Ladies of a certain age over here please

[RosaLuxembourg]

Where do you buy your clothes?
I am 44 and I don't know where I am supposed to shop these days. I don't have a huge budget but I think I have outgrown 'disposable fashion'.
I like Boden, Kew, White Stuff, Principles but can't always afford them, apart from sales.
I live in a small town with limited shopping opportunities so need to do mail order mostly.
I think I'm in a style rut, as evidenced by yesterday's panic buy summer clothes thread and I need a bit of shaking up.
There must be more people like me on Mumsnet, how do you all keep from dwindling into dowdy fleece-ridden middle age?

Rosa, shhh don't tell anyone but I have recently discovered Bon Marche as a source of rather nice clothes.

I have a neat summer jacket with a nehru collar, and a few ruffled/crinkle tops from there.

I don't do mail order, so no help there.

A lot of the stuff is real 'old lady stylee', y'know, beige beige beige, but there are a few gems if you can ignore the grannywear.

Shhhhh

i think jigsaw has a few rather nice pieces this season. also saw a couple of nice things in esprit this morning (though many were for Young Things )

Bundle, I was just going to say I have recently discovered Esprit too!

I'm another 44 year old who is a bit stuck (and on a budget)

Bon Marche?

Really BALD? Thats nice for you

I'm only a few years behind you Rosa and I go to Jigsaw, Monsoon, White Stuff. Also M&S Per Una...?

I've been saying this to my friends for years - I am 42 and love fashionable clothes. I have given up with New Look, oasis, Warehouse etc. and have bought some lovely clothes from Mexx and Esprit. The clothes fit well and are not just in bland colours.

Am (hush) 46 and have recently discovered White Stuff. Some of my friends are keen on Hobbs but I think they're quite expensive if you don't have a FT salary to draw on, ditto Jigsaw. I've long had a soft spot for Boden but it's a bit pricey for me and too many of the trousers are low-slung (the stomach area of a woman who had a c-section at 40 is not, I think, something which should be put on public view).

I too am in a style rut and need an overhaul before I succumb to the siren call of the beige fleece. I've recently been mooching around department stores where at least you get a lot of labels under one roof - my best recent finds have been John Rocha at Debenhams - but I will now venture into Bon Marche.

Thanks for the tip!

My SIL is 47 and always looks fabulous

she'll team new look jeans with a cashmere jumper and a fab belt

Surely you can mix and match?

(I know, Mama, I am so ashamed)

(but the jacket is very neat, all darts and seams, very fitted and looks rather stylish)

(and was only £20)

[head in hands]

oh yes the labels at debenhams v good. have some black trousers by betty jackson (about £40) and her coats looked nice last season but i didn't need one.

It's OK, BALD - I suspect it's a bit like Land's End - mostly old lady-ish stuff, but the coats can be great. You obviously have a good eye to be able to pick out the gold from the dross .

Does that feel better now...?

Cor, thanks, Jackie

Don't start me on jeans, MamaG. I don't know when I last found a pair that fit me properly. I must be a funny shape.
Yes, you can mix and match but I find I now want stuff that wears well and has longevity rather than stuff that falls apart after half a dozen washes.

Mmmm ..... bought lovely Betty Jackson jacket in the sale. As a colleague of mine used to say, it was so cheap it would have been rude not to buy it!

only yesterday I decided to stop schlepping through the cheap and un-tailored clothes stores and go for the labels in the department stores.

I need tailoring and structure even in casual stuff

i also noticed that WOACA look chic by accessorising well so now try and buy a set of accessories to go with each new item.
I say always, I mean the 4 times a year I go shopping and spend more than a hundred bucks.

I generally shop online during sales and have found some lovely bargains at Principles and Monsoon, and M&S. I very rarely pay full price and always wait for the sales.

Yes I've gone department store too - first floor not second floor (I'm not wearing Jacques Vert just yet). House of Fraser is good and I often buy Linea and Hobbs in there (Hobbs shoes I love - they are in my top ten things in life -the clothes are a bit navy linen for me).

And one or two of my all time fave things are from Principles - weird because it also has a lot of awful stuff.

Always look at Designers at Debenhams and M&S usually Limited Collection.

Banana Republic on Regent St is not bad but no good if you're not within reach of London.

Jacques Vert! The very thought!

How about Alexon?

Does anyone else feel it's unfair that the shops which suit us LOACA best are the more expensive ones

Monsoon - particularly in the sales.

Grapefruit Moon -

Yes, definitely but I guess it's just economics. At our (well, my) age we need more structure and tailoring, more fabric for taste and decency (farewell to the spagahetti strap), linings for the avoidance of VPL etc. and none of that comes cheap.

Great reminder about Monsoon sales. I do love a sequin and bit of embroidery. Their sale shop at Bicester shopping village often looks like a riot has recently passed through but has some fabulous bargains.

I went to a personal shopper at John Lewis last year which was great because she had loads of labels to choose from. So I got some Phase eight stuff, some Red Herring, some Kaliko, can't remember what else, sorry, but it was good overall. It's free to go and you choose what you're going to buy.

I don't know the answer either, sadly. When I am thinner I want to shop in Paul Smith (women, obv) and then I will go back to the personal shopper at John Lewis again in the hope of a decent capsule wardrobe. It doesn't help that I HATE shopping, always have.

I am currently wearing a mix of some Boden, some Debenhams online, which produced a nice Pierce Fonda skirt, here which I know I will wear a bit (I know, I look like a Greek Widow half the time), a Planet skirt, some M&S cardigans, some Monsoon tops. It's hard isn't it? Sympathy.

Do you mean the white company ... or white stuff ??

Never heard of that if thats the case.. off to google.

Me. I'm a Principles, M&S ltd TKMax kind of girl lady

uniqlo had some nice 3/4 length sleeve cardis in sale yesterday, none the right colour for me tho