Is it just me or is high street fashion utterly boring right now?

[nicelongbath]

Went for a rare mooch on the high street this week and I don’t think I have ever seen such a dreary, uninspiring season of clothes.

Everywhere seems to have simple basics in muted colours - a sea of black, grey and beige. I barely saw a stripe, let alone any more interesting patterns. I counted one jumper in Zara that wasn’t sludge coloured. I got temporarily excited when I thought I’d spotted some colour but realised I’d wandered into the kids section (and even that was mostly dull). Also no interesting shapes or styles anywhere, everything felt very same-y.

I’ve never felt less inspired to buy anything in my life.

Try Joe Browns - their range is almost all colours!

I love new look at the moment, im too fat and skint to buy but if had money loads of things

My fav store Fatface is like this now since Next took over. A mix of selling just dull t-shits (instead of some more interesting, floaty tops) to crushed velvet dresses in dark grey, nasty. My god, it's like going to an 1980's market stall but paying expensive prices. There is nothing in the whole store that I'd buy, and I used to have to be careful I don't buy much. Quality down the pan now too.

I normally love the cozy knits that come out too, have a lovely bright orange one I bought a couple of years ago which makes me smile but now all the knits are inspiring, plain colours (chocolate brown, cream, black) and so short, come down to the top of hips. I never see the point in short winter jumpers because the small of my back gets cold. To be honest, it's all reflective of how I feel the UK is at the moment, depressing and lacking inspiration!

I definitely veer more towards colour and pattern, and I can’t remember a time where there’s been so little of that available in standard high street shops.

I think there are very few high street brands that have a distinctive enough identity in that you can just find the same stuff in different stores just at different price points. The only shop that I feel has a distinctive enough identity without thinking too hard about it is All Saints.

It’s nice to be able to have a bit of a bleat about it though, so thx for thread! 😃

....and yet I love hip-length jumpers as they skim my belly rather than cling. Worn with high-waisted trousers they'll do for me.

I'm loving the colours this autumn, especially the browns. I've bought some beautiful cord trousers and jumpers from Toast this year. Gorgeous scarves (silk and cotton) to go with them.

I too love the hip length jumpers. They look great, surprisingly, with barrel shaped cord trousers. I used to love a longer style jumper but that was when I was in to my skinny jeans.

I'm afraid my skinny jeans and leggings will be making a reappearance this year. I live wearing them tucked into boots in the colder weather.
No barrel or carrot legs for me.

As an autumn i'm really enjoying all the browns & burgundies & one of my favourite colours is sludge - Nutmeg, Cappuccino, Hazelnut, Olive. All Cashmere colours I have in my wardrobe. However I'm finding the quality of fabrics dreadful, even in expensive brands. I love 100% Cotton, Cashmere, Wool, silk. All of these are getting increasingly hard to source and are just not available any more on the average small town high street like mine.

I was sorting through some cashmere or cotton/cashmere jumpers for eBaying last night, as they're in very bright colours or too large, then I thought I won't be able to buy this sort of quality again & it will fetch peanuts on eBay. Plus oversized jumpers & colours will come back into style again. So I've packed them away with moth sachets to wear in the future. And I'm going to buy an elastic belt, so I can ruche up the oversized jumpers.

Disappointed you decided to store those brightly coloured cashmeres, I'd have snapped them up 😁

I don't have a single longer length jumper that is clingy? :-) And for me, jumpers are when it's cold. Don't want a cold back or belly, I want to feel cozy.

I have seen a LOT of people on here this autumn describing their purchases as ‘bitter chocolate brown’.

So you bought a brown cardigan then 🤣

It’s sooooo dreary.

You're right - the colours are there but in recent years it's been a very dulled, darkened version of them which is tricky if you're very pale like me. I live in hope of some colours coming back in that don't make me look ill or like a goth 🙂

I have felt this way for a few years but thought it was maybe because I was getting older and trends are coming back around. I go on about this but it's the homogeneity that depresses me. The high street shops all sell the same thing rather than having their own personal handwriting.

I want to buy some new things but haven't seen anything actually new

Burgundy, beige etc do not suit me so that doesn't help.

And where can I buy jumpers that don't look like shit after a few wears for under £100?

Have you tried somewhere like The Style Attic, they do lots of different coloured knitwear and it’s all usually under £40?

I like brown , more flattering on me than black .

In the summer all the trousers I looked at were ultra wide leg and ankle length / cropped ( hideous)
The skirts were hanging onto tiers from the previous summer . I don;t want tiered skirts , they look like your 4 yo has grown and you;ve added a bit to lengthen it .

Embrace the A/W colours I say , even it if is sludge !

I really like all the muted colours, beige, cream, tan, navy, olive green etc, and really don’t like stripes, pattern and colour, other than occasional burnt orange. I guess it is just different tastes, mine have always been the same, irrelevant of current fashion.

Loved By Da is also good for colour…

I agree OP. There are hardly any fitted clothes, no detail (nice stitching, buttons, embellishments, trim etc.) No nice colours or fabrics and hardly any natural fabrics. It’s all cheap nasty tat. No real leather jackets anymore, no cotton velvet, no….cotton even! When I think back to the 80’s and 90’s and how good (in the main) that high street clothes were I’m appalled at what there is to offer now. I saw a ‘leather’ jacket in H&M last week that was such a thin plastic it looked like a bin bag.
Apart from how awful clothing is now, why aren’t the retailers being held to account for where all the plastic will end up? It won’t degrade will it. All the talk of the climate and looking after the planet and retailers are allowed to churn out hundreds of tonnes of hideous plastic!
I use Vinted and occasionally buy something new but it’s usually a basic and only if I can find it in a natural fabric.

To be honest, I gave up on the high street years ago for all the reasons on this thread. I was a teen in the 80s so perhaps the high street of the 80s and 90s ‘ruined’ me as since then the journey has all been downhill at an increasingly fast pace. The quality and cut is appalling these days, and everything looks the same. A sea of sludgy polyester.

In the past I’ve bought quite a lot from sample sales and I do most of my shopping on Vinted these days. It works for me as I’ve always had champagne tastes on a prosecco budget 🙄and buy for quality and cut and then look after things and keep them for years ever. Being 55 now that means I have a pretty extensive wardrobe and no space to store it all so when I want to wear bright colours (which is often), I already have them and don’t have a dependency on the high street options.