Interested to see if there are ‘types’ of people around clothes

[AlertCat]

Just seen a lovely wardrobe with lots of similar items that the owner wears all the time.

I also know several people who always have the same haircut in terms of shape, if not a few inches longer or shorter.

i on the other hand struggle to stick to a haircut for more than a year, i will love an item of clothing and wear it all the time- for a while- but hesitate and very rarely get two or more of very similar items (unless by mistake, having forgotten I had one!). I have some constants, like jeans, but can vary wildly in ‘look’ from hippy to smart to sporty to preppy…

I am wondering if some people know what they like and what suits them, and they stick to that, while others either can’t commit to a particular look for any length of time or for other reasons are style chameleons? Is it deep enough to link to attachment styles or something? 😅

I’m that mum with three pairs of identical wide leg Tesco jeans, two pairs of almost identical denim shorts and some battered old t-shirts and the same haircut all millennium. A) awkward body shape makes most clothes not suit or not fit, B) I hate internet shopping due to A , C) no time to get to shops and there’s little suitable in there when I get there D) clothes are too expensive now and I can’t bear to replace old things with more expensive new clothes that I like less E) my hair does what it wants so why waste money fighting it.

With clothes I know what I like so I guess you can say I stick to that but what I like frequently changes. I go through phases of liking certain looks / styles / items / brands. I have ADHD so there’s always a new style love. And then it’s over. 😛 And there’s a new love. And so it goes on. I’ve been wearing a lot of Yacco Maricard shirts with Rew balloon/para trousers for work but that phase seems to be ending and now I’m wearing jewel coloured silk/linen bubble dresses from Grizas and Privatsachen instead. No idea what comes next but I’m itching for cold weather as I’m craving knitwear. I like to play with volume and colour. A friend describes me as flamboyant but I would describe him as very conservative so…😂 I do have a hefty addiction to Issey Miyake Pleats Please which started partly due to me travelling a lot and also hating ironing (but wanting to look presentable). I’m lucky that I live near a couple of good sample sale venues so have managed to get some stunning (but cheap!) items over the years.

I can’t really describe my style. I just see something I like and think YASSS!! It has to be good quality and I try as much as possible to buy British made and/or from independent designer-makers. I also buy a lot of preloved these days. I very rarely buy from the high street. I avoid Made in China and fast fashion like the plague. I’ve never set foot in a Primark. I have an extensive wardrobe collected over the years (hence the rule of buying good quality and looking after it) and tend to buy quite distinct pieces. Not necessarily a statement but I like things to have an edge or a subtle unusual detail. So I mix and match from my stash with bits of preloved and occasionally something new and somehow it all works.

Hair is much harder. I have fine blonde hair and it’s become very fragile as I’ve got older (partly due to stress and ill health) so now it’s just a constant battle to look presentable. But I also work in a conservative industry so fluorescent pink hair was never going to be an option anyway.

I’m defo a phases dresser if that’s a thing. So I go all out on a look I like - but loads of it (I tend to buy things in threes) and they wear nothing but that style for months on end til I get bored and start looking at another style. My core style has stayed the same since uni (I’m now 50) - so dungarees, floaty boho dresses, Levi’s, tight tops, docs, converse. Last year I started feeling like I should dress more mature so I bought all old money look that I saw on TikTok. Recently got bored of that and have started going more fitted and 50s/marilyn monroe styles (cos I have an hourglass figure and someone said it would suit me better). I’m autistic and adhd and I just think I go through these intense phases. I do the same with food too- like I’ll just eat muesli for ages, or pies. My latest craze is steak!
god I’m bonkers 😜

I’m going to be honest, and say I’ve never heard of any ginger brands you’ve mentioned, apart Primark! So no will have a halt ten minutes googling them , and window shopping.

Scrub like clothes (v neck, loose) with a tuxedo jacket or blazer is my comfort zone and shoe game is strong but always flat heels. Lots of black. My Blundstones fell apart after 7 years so I replaced them and got a pair of Frye engineer ankle boots too. Long hair, usually braided or done up with hair sticks. I wear Levi's and Uniqlo pants, Uniqlo has a really good fit for me. I knit so I wear hand knit sweaters and accessories and socks when it's cold. I carried a big tote for years because commuting and working 12 h nights, now a small bag that fits phone and lip balm and keys or no bag at all.

