Seasalt? Yay or nay?

[TheAmusedQuail]

Since I now work exclusively from home, I've gradually drifted (plummeted) from smart work dress everyday to living in leggings.

I'm not ancient, but not a bright young thing either.

I've been looking for some dresses that are comfy for daily wear but also look a bit nicer than the leggings sweater combo I've sunk into.

I've come across Seasalt and have seen a few dresses on there that I like BUT I'm worried they're a bit grannyish. I genuinely can't tell what's OK anymore.

Are Seasalt generally for the older woman? I'd shop elsewhere if the stuff was in my price bracket, but Next et al don't have a lot that I've liked recently.

You could argue that Seasalt dresses are primarily aimed at the older woman and, on the whole, with a few exceptions, I probably wouldn't disagree. My 80 year old neighbour wears a Seasalt Veronica dress and looks fabulous in it. But I don't see the logic in judging the entire brand on that criteria, when a lot of their basics are completely ageless and timeless and are far better quality than the ones from m&s. It's almost a mental block with people here that they won't look beyond the print dresses and the Janelle coat to see the beautiful slubby easel t shirts or the merino and lambswool knits, just because Seasalt to them equates to brightly printed "old lady" dresses and nothing more.

It's almost a mental block with people here that they won't look beyond the print dresses and the Janelle coat to see the beautiful slubby easel t shirts or the merino and lambswool knits, just because Seasalt to them equates to brightly printed "old lady" dresses and nothing more.

God, yes!

It's the same with footwear, especially trainers. The fashion police love to sneer at Skechers. Yes, many styles are awful, yet many look the same as the popular brands that the oh so fashionable wear. If you removed the logo from them no-one would know what brand you were wearing.

Seasalt are not better quality than M&S. I find M&S have totally upped their game and for basics, are better. Their Goodmove range has perfectly good basic garments for all weather conditions. I think Seasalt tend to have patterns and Breton tops. Not sure how many Breton tops anyone needs!

I wear the Seasalt Easel long sleeved t-shirts, which by the way are solid colour, i.e. plain, with no stripes (which perfectly proves the point that you're dissing a brand you haven't even looked at) almost every day, I have them in about a dozen beautiful, muted colours. I also have some m&s plain long sleeved tees and the Seasalt ones are far superior, much softer, organic cotton, less harsh in colour and a more flattering shape, on me at least.
Seasalt have always done plain t-shirts in addition to the striped Sailor tops and various prints. I've been buying their plain tops for years. I'm not a great fan of prints and I tend not to wear black, white or primary colours. If you're happy with m&s then fine, you stick with those, but there's far more to Seasalt than Breton stripes.

I have a fair amount of Seasalt in my wardrobe. I like their coats a lot - properly waterproof. I also like their cotton knitwear, I can’t wear wool and it’s hard to find good quality cotton. Things I’ve bought over the years are mostly dresses, coats and jumpers.

However I have found that it’s more miss than hit for me these days - I don’t like the prints they’ve done of late. I did pick up a lovely dress there yesterday though.

Completely agree with you about those Easel long sleeved tops! I don’t know how they do it but they fit and flatter so much better than an M&S cotton, long sleeved top which bunched up everywhere and felt horrible. I really love the Seasalt colour palettes and find there’s always something for everyone. I love their knitwear, jeans, scarves, corduroy trousers. The quality of the fabrics is what I’m after. I keep the clothes year after year because they continue to suit me, and that’s what I want. Cornwall is my home and I personally find the colours, shapes and artistic patterns to be exactly what I want and a reflection of this beautiful county. My only gripe is that I can’t really afford it, so I buy what I can in the sales or secondhand. I love their wide, soft denim jeans and full skirts that catch the wind.

@CoubousAndTourmaIet I’m happy with the new offerings from M&S and they are better value for many items as well as significantly more fashionable.

