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?

Price is not a guarantee of quality and cotton has largely been replaced by synthetic fabrics( which make me itch)

That's not what I meant. I would say on the whole price and quality do correspond but many people aren't prepared to pay 70s, 80s, 90s prices properly indexed up.

@IHaveAlwaysLivedintheCastle The last thing i bought from Austin Reed was a cotton shirt - and it wasn't long before they disappeared from the high street. The fabric was fine but the stitching wasn't what I expected for the price. I was disappointed in it.

I dreamt of being able to afford beautifully made clothes and shoes.

i buy pre-loved, and the difference in quality between the old brands and the current ones is drastic. The ones you mentioned do come up and sell cheaply.

People (other than us maybe) aren't prepared to pay for quality clothes that will last.

Yes to spot cleaning not machine-wash. I've still got clothes from the 1990s (very tight around the waist these days). I don't tumble dry anything.

Buy wisely and look after it.

I don't have the time to hand wash more than the occasional item or the money to dry clean anything that isn't a coat or jacket.

I bought a shirt that I only realised after I'd worn it a few times that it was dry clean only. I hand washed it, it shrunk. Fortunately it was a very oversized style so it looks like a normal shirt on me now. But I will probably never wear it again because the faff of taking it to be dry cleaned is too much for an item in regular use.

I am getting more and more fed up with clothes. Anything with an interesting print or shape is in Viscose or Lenzing or Tencel - all of which make me sweat buckets. Think soggy back of next and soaking back. Yes. Really. Whenever I look on line and like the look of something - Hey presto! Viscose! What is even worse when it states the material is "breathable" but they won't tell you it is Viscose!

I am fed up traipsing around the shops, trying to look for the tag, which is invarably near the security tag so I look well dodgy! Or having to go through a number of tags (all in 'forrin' before I get to the English one that inevitably says Viscose.

I stick to t shirts mainly and joggers/leggings/jeans but even then I have to check if it contains viscose or not.

Also fed up looking for large cup bras which are normalyl put at ground level so I am on the bloody floor trying to heave myself up !.

I don't have the time to hand wash more than the occasional item or the money to dry clean anything that isn't a coat or jacket. Do you want a medal?
i just don't buy stuff that is dry clean only. I only wash things when needed, and only the most delicate of items are hand washed. Most things can be machine-washed on a cool cycle.

I worry about even using the cool delicates wash , especially when something is new, but it takes less than 5 minutes to gently handwash something. It takes more time to unload a full washing machine.

@Deathraystare , you can get a good idea of the composition from the feel of the fabric. I can't stand viscose, tencel or lyocell either. Recycled polyester is unpleasant.

@IHaveAlwaysLivedintheCastle , true. I guess I don't buy much that is delicate. Woollens are handwashed, as are dry-clean only items.
(WFH so usually dress for comfort - nobody can see my stretchy trousers as long as my head and shoulders are presentable.)

I feel your frustrations - I worked in Oasis in the late 90s and still have a pair of trousers from then that are in great condition (if at little bit tight!).

I manged to get a couple of great quality items when I was in Spain last week - have a look at Massimo Dutti and Benetton (still going strong on the continent!).

I buy mostly BNWT on Vinted and eBay if I want to get interesting or older pieces. I don't like things that are used as the actual condition is too variable and I'm fussy, but BNWT works out well for me. I do buy some new things but only within very, very limited parameters. The bonus of my strategy is that I have to be very selective about what to get, and I enjoy that intentional quality in the shopping.

(I also only buy 100% natural fabrics.)

No. What a weird response.

You selectively quoted and left out the part where I bought a dry clean only shirt in error. Odd.

Nah, don't feel like that. I can find everything I want easily and shop only online.

That said:

I'm typical model height and size/figure. Pretty much everything fits and I can readily see how it looks online as the majority of women modelling the clothes have the same body type - tall, long-legged, lean.

I hate pretty much all the so coveted 'natural fibres'. Cotton and linen is an instant no. They look good online, but like absolute shit as soon as you just glance at them in reality, creased to hell (my biggest hate), droopy, nasty. Much prefer viscose, tencel - pleasant to skin and I can wear it fine, don't 'sweat buckets' at all.

Polyester suits me just fine. Easy to care, never creases, always looks smooth and great. Yes, there's the cheapest flammable 'market stall satin shirts for a fiver' polyester, but there's certainly some decent one. I'm fine with it.