They sound quite expensive. Im may be 52 but I prefer clothes I can sit on the grass or climb a tree in!😁
Alot of the time I just get drawn in by a funky or unusual pattern (could never do the whole greige thing) and the question if wether it suits me doesnt really come up.
Def given up on the hair though. I hate hairdressers ( just the thught of a stranger with sharp implements near my neck....yeesh!) so I cut my own hair. Then dye it whatever colour semi permanent I feel like. I often throw in a headscarf or headband though coz its more pattern and colour for me!

Not sure where the ginger appeared from!

Off the top of my head the variables I’d use to categorise people’s approach to clothes (think of them as continuous, with a 1 to 5 scale) are:
Utility --- Passion (clothes as a necessity vs. clothes as a passion, hobby)
Uniform --- Variety (like to have lots of similar clothes vs. like variety)
Durable --- Disposable (short-term vs. long-term purchases)
Buy --- Make (enthusiastic seamstress vs. never pick up a needle)
Function --- Fashion (purchases to suit an occasion or fulfil a function vs. purchases motivated by trend)
Plain --- Colours and Patterns (limited colour palette, unpatterned vs. wide colour palette, prints and patterns)
Simple --- Elaborate (simple shapes and designs vs. intricate or unusual shapes and detailed designs)

Hmm … Exactly what sort of metal is your head made of, @Deschampsia? (And have you ever worn clothes ?) 😄

@Deschampsia yes!! Magazines should be publishing quizzes to tell you where you are on all these scales! Genius.

Apologies, @Floisme - thought I’d replied but hadn’t! A wide collared white shirt I missed last year - the fabric is so extraordinary I’m inclined to buy another; a grey dress (described on another thread as a sack!) with the same cut, slightly different cotton - much darker than the photos (and I don’t suit grey) but I think it will work well from now through September/ October, either alone or over trousers. A few more much reduced things from the Men’s and Homeware sections to give as presents.

I was a huge Laura Ashley fan too @IHaveAlwaysLivedintheCastle! My mum would go loads in the 90s and as a child I wanted a Saturday job there so I could wear the clothes! We also had lots of the wallpaper. I still love the style of it (even though it would never suit me!)

@AlertCat Quiz would be dead easy! What have you worn over the last seven days? What were the last seven items you bought and when, approximately, did you buy them? When did you last (a) make from scratch (b) alter (c) repair a garment? The analysis would require a bit of coding, but nothing very complicated.

I guess the fun bit would be dreaming up catchy names for the different types...

Not that knowing your clothes persona is going to help anyone shop more efficiently or compile a better wardrobe!

Thanks @Faineante I'd sworn to keep away from the final reductions but I think I'll have to go and look...

It's funny that I'm such a sucker now for that austere Margaret Howellesque look because as a teenager I was a fully signed up Laura Ashley milkmaid. I still have the dress I bought for my 18th - how it's survived all those house moves I don't know but I can't part with it now.

What that says about my style personality I dread to think other than that I'm definitely in the clothes-are-for-playing-dressing-up camp.

I remember going onto a ‘minimalist’ thread about ten years ago and realising I … wasn’t. And I probably don’t fit ‘austere’ either - but I get so much joy from really well made clothes. And right now I do not need flounces - they get in the way on buses and trains and would be cruelly squashed by tourists on my local streets.

(That Princess Di / Laura Ashley era really was incredibly lovely. 😻 You’re lucky to still have some of it!)

I'm male, so we've got less variety of what to wear anyway, but even with that, I have a standard uniform of jeans and a T-shirt that suits pretty much every occasion. I own a couple of pairs of shorts for when it's really warm, a couple of polo shirts for when I have to meet someone in work. A couple of nice shirts for date night, and a suit for weddings and funerals, but every single other occasion is jeans and a t-shirt, whether lounging around at home, in work, in the pub, whatever.

I'd actually quite like to branch out a bit, but I have absolutely no understanding of what looks good. I can try something on, look in the mirror, and just not have a clue. And then I just feel daft when I'm wearing it. So I just stick to old faithful, and likely will until the day I die.

I'm now having a sentimental Princess Diana moment. Regardless of what you might think of the Royal Family, she was always Team Dressing Up. I sometimes wonder whether she and Charles ever bonded, just a tiny bit, over clothes because, whatever you think of his style, he's clearly very particular about what he likes.

And my advice Vimes, is to get on with it. There are worse things in life than feeling daft. Do you really want to be lying on your deathbed wishing you'd branched out a bit?

