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Where did your parents buy your clothes growing up?

163 replies

MyMintCrab · 11/07/2024 21:34

Matalan

OP posts:
FloofPaws · 12/07/2024 00:04

Black Bush Market
Benetton (back when I loved colour lol 😂)
C&A ( coats and 'ats as my londoner grandad used to say)
Allders
Army and Navy
Brick Lane Market
Debenhams
M&S for underwear

TheCompactPussycat · 12/07/2024 00:06

Adams, Clothkits, and the John Moores catalogue.

C0rdeliaChase · 12/07/2024 00:08

Littlewoods, Tammy Girl, Marks and Spencer's, local market.

ETA: I've no flippin' idea why that's linked, I didn't link it! Don't click on it, comes up with a warning. Confused

Shybutrude · 12/07/2024 00:08

@FloofPaws Allders! Was like a catalogue shop? Im sure it sold luggage and had boxes of smart watches (£5) amd jazzy jewellery!

FloofPaws · 12/07/2024 00:13

Shybutrude · 12/07/2024 00:08

@FloofPaws Allders! Was like a catalogue shop? Im sure it sold luggage and had boxes of smart watches (£5) amd jazzy jewellery!

Allders had everything from what I recall 🤣
Does anyone remember Bay Trading?

Shybutrude · 12/07/2024 00:16

@FloofPaws bay trading was soooooooooo good! Was there a shop called Kylie ? I'm sure I remember it?

Terea · 12/07/2024 00:18

Ladybird from Woolworths and the Grattan Catalogue. Guess my age!!

Shybutrude · 12/07/2024 00:21

Just remembered Kookai which 13 year old me thought was the height of sophistication!

SnowFrogJelly · 12/07/2024 00:47

Mostly home made

lovelysunshine22 · 12/07/2024 00:49

Freemans catalogue and mothercare!

SammyScrounge · 12/07/2024 00:53

C&A.
And sometimes VanAllen's or What Every Woman Wants.

Mrsjayy · 12/07/2024 07:02

Shybutrude · 12/07/2024 00:16

@FloofPaws bay trading was soooooooooo good! Was there a shop called Kylie ? I'm sure I remember it?

I'm.sure they sold Kylie I'm Tammy girl.or maybe a shop called Mark one. My Dd is in her 30s and she had Kylie clothes.

MikeRafone · 12/07/2024 07:05

Ladybird, John Lewis, Marks and Spencer’s

Summerinspringtime · 12/07/2024 07:09

My mum worked for a mail order catalogue so I think everything came from there. She did make me some long dresses too.
I don’t ever remember being taken shopping, not until I was an older teenager then I could choose jeans from the market. There was a stall which only sold jeans.

S0livagant · 12/07/2024 07:11

Jumble sales, hand me downs, my grandmother made some when we were preschool age.

Oneearringlost · 12/07/2024 07:12

We were a vicarage family, so my father's jumble sale.
He always let my mother in 10 minutes before opening up.
We had v, v interesting clothes, growing up....!
I once had a Chanel jacket worn over a crinoline skirt.

mitogoshi · 12/07/2024 07:14

C&a, M&S, littlewoods, bhs ... but I loved tammy girl

mitogoshi · 12/07/2024 07:15

A bit older Chelsea girl was the go to

westcountrywoman · 12/07/2024 07:18

As a baby / young child:

Mothercare
Adams
Ladybird at Woolworths
M&S (very special occasions)
BHS

Older primary age - early teens

Littlewoods / Kays Catalogues
C&A
Tammy Girl

Mrsjayy · 12/07/2024 07:20

mitogoshi · 12/07/2024 07:15

A bit older Chelsea girl was the go to

Oh yes although Chelsea girl was a treat if you were going somewhere.

Gettingbysomehow · 12/07/2024 07:24

We were on the breadline in the 60s so a couple of my great aunts made all my clothes. They made all the latest fashions so I always looked nice.

Willmafrockfit · 12/07/2024 07:24

lady bird
boutiques
probably M & S and C & A
Clarkes for shoes

no catalogues, I do remember one catalogue item which my dm was very disappointed in so i think that was a one off

PersonallyVictimizedByReginaGeorge · 12/07/2024 07:25

Dunnes, but I got a lot of second hand clothes. The concept of "no I don't like this, I'm not wearing that" wasn't a thing in my household. Everyday started with a hunt for socks 😞😓

YYURYYUCICYYUR4ME · 12/07/2024 07:58

62 and from Central London, so very different retail environment / world then! Mum would make a great deal of our clothing and very trendy and well made it was too, with access to fabrics at an affordable price. She would also produce a wide range of knitwear for us, you name it, she could knit it, and this continued throughout my adulthood, as she was great at knitting and I had some wonderful pieces in my wardrobe (Mum also worked full-time, so was always busy with something!). There was M&S, loads of other department stores (waiting for the sales was a huge thing), street markets were in their heyday, so The Lane, Chapel Street, Petticoat Lane, Leather Lane, Roman Road, and they were another great place to get clothing, alongside a huge variety of other items, as that was where overages / end of lines / sale stock ended up. Then there was a very wide range of independent children's wear shops, which were very common in the period and where I can remember Easter / Christmas outfits were purchased. Interesting that brands were no as much of an issue, can't remember it being a 'thing' but can remember trends such as coloured pop socks, which were very expensive when they hit the high street! We had far less clothing though, than children have now and yes, there was also a moving on of second-hand items, hardly worn but outgrown, that moved between friends and family too. One thing my parents would never compromise on though was good fitting, good quality shoes, and I thank them for a habit they established in me, albeit an expensive one in later life, that means my feet are still in good shape to this day!!

YesThisIsMe · 12/07/2024 08:10

Ladybird and Mothercare, but mostly jumble sales and hand me downs.

When we were in Hong Kong in my early teens a man used to park in the back of the flats, put a tarp down in the car park and spread out a wide array of dirt cheap new clothes from heaven knows where for us to rummage thorough and choose from. That was fun.

I used to buy work clothes with the high street labels cut out from Petticoat Lane stalls when I first started working in the City in the nineties@YYURYYUCICYYUR4ME. I had a great cream damask double breasted jacket. There are still clothes stalls there but only a handful, overshadowed by miles of street food.