Let’s talk about White stuff

[Coddy]

Was passing today and I saw this lovely pair of glittery socks in the window suitable for a Christmas present.
Went in there to buy them and remembered what a pile of old shit it is.
Back in the early 2000s it was the place to go for young mums- , who remembers the velvet coats, the a line printed skirts, endless layering , the knitted tights that was quite the look then?

However, it does not seem to have moved on at all. Whilst there is the odd nice thing in there, glittery socks and a lovely gold bag I saw (can’t afford mustn’t buy) It’s just a riot of print with no kind of theme and really poor display.

Do you go to White stuff? What do you rate in there, do you think it’s lost its way?

I've had a few bits from there in the past but always preferred Fat Face and Mistral. The last time I was in White Stuff (maybe 6/7 years ago?) the sales assistant twitched the cubicle curtain aside and asked me how I was getting on - as I was changing!! I never went back.

This thread is frumpy shaming

Retro is cool like wearing a bat wing jumper made in 1988 .

No comparison really

Ive never shopped in there too expensive for what it is, but I did think they only sold stuff that was white what would I know🙄

I can honestly say I've never spent a penny of my hard-earned cash, buying an outfit on the basis that it gives other people a message about me, "pleasant and inoffensive" or otherwise. Why care about what others think?

100% dress for how it makes you feel. Dress for confidence, or to enjoy how you feel when you're wearing some clothes.

are women really still stuck in an age where they dress to please others?

As for the word frumpy, it's overused on here!

Quite like that, it's not as bland as some of their stuff.

WS, Fat Face, Seasalt - I can find the occasional thing there but the bulk of it isn't quite right.

I've had a couple of WS viscose dresses in the past though and they really didn't wash well, they looked like slightly furred rags after a couple of washes.

@lentilweaver I quite like White Stuff but I think that dress is horrendous.

Their tights are excellent quality.Not my style but I think Wendy looks great.I like that they use customers as models.

@Lentilweaver that dress is exactly why I don't shop there!

For me frumpy how clothes make me feel not how they might look on someone else. My DDs wear things in a retro way which looks fabulous but I know if I wore what they wore I would feel like a frump. No one is shaming anyone. Someone is wearing these clothes and feeling good in them.

bought a couple of decent bags in sales before? Clothes are a hard pass though…

Yes! It’s primary school teacher uniform 😂😂

I find their simpler, plainer dresses, easy to wear, wash well and are the right price point to blend at work. Neat and tidy and not in anyone else's face. At the price point, the fabric is better than many others. The same for Seasalt. I tend only to buy work dresses from them. I can't see anything appealing about their coats/jackets which seem to have a big MNet following. On-line Seasalt had such a lovely wool coat which I think was about £160.00. I had a look at it in my local M&S and it had nothing about it. It didn't hang well and didn't feel well cut and the wool was poor quality. I bought a similar shaped coat from M&S for either £69 or £79. It was a better colour and whilst not wool, looks and hangs a zillion times better.

Gave up on it years ago and I’m 60!
Dont like Fatface or Seasalt either.

I like Celtic & Co for knitwear. Cheaper than Brora.

Oh gosh it's my mum! That dress is on sale in M&S too.

I think a lot of the clothes from WS and similar shops are for retired people like myself, comfortable and loose, I'm not going to sit round the house, in the garden or walk down to our local shops in something from the more dressy fashionable shops, a WS cardi or Seasalt tunic suits me fine as they are comfortable for slepping round the house/garden in.

https://www.whitestuff.com/p/4345/lucy-midi-printed-dress/PLUM_PR

I do like this version of Lucy, and I do have the Skylar dress but I bought that in M&S.

Can I ask, were you interested in clothes before you retired?

I'm retired too and I enjoy getting dressed just as much as I ever did, and yes I absolutely wear nice clothes for going to the shops / coffee / classes / volunteering etc. They're not the same kind of clothes as before because I no longer have to worry about dress codes but they're still things I really like.

One thing I like about Seasalt is they have a lot of cotton when no one else seems to these days. Especially at reasonable prices. I dont like their prints though.

I’ve never bought anything for me there apart from some navy floral cotton knickers and a fabric wash bag with lemons on it which lost the tassel on the zip pull fairly easily. Both are quite good items. I forgot, I did buy some black boots from White Stuff. They’re not amazing but they’re comfy bought in 2016/2017.

In my local shopping centre Fat Face and White Stuff are next to each other and The White Company is a few doors down from
them.

Yes it’s definitely dated now, I’m not sure I’ve bought anything the past ten years - probably a pretty white blouse back then! Not sure how they keep going. Fat Face I think does at least evolve a bit and they do great bags.

Of course I like my clothes, I was very interested in clothes before I retired but probably not the same clothes as most of MN, I don't suit a lot of the fashionable grey stuff as I am tall and large boned so it just looks ridiculous.

A lot of companies have been sold. The new owners keep the valued name, but source inferior goods e,g I have clothes frim LandsEnd from many years ago, including a pure wool jumper that looks hand knitted. Recent order was returned - so shoddy.

I'm sorry if I gave offence, that was not my intention. But you've implied in your posts (I think) that your attitude is different now you've retired and I'm curious about what might have changed?

Like I've said, I'm retired myself and I hear some (not all) of my friends saying they're glad they don't have to bother with clothes any more and I'm like, 'Huh? Why?' I never get a straight answer so I thought I'd ask here instead.

I'm not talking about work dress codes. I understand why it's a relief not to bother with them any more.

Yes, good quality fabrics but in the most drab and mumsy patterns and shapes. Not good. It used to be really surf/skate and now it's just lame.