I used to change hairstyles and colours dramatically and often but now I tend to stick with long, highlighted brown hair which suits my skin tone. As for clothes I think my style is confident: practical, comfortable but I hope with style, and fashion elements, and not afraid to add something a bit different every now and then. Not afraid of wearing almost any colour.

I tend to stick with similar shapes, colours and fabrics, but I enjoy a few new (to me) things each season.
I love denim, maxi/midi dresses and skirts, black/grey and stripes in natural fabrics. This summer though I’ve added in some wide gingham crop trousers, a new denim jacket and a couple of cropped T-shirts.
I like the whole big trouser/small top thing so I enjoy playing around with that silhouette.
I’ve lost a fair bit of weight this year though so I’m buying new things, mainly from Vinted, and enjoying upgrading to things that suit me and fit nicely.

I'm very much in the bring back the guillotine camp when it comes to the Royals, but I loved Diana (and she did almost bring The Firm down, after all). I agree that she and Charles probably did bond over dressing up, he does wear a good suit, though he's no Edward VIII. Diana was in another stratosphere.

My husband is 71. He hasn't worn jeans in at least 35 years. Most of his clothes are from here
https://frontiers-man.com/
and a few things from here
https://dicks-edinburgh.co.uk/

He has a large collection of long sleeved patterned cotton shirts and plain linen shirts [Charles Tyrwhitt are still good for that] He has cotton and linen suits, which he'd wear to a restaurant, opera, ballet etc and a 3 piece Walker Slater tweed suit, which he'll wear at every opportunity in winter. He'll also never pass by an opportunity to get into his (now 40 year old) dinner suit.

T-shirts are for layering under jumpers or for warmth under shirts.

He loves shoes, has Loak and Churches, Oxfords and brogues, canvas shoes for summer and heavier duty walking shoes and winter boots. His only pair of trainers are for the gym only.

Our son is 35. He stopped wearing jeans about 10 years ago. Everything he owns is from charity shops or Armstrongs of Edinburgh

Go for it Vimes- it doesn't have to be so limited !

Charles is a sartorial hero of my husband's

The Royal Family is ridiculous but we'd lose all those "we Brits do that sort of thing so well" occasions if we got rid of it. The Household Cavalry in full regalia is worth every penny.

I predicted the progression of this thread from the first post onwards

Did find the 'Kibbe is a pervert' amusing though!

My true and enduring style, mmm, let me see...dream or reality,....perhaps a fusion of both? 90's academic, flowing as opposed to swishing, Withnail and I with a skirt. Inspector Morse meets The Flowers. I too love my long tweed coat.

I do think our basic characteristics decide our look, and that it is somewhat less a perfect choice than we like to imagine.
For instance, I have long wavy hair, blonde. No fringe.
I have always loved styles that don't quit 'fit' me.

I can not wear all over baggy clothes, has to be slim fitting at least top or bottom. Current styles depress me so very much, everything is thin, badly designed and ugly.

I don't like the offerings or alternatives that pop up on these threads either. Usually $400+ architecturally dubious fever dreams IMHO.

If they'd just bring back some decent middle class clothes that don't require me to have it tailored within an inch of it's life or make me look like a broken umbrella that would be great. I am thinking of how characters often dressed, even casually, in PD James dramatisations, Helen Baxendale, Tara Fitzferald, loved those styles!

Middle class clothes?

Surely what distinguishes the middle class (historically, at least!) is that you can afford to buy clothes, unlike the poorer classes who had to make their own, and the upper classes who drifted about in couture. Having shop bought clothes tailored to fit by ‘a little seamstress’ (or in the 21st century your local alterations service) is absolutely the epitome of middle class dressing. 😂

Years ago I figured out what colours and styles suit me, and I stick to that. I love fashion, but it doesn't love me, especially with Big boobs! I tend to wear fitted clothes if possible, long dresses, straight legged trousers which balance out my top half. I wear warm colours, never black, pink, grey etc. I have each curly hair which I keep at shoulder length as it works. Only big difference is I've gone from brunette to blonde, due to going grey.

Also, when I got my colours done, years ago, they tell you what style archetype you are. I am a Romantic Ingenue. I interpreted that as a Medieval Elizabeth Taylor, which works for me! I don't suit masculine, casual clothes, and like soft, luxurious fabrics. I'm pretty happy with my style, it works for me!😁