ME+EM Swooning

[Tummytroublesagain1]

Currently swooning over most things in ME+EM. Why oh why does it have to be so nice but soooo expensive

ive been to the store in Manchester and do have a couple of items but I could literally buy so much more if only I could afford it

does anyone have any cheaper alternative that are just a gorgeous?

sometimes I can like a brand but still not feel quite like 'me' in it, and I put Me and Em in that category

Me + Em for me is the David Bowie of clothes brands. Objectively they are both very good. I can see that and understand why people like them. I'd happily listen to a Bowie album if someone wanted to play it and if an airline lost all my luggage I'd happily clothe myself if Me + Em were the immediate option.

But I'd never choose to listen to Bowie and other than the 2 blouses I bought for very specific reasons to go with clothes I already own I can't see me buying anything else.

I can appreciate the style and content of Bowie and Me + Em, but they're just not me.

I think that’s fair, we all have different personal styles, an example will be people on here used to really like Joanie, or others like those sort of bombshell dresses with the big skirts, but it’s absolutely not for me. I like clothes with very clean lines, I don’t like anything fussy or a lot of pattern. I want current, but not high fashion.

I think I just reached an age, where quality fabrics and tailoring, clothes that fit my body, that are streamlined, and have a clean line, are current, and multi functional, is where I am at.

this is their target demographic and I fall into it. Others will fall into other demographics.

I don’t like being reminded about Angela Rayner’s foray into green statement dressing.

I'm not in that demographic but I'm still surprised it doesn't attract me more. I've just been looking at their website again and I liked at least 75% of it but there was nothing I felt I had to have and, now I've closed the page, I can't remember a single item.

None of that's a criticism, it's just interesting.

Jigsaw, Boden (yuck), whistles

I don't get the Boden hatred. I've never really loved Boden but they did some things well.
Loved Jigsaw when they first opened a shop in my area now don't bother going in very often.
Never really been impressed by Whistles but I think the only shop I've been to was in Bicester.

I have no need for the types of clothes on me+em. I work from home and my social life is very casual. It's the kind of place I'd look for an occasion dress- a special wedding or some more formal dinner.

I guess I'm struggling to imagine where most women would wear their dresses - not work, unless high flying Execs in the City maybe, or very much in the public eye. (I know the PM's wife is a fan of theirs.)

The dresses are extremely long and anything I bought would need altering.

I could afford £250 for a dress but it would have to be for something special or I'd need to get a lot of wear out of it.
My lifestyle isn't in that category.

Interested in those who do buy it and how / where you wear it?

Same here, @LadyLovesShallots.

The things I've seen would need shortening, and i know I would probably not get round to it.

@LadyLovesShallotsI have lots of Me and Em dresses but the majority of clothes I buy from there are casual or smart/casual.
For example today in work (I work in the NHS) I’m wearing one of their black wool v neck tank tops over a white long sleeve t shirt from Uniqlo and black trousers from Marks and trainers.
I buy a cheesecloth maxi dress every year for summer holidays.
I have so many blouses I’ve lost count and wear these with jeans when I’m shopping or meeting friends for lunch. And have lots of their wool tanks that I can dress up over a white blouse/shirt.
I have a few cashmere short sleeved t shirts that I wear to work and have worn to death and still no bobbling!
I have a silk black halter neck with a big pussy now neck tie that I wear with black jeans for the pub or dinners with friends.
80% of everything I buy though is their gorgeous blouses that wash and wear so well. I wear these with jeans or wide leg trousers and love them.

@LadyLovesShallotsI wear a lot of Me and Em. To answer your question I am in my late fifties and in a part time professional role. I spend a lot of time gadding about with friends in a great city on days off. Kids are grown and I now have time and money to myself after years of full time grind / child rearing.

I am quite artistic and have a strong concept of my own personal style. I love clothes, am extremely interested in fashion psychology and love people watching in cities.

I am slightly overweight (14/16) and so well-cut clothes make a huge difference to how I look.

I wear Me and Em silk cotton tops to work and for city gadding. I have brown and black leather jackets which I wear out of work. I wear a range of their belts both in work and out. I don’t wear lots of dresses but have a few from Me and Em which I wear for smart casual. I’ve bought the brown and white cheesecloth dress and I will wear it loads over Summer, smart casual and more casual. It is cut beautifully and when I put it on I had a hell yes moment.

I completely agree with their ‘intelligent design’ slogan. Fabrics are brilliant, cuts are excellent, garments wash brilliantly, their things mix and match beautifully.

However, I am not slavish in this adoration. I choose items judiciously to suit my body, style and lifestyle. Some items are hideous on me and I would never purchase. I love certain other high quality brands too.

Yes, the cost is eye watering. But I wear and wear the items for years, only buy a limited number of pieces a year, sell on items that I find I don’t enjoy or reach for.

@LadyLovesShallots my lifestyle also isn’t particularly in that category and I do not wear dresses very often. However, I am wearing one of their dresses next Tuesday to do a presentation at the AGM of a charity I’m a trustee of. I am also little and had to get it taken up a couple of inches. However, it is a really nice feeling to be able to wear a dress that makes you feel confident, professional and stylish when being looked at by lots of people, which this dress does for me.

My social life is also pretty casual, and people rarely seem to dress up to do anything nowadays, even something quite special. However, I find that Me and Em tops are great for this. I often wear their silk and cotton blouses with jeans for going to the theatre, concerts or to lunch and dinners with friends. It’s not that my clothes look more overdressed than if they were from Next or somewhere like that, but the cut and fabrics are just much better quality. Their cashmere knitwear is very good for casual dressing.

By the way, I’m not a Me and Em superfan. Actually, I do not really like their trousers and I find a lot of their colours, prints and fabrics too harsh for my wafty style.

I just find it all too ‘nice’.

I acknowledge it’s not as ‘designed to be ingratiating’ as some High St brands - all those limp, tiered, thin fabric frocks that render a grown woman visually ‘totally harmless’ - but I just couldn’t be that person. Even while knowing that Me and Em women have probably succeeded in every area of life way beyond anything I can ever now hope for.

Have you maybe confused them with another brand, I don’t recognise your description, link to their dresses below, I just can’t see lots of limp tiered thin fabric frocks made to make a woman look harmless. It’s an odd description.

https://www.meandem.com/dresses?page=2

@Notsosweetcaroline , your post doesn't quite read right, but I think that you might have read the opposite of what @ScoutOfTheSoftHeartsