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.

I agree with you OP. I was quite excited when a new v large H&M opened near me. But I’ve been in a couple of times and walked out after 10 mins. All the clothes were crumpled and drab looking on the hangers. Rail after rail of clothing without anything to distinguish them from the next rail of cheap tatty looking gear. M&S wasn’t any better really. None of the much vaunted cashmere in my local branch and no Autograph either. A small amount of thin merino knits in a dark corner but all the main display areas laid out with jumpers in ‘air yarn’ ie polyester. Ok they are cheap (£30 ish) but I think they would look tatty after one season so a false economy really. Polyester makes me overheat anyway so I’m not going to buy it for that reason. I would happily pay for a better quality but can’t find it on the high street. So I shopped on line and now have the nuisance of chasing refunds for the returns I’ve made.

@HundredMilesAnHour my local high street used to have a Laura Ashley (brilliant wool & Cotton), a Warehouse ( good for silk dresses) & a Monsoon ( lovely summer clothes). Now it's all Fat Face, SeaSalt & White Stuff, which are all too fussy & dated for me, even at 61. I agree H&M used to be good, but the quality this year is dreadful. Everything feels thin & cheap. The only decent thing they sell are the Muslin/cotton flannel pjs.
I can still pick up some decent items in M&S and I do agree the air yarn jumpers are rubbish. But I've picked up some cool 2-colour slouchy jeans after seeing the recent try on by Amanda Wakeley on You Tube recently. Though for some reason my small market town, not normally known for it's sartorial trendiness have featured these very jeans in a prominent position at the front of the shop display. So now everyone will know they're from M&S🤦🏼

Remember the 90s when we all wore at least one vest regardless of the rest of the outfit? Ive never recovered and feel naked without a vest. This is very handy with shorter jumpers!

I walked into Aberdeen H and M on Saturday, did one circuit then straight out again without even pausing to look at anything. Nothing but baggy bland stuff in colours I hate.

No point in going into the Inverness one next week as it will be the same old shit.

M&S is probably the only actual physical shop I’ve bought clothes from in the last decade. Purely because they used to have a smallish branch opposite my gym so on Sat morning after training, I’d pop into the food hall on my way home and that meant walking through the Ladies clothing section to get to the escalator down to the food hall. I was pleasantly surprised some days by the clothes on display and I’m still using two pairs of trousers (1 black, 1 red) that I bought there for work. Of course M&S then decided to close the branch a few years ago 🙄so that was the end of my clothes shopping in an actual physical shop.

I thought it was just me. I consider the current clothes for women in the shops to be oversized, baggy and pretty boring this year.

The lesson here is to escape dependence on the high street (and, incidentally, with it the habit of shopping just because you’re in town). Aside from the annual pilgrimage to M&S for new undies, I don’t think I’ve bought anything off the high street all year.