I absolutely do know Seasalt and buy from them every year. I don’t think they would say they are fashionable and I like clothes that aren’t a uniform. I always recognise a Seasalt outfit and yes, ok, some long sleeve t shirts are ok but it’s a very mumsy brand and that’s their usp, so fine. They don’t do clothes of the quality of Poetry or Toast but stick to the country/coastal look for people who don’t like fashion. I’m probably much older than you and I like cashmere and stylish jeans. Seasalt isn’t going to supply those or silk tops. Good socks and a few other pieces and I’ve got their linen jackets and probably 3 or 4 of their coats plus several long sleeve tops, Larissa shirts, several summer dresses in linen and cotton and a couple of sweatshirt type offerings. So over the years I’ve spent a bit but I’m not a huge fan overall and buy sparingly.

Yes I like those and the ribbed tops are really nice as well

Yes I know. But I thought they would use their local branch rather than buy online probably should have explained better.

You sound lovely CCT! That’s made me laugh saying you look like you’ve been ‘wallpapered’ 😂

Seasalt's eBay store is really good value.

It’s defintely the cuts and the prints. The cuts are very dated. Current fashions are boxy, often slightly cropped and round neck. A 3/4 sleeve more tailored boat neck just doesn’t work if you want to look current especially if it’s in something like a teal or bright pink. The dresses finish at just the wrong length and don’t drape properly. I have a personal aversion to prints apart from maybe a thin strip or a small check as I think they make clothes look cheap. I can see that sea salt has its place but you can’t convince me it’s fashion rather than function

I hate 3/4 length sleeves. I have a dress with them at the moment that I have been complimented on (not Seasalt) but I keep thinking of taking it to a seamstress to change the sleeves.

They are frumpy. Trust your instincts.

They are frumpy. Trust your instincts.

I think the word frumpy needs to be deleted from the Engish language.

Indeed. Plant Hunter coat for £32 including postage was my bargain of the year from there. Wore it on our morning dog walk today and the hood stayed up even with my massive coil of hair inside.

I like the eBay outlet but it’s hard to search in your size or am I missing something

From the main Ebay Seasalt store front it is difficult to search through everything by size, yes. You can search by size if you separate into item categories though. For example type the word dress into the Seasalt Ebay outlet search box, it then shows all the dresses and you can filter them by size.

@RampantIvy Why? It’s clear and concise. A good word! Solid and dependable clothes but not fashion. Ploughing its own furrow and doesn’t change. Instantly recognizable. Not cheap either but definitely frumpy. But occasionally being frumpy isn’t bad!

A lot of my wardrobe is Seasalt or White Stuff so maybe I’m frumpy! But I like the quality, some of the prints (not all), knitwear and dresses. I tend to combine with big chunky black boots and vintage pieces I’ve picked up along the way. I think it’s what you wear from there and how you wear it, along with jewellery, hair etc. Agree, it’s not particularly a city look or trying to be cutting edge high fashion, just classic outfits. I admit I’m in my 50s and have no interest in what’s the absolute latest fashion, but I’m hoping I look more eccentric older art teacher than granny on the school run but I could be wrong! 😂

I don't think there is a city look.now unless you mean city of London(corporate)

I quite like some of the knitwear but I always size up at least twice because otherwise it doesn't hang the way I want it too. I agree with previous posters that there's something 'off' about the cut of a lot of their stuff, especially their trousers. I really with they'd sign up a decent pattern cutter.

Totally agree with this - personally I’m beyond ‘is it fashionable’ to does it fit/flatter, wash well, last!! And I find too a lot of fashionable stuff is aimed at you being 5ft 7 plus and pretty skinny - nothing wrong with that but doesn’t look right on 5ft 4 and 12 stone odd and I love Skechers!

Yes I suppose I mean corporate city office type dress code. Sophisticated city wine bar after work type clothes. Saying that I’d always wear what I’m comfortable in rather than try to conform to what was expected and places are generally a lot less formal than they were 30+ years ago