "out-there" in the US.

My question is - is this brand something that is actually worn by British women? If so, who is actually wearing this brand? Is it 25 year old "Fashionistas", "Cottage Core" girls, the so-called "Turnip Toffs?"
Rich middle aged women? Younger girls with good jobs and large available balances on their credit cards? Mom types?

Have you ever seen someone wearing one of their signature flowy/billowy dresses in public? What type of person were they? How would you describe them?

Thank you for any insight!

I had a lovely long camel skirt from D and B in the 70s. Pror to marriage and children I worked in a tiny boutique in Stonegate called Chick, the owners lived in Hampstead near Chic boutique and would annoy people by mispronouncing it!

It's the kind of thing my 18 year old arty farty daughter would wear with dms and a dirty jumper - if she could afford it!

@PaeoniaPlease You’re probably not going to come back to this (wonderful, thank you) thread, but what on earth is a ‘turnip toff’? Asking for a friend…

Wow, a job at Droopy & Browns in York 😎That really was living the dream @OooScotland. I could never afford to buy it at the time but, if there were a shop like that near me now, I'd volunteer there if they let me wear one of their outfits once a week. And I agree with you about a lot of C&R being perfectly wearable. My jacket is a case in point - note for haters of the oversize trend that it's very fitted.

Lovely dress @IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle

@Floisme It wasn’t great, actually. Angela was…difficult. And her brother didn’t deign to speak to junior staff. A pretty unpleasant vibe, overall. And no trying on.

With C&R I think people only tend to see what’s in the sale. The more everyday stuff sells very quickly and sometimes is gone in the pre orders.

Oh dear, sorry to hear that @OooScotland Not even a free staff outfit/uniform?

Those dresses look like the kind of clothes my mother would have died of pride if she'd seen me wearing them. Alas, I would have looked as though I were being eaten by my own clothing.

Very lovely, but not for stocky, short-legged me.

Not upstairs, no. The shopfloor staff got 50% off one outfit per season to be worn for work, (if I’m remembering rightly). They were kind of expected to wear more than that though and seemed to buy a lot of those pointy waistcoats to get a different look with their work skirt and blouse.

The dogs were nice!

I bloody love this thread. It's not my kind of thing but the discussion has been fascinating!

I've just googled Cabbages and Roses and bloody hell!
You'd look like you'd just walked out of an Amish community, no offence to the Amish as they're definitely more stylish than the dresses on that site.
And the prices . . . . .😳

You’re seeing the back end of the sale. Its not all like that. What’s left now is the stranger stuff.

Personally I’d rather not pronounce on what is and isn’t stylish. I like most of it. You don’t. That’s fine. I think we’re pretty much post-fashion right now, and very glad I am about it.

It really is awful!

*in your opinion

I love most of the dresses!

Way, way too expensive for me though

I don't think it's frumpy either. I agree with whoever said up threat that we're basically post fashion now.

I'm here! I don't have a lot of free time (SAHM with a 2 year old), so I've been just reading all the replies. What a great discussion, and I thank EVERYONE for their input.

It's so great to see a lot of love for this brand - I know it's not for everyone. I'm especially thankful for your reply @OooScotland . It really put a lot of wind in my sails. To be honest, I've been feeling a little (a lot) low and have found myself drawn to C&R because of its beauty and general "I don't give a F* what you think" attitude. I'm at a point in my life sort of like you describe in your reply. I am hitting a milestone birthday (not 30) this month and have been doing a lot of reflecting on how I want my life's next chapter to look, both sartorially and with regard to my attempt to practice social indifference.

My "attempt to practice social indifference" is really the key here. I own a few pieces of C&R, including the Lolly dress from last season (now sold out). It is a dream, but I have not been able to bring myself to wear it outside of the house, especially not to town.

I live in the upper Midwest of the US and the best attempt at "fashion" I see around is the low end department store sparkly butt jeans, head to toe TJ Maxx (our version of TK Maxx), or most commonly, "athleisure"/pajama pants with hoodie sweatshirt complete with enormous logo. So, you can see how I might be apprehensive to wear an enormous, floaty corduroy dress with a frill collar to shop at the grocery store.

But, after reading your reply (and conclusion I've been leaning toward) I've decided to follow in your footsteps a bit and go a little heavier on the Cabbages.

As my very wise husband said to me (I paraphrase): "what age did you feel the most yourself? Before influences of social pressure and trying to be 'cool' crept in? That's the age to think about when you are thinking of what you want your life and yourself to look like. What would that age want to wear? Because that person is in there, and that person knows the real you before all of those pressures came into your life."

The answer for me: about 12.

At 12, I was a complete nerd. My favorite books were about mummies, archaeology, history, and animals. My favorite movie was (and still is) The Sound of Music. I was interested in sewing, embroidery, and nature. If that 12 year old girl had been able to, she would have chosen to wear Cabbages & Roses.

Oh, and a "Turnip Toff" is what I've read the Kate-In-The-Country types are called. 😆

What does "post fashion" mean?

Well I just love everything about this thread so thanks to all. @PaeoniaPlease I would love to hear the reaction from your fellow townspeople when you wear this out and about!

I'm in SF and still don't see a lot of 'fashion' - it's either all athleisure or of course the naked folks. So I reckon you'd still raise eyebrows even in a city I love clothes but don't tend to be very bold so you are inspiring me to be a bit braver in my choices.

And now I wonder if I need to buy this incredible coat...

I really like the 12 year old idea and I know exactly what you mean. I feel I could have gone down 2 different paths. The one I chose was rebellion and drugs and boys. However I could have been a guinea pig breeding, all weekend at the stables, bookworm instead.

I am 57 now and have pretty much chosen the second path.

I used to keep my horse with a family. The woman loved C&R and just looked fantastic in the clothes. All the dresses and coats. She was beautiful and the even at 65 she really suited a velvet Alice band. When I came up the stables early, she would be wearing a long white cotton smocked and buttoned nighties with a little cashmere jumper (darned) and jodhpur boots

@PaeoniaPlease I do see that its not as easy to wear some stuff in the USA as it is in London, or in my case, Edinburgh. Nobody cares what you’re dressed up as here. Its worth remembering you don’t have to go straight from ‘athleisure’ to the ‘Cabbages and Roses Grayson Perry Collection’.

Most C&R separates are just a bit quirky and very practical, don’t be scared off by the dresses that are in the current sale. You have to be there at the beginning of the season for the more every day pieces though (so get the e-newsletter) They sell out fast and they’re very limited edition, sometimes less than 10 made each size and that’s it.

Another British brand that won’t scare the horses is Toast (toa.st), lots of cotton, linen, denim and cord.

If dresses are what you do want and C&R prices are not shocking to you then then O-Pioneers of London might be worth a look (opioneers.co.uk)

I love looking at Isabel Spearman’s daily dress edit (dailydressedit.com) to find new brands. Her instagram is good too.

Good luck and have fun!

OP A more affordable and less scary option is Joannie's Laura Ashley range.
Joannie Laura Ashley

A more affordable and probably more scary option is Batsheva's Laura Ashley range.
Batsheva Laura Ashley

Nobody's Child Starlight dress is sort of the entry point on price and wearability. They do 3/4 sleeved winter versions.
Nobody's Child Starlight dress

Hmm, sits back and contemplates Batsheva being the affordable option 😲

I'd vote Aligne as the less flowery and more affordable option
https://aligne.co/collections/dresses

They do superb coats and excellent dresses. I wore it a lot in the OOs and would again now. Compliments follow one.

I just saw this and realised I’m wearing an old pair of C and R trousers with a motheaten Sonic Youth T-shirt. 😀