I quit clothes shopping!

[PoppyBaxter]

Has anyone else given up on clothes shopping because of how god awful everything is in the shops?

I have 'fast fashion' items in my wardrobe from 15 years ago from shops like Warehouse, H&M and New Look, which I still wear because they were so thick and decently made.

I've tried on clothes from numerous shops over the last couple of years - both fast fashion and more expensive - trying to find a few nice bits worth wearing. Everything is utter shite. Fabric is so thin. There are loose threads. Buttons come off during the first wear. Everything is so oversized and shapeless with hideous tiers. I ordered an M&S cashmere jumper dress (£120) and when it arrived it looked like a crumbled old rag so I sent it back. I treated myself to a couple of cashmere jumpers from JL (£89 each) and they're severely bobbled after only 2 months. The thinnest, see-through, poorly fitting tshirt, with twisted seams is £45 from any half-decent brand.

I SO want a few new bits for my spring and summer wardrobe, but just can't find anything worth buying. I'm thinking about how I can mix up and restyle what I already own and making do. Anyone else?

I was going to ask if you have a John Lewis? Sorry!

I don’t know what your style is but we’ve now got mint velvet, fat face, white company, seasalt, sosander, sweaty Betty etc etc that weren’t there 10 years ago

I don’t know if any of you have tried Cider (online). I find the quality of the fabrics there to be unexpectedly great. Style can be a bit quirky. I also get a lot of basics in La Redoute which is French so maybe why it’s a bit better quality.

Oh, to add to my earlier post also Baukjen, Albaray & Uniqlo.

When l was young in the 80’s/90’s there was loads to choose from.

l used to spend my entire salary in Miss Selfridge. I was thinking about the stuff l used to buy there the other day. Proper velvet ( not velour) cotton coat and hot pants.

Cotton dresses and tops, lambs wool jumpers. Warehouse too. Used to buy loads of silk from there.

DD has very sensitive skin. She can’t wear polyester or acrylic. Or wool. Trying to find pure cotton stuff now is like the holy grail. Yet it was everywhere when l was her age.

I do look at Cos, Arket & Other Stories - they are pretty good OP, but no physical shops near me to buy or try on so it puts me off.

Everyone misses the 1980s / 90s / early 2000s High St!

But those of you bemoaning the lack of good quality - and then citing your local branch of Next … (And I’ve seen posters on other threads claim they will only shop online at Next for some logistical reason.) Honestly, I haven’t stepped inside one on my own behalf this century.

And yet - four times out of five when anywhere other than Next (or Debenhams for dressing up - Debenhams) is suggested on this board - the suggestion is mocked or shouted down.

It’s no wonder you’re disappointed in the clothing you end up with.

I just wear the clothes I have in rotation. The last clothing I bought were some T-shirts last summer.

I buy all my clothes second hand now except for underwear/socks. This means I can afford high-end brands. If you do want to buy new but not too expensive I can recommend Arken, Cos and & Other Stories. I buy second hand clothes from them and have always found them to last very well.

I know what you mean OP. I have clothes that are 20 years old and people still compliment me on. Buying clothes today that are worth wearing is a real challenge. Going up the price range helps, but not always.

I worked from home for 4.5 years, lived in t-shirts & shorts. Now switched to an office job and I need at least 5 summer outfits. I have one linen dress and one pair of tidy cream crops. I've bought one cotton dress and have ordered a pair of linen wide legged trousers. Hopefully they won't be paper thin and see through! I'm 5'8" and lean which excludes a lot of things

So far, anything that fits and isn't made of polyester has been £150+.

I'm struggling to find light, woven cotton tops that aren't too short. That shouldn't be difficult

It's depressing.

@BeetledBrow I think you were perhaps referencing me when you mentioned Next! The reason I mentioned that shop was because a new one opened and I popped in literally yesterday. All shops are the same for quality , believe me. I often browse and look at the finishing of garments and honestly , it's pretty awful. I saw a roll neck top in Reiss recently and there was an exposed seam on the outside of the neck band , this is unforgivable as it wasn't cheap. You would normally make a neck band by sewing right sides together then turning it right side out to hide the stitching. It's standard practice , but a £60 top was lacking this simple detail and it made it look Shein quality.

I'm not sure I've said that anywhere? I think another poster did

I make do with what I have , or buy from charity shops or vinted, no way would I be give next £35 for a shapeless see through t-shirt

Second this, Hollister in particular. I bought a few things from there this year in the sale and the quality is fine. Sainsburys clothing range usually has a few hidden gems and I have bought some really lovely 100 % cotton pyjamas from Asda recently.

I also used to get lots from Miss Selfridge, Warehouse, Topshop, Oasis, New Look.

Every winter I wear a sparkly jumper that I got from Warehouse 15 years ago. It wouldn't have cost much, but it's made of alpaca wool and is heavily beaded. You'd never find similar in that level of shop now.

Aah yes, good shout, if I like Sezanne for the french vibes, perhaps I'll like La Redoute! I'll take a look.

This. The only thing I've bought in Next in the last decade is my ds's cotton chinos for school.

I can't say I've quit clothes shopping but I am trying to be super-intentional about it. So - planning outfits and shopping only to fill gaps and replace trusted staples. TBH, staying online makes this easier to do, with the occasional foray into a shop to check out quality in person if a brand I'm not already familiar with has interested me online.

I don't want to buy secondhand, I'd rather buy new, good quality classics and make them last. A lot of my stuff is at least ten years old, the oldest item in my wardrobe is 20 years old (Gerard Darel soft linen/cotton mix 'denim' jacket). Things that have earned their keep come from Gerard Darel, MaxMara, Jaeger (before M&S), DVF, COS, Eric Bompard, Hobbes, Russell & Bromley, Adidas.