Silk is a no. I refuse to handwash or dry clean anything (except for coats/leathers), life's too short. Would I buy some pricey silk dress AND then keep on paying for cleaning it? Would I hell. I won't serve some dress, it has to serve ME.

I find quality to be fine as I don't chase some mysterious super-indestructible-leave-it-for-future generations quality. I do spend a lot on good pure wool or cashmere coats, biker jackets, bags, jewellery and I'm a shoe person, so have an ungodly amount of shoes of all sorts, good brands, leather, some very expensive. But I'd never pay a lot for jeans, tops, dresses (if it's an occasion, I'd rather rent) and certainly wouldn't pay something like 300 or similar for knitwear from the likes of Brora or similar, no sweater is worth this (unless it will cook me dinner), ridiculous.

I can mend and alter my clothes if needed. Fallen out buttons don't phase me.

So I don't find difficult to shop for clothes at all.

All these people who "haven't got time to handwash"!!!! You really must be doing it wrong, it takes no time at all. I handwash very few things myself, but when I do I am always surprised at how easy it is.

@CanOfMangoTango , not weird at all.
I check the label or details for care instructions before i buy it.
I go by judgement whether it actually needs dry cleaning or whether I can hand wash it.

You bought a dry clean only shirt in error. You handwashed it and it shrunk. It's annoying but it happens.

@BetterDeadThanRed It's definitely an advantage to have an easy to dress body. I'm not anywhere near as lucky as you with respect to "classic" model figure, but I am close to the typical fit model for higher end brands, and a bit above average height (while not being really tall). I definitely find my natural body to be advantageous, in that I can almost always buy clothes that fit me well. Not quite as easily as a true model! But far more straightforwardly than if having to tackle a challenging fit like being very petite, very big breasted, etc.

It's interesting that you find non natural fibres so convenient. I do have a lot of non natural fibre compression wear; it's the exception to my natural fibres rule! But I don't find them comfortable (physically) for everyday clothes.

@BetterDeadThanRed , most of that is true of me but I am also stunningly beautiful and modest.

Not really. I'm average height and slim-ish. Have no trouble buying clothes, as long as I stay away from brands that cut for a different shape.
Shoes are a different matter. I'm a standard size in most brands, but not all brands are standard size.

I don't find viscose sweaty, but to me there is something unpleasant about the feel of it.
Polyester can be fine, but the recycled stuff feels and looks weird.

Nothing fazes me much.

I'm short and plump. I don't have any difficulty finding clothes I love. See this thread.

www.mumsnet.com/talk/style_and_beauty/5287921-if-you-could-buy-anything-right-now?reply=142643440&utm_campaign=reply&utm_medium=share

And that's just my starter list.

I like wool, cotton, silk, viscose and linen but I'm not hung up about having to be only natural fibre. There's plenty of cheap, nasty cotton, linen and silk. Ganni, Erdem, Baum und Pferdgarten do fantastic stuff in polyester.

I totally agree OP. There's nothing in the shops to buy and I hate buying online as I've no idea if it will fit or the quality of the material. I'm going to Bangkok next month for a holiday and I'm going to do as much shopping as I can there as they have loads of malls and markets where I hope I can get some great pieces. I really miss the high street and it's alarming how quickly it's been decimated in this country.

Yes they used to be wonderful till about 2015.

I bought a couple of pairs of trousers recently and one pair is bobbling on material

I used to love Liz Claiborne. What happened to her stuff. I have seen it in the USA

I handwash bras

Would sweaters bobble less if they were handwashed?

Would sweaters bobble less if they were hand washed?

I couldn’t tell you, as I never put knitwear in the washing machine.

But I rarely have any bobbling - probably because I generally brush knitted clothes with my ancient clothes brush after wearing.

In between wears I air them, outside if possible, and then apply a few drops of tea tree oil before re-folding them. I keep meaning to order the spray @IHaveAlwaysLivedintheCastle mentioned on another thread - but I’ll probably just carry on shoving wrapped bars of soap into clothes drawers and cupboards.

@DuchessOfNarcissex

I can wear some polyester but some feels like shower curtain material!!!

Would sweaters bobble less if they were hand washed?

I rarely have any bobbling but I don't even handwash knitwear that often. It gets aired and when not worn folded up with moth protector. The likes of &Daughter, who certainly should know about knitwear, recommend handwashing once a year.

Would sweaters bobble less if they were hand washed? I only handwash them, but something has happened to the quality because they seem to bobble more these days.