Occasionally, I need to scratch a 'really want something new to shake it up a bit', like I decide I want to wear jeans again after years of not being interested, and pair them with an oversized striped shirt. I think Massimo Dutti, COS, and sometimes Zara are good high street options for decent quality at reasonable prices. I only really know Uniqlo for their Heattech products, but I like those.

Like others on here, I"m circling Sezane (bags and shoes mostly, at the moment, but I also like the look of their trousers - I think they're quite a seventies outline, which is appealing), but they do seem to have a lot of polyester, so need to watch that. Frankie Shop is nice but the import taxes and postage stir extra costs in, so you have to be pretty sure to commit. A friend of mine had a good haul from the Agnes B sale recently, so that's another brand which I hadn't thought of in years.

Sometimes, though, I find that staples that have worked very well for a long time suddenly don't feel right, and this might be where trends make themselves count. Last night, I wore a midi skirt, quite full, with a polo jumper and jacket - all fine. But I had on a pair of sort of shoe-boots, slim, mid height heel, pointed toe and it really felt old-fashioned and prissy - sort of Victoria Beckham date night from several years back. Or something Kate Middleton might wear. Very not me, not now, anyway. I think what the outfit needed was a pair of block heeled high loafers - chunkier, squarer of toe, possibly a textured leather. So those will be going on my list to buy this year!

Yes, it's frustrating to spend 2 hours browse what you thought would be decent dresses only to send it all back due to poor quality... I've not idea where to buy my clothes. Where do I find decent quality fabric these days?

I agree with this - I think my general rule is mixing something trend led with basics. There's a stylist that bangs on about this Lydia Tomlinson - don't have an all slim silhouette etc. It's all moving a bit sculpted.

I agree M&S and supermarkets can have gems but you have to look in person. I do miss Warehouse.

I've mostly quit buying new clothes because I've been unwell and need to be careful with money. However, having sold a lot of my pre-cancer wardrobe, I do buy a lot of used clothes from Vinted and other resale sites using the proceeds. I've picked up some amazing things, some items I missed out on buying first time round and some completely new to me. It helps that I know what I'm buying and mostly stick to brands I know well. I look at fabric content. I pore over pictures and enlarge them/google image search where possible as that often brings up more images, often of people actually wearing them. I prefer to buy from those whom provide lots of information including measurements, lots of pictures and are generally helpful.

Older high-street brands, anything from mid 80s to early 2000s tend to better quality and v. well made.

Edited to add that I update things with more current jewellery, shoes and other accessories. These tend to be new or purchased from resale sites. There's heaps of amazing stuff out there that can be bought with a click of a mouse, it's just a question of looking.

I'm size 14, 6 feet tall with 34 inch inside leg. I've shopped online for years as it's been my only option.
It's not just leg length that's a problem....sleeve length too. I don't wear dresses or skirts.
I went to the shops last week ( big city) and gave up after an hour.

I've been buying my own clothes since the 70s and I agree that there were some fabulous shops and that clothes were better made, but a) I often had to travel to get to them and b) I think it's easy to forget just how expensive those clothes used to be.

In 1980, when I first got a job where I needed smart clothes, I went round all the factory shops looking for M&S seconds because high street M&S was too expensive. And while we're talking about Next - they sold wonderful clothes when they first opened but again I could only afford sales or seconds. I tried to save up for a linen suit of theirs and it sold out before I had the money.

I used to go shopping most Saturdays but mostly just to look. Then I'd go home and work out how long I'd have to save up for what I wanted. I was in a professional job at this point, not earning a fortune but the pay was ok..

I think we'd get the shock of our lives if we went back to that.

And I'm afraid I don't have much time tor nostalgia about the early noughties high street. Yes it was wonderful - prices had come down but the quality hadn't started to tank - but those were not normal times, the prices weren't realistic and it was never going to last.

All shops are the same for quality , believe me.

I doubt I was directly referencing you, @FriendsDrinkBook - but I have to disagree (sorry!) with your statement quoted above. Again it’s just not true.

To be frank, although I am aware of them and have in the fairly distant past accompanied friends into the shops, I’ve never once bought anything from Reiss. Because I’ve never seen anything there that met my standards for quality. (The style was never quite to my taste either, but that’s not really relevant here.)

So, again - you’re looking in the wrong places.

And again - if someone on a thread asks opinions on an item from Reiss, and I give my negative opinion, or suggest somewhere else, I’ll be shouted down, or mocked, or ganged up on by the whole thread for my snobbery or whatever. It’s both depressing and comical.

(Regarding snobbery - I love a cheap thrill as much as anyone. I’ve found a top in Zara that I’m going to buy in every colour - because it will work perfectly to update all my beloved old skirts for this Spring. The skirts are from places like Raey @ Matches, Sofie D’Hoore, La Fetiche, Margaret Howell, Maison Margiela. I don’t think I paid full price for any of those (sales / pre-owned) and some are more than ten years old. Outstanding quality, still perfect, and I’ll be wearing them for years to come. The Zara tops, on the other hand, will inevitably become house wear once they lose their glossy newness in a few months. I won’t be disappointed with that - because I recognise the lower quality and know what to expect.)

Anyway - have a look at

Community Clothing

(There are gazillions of posts by a handful of posters on S&B almost pleading with you to try better quality sources. Even if pre-owned. Listen to them.)

Apologies @PoppyBaxter it was someone else who said they missed the high street. I can’t find it now of course. I’m a bit frazzled this morning!

@BeetledBrow fair enough. I just assumed because I mentioned the shop.

There does seem to be a lot of snobbery on here about what people wear and where they buy from.

I'm intrigued by community clothing. I saw a nice pair of trainers on their site a few months back. Perhaps their clothing is worth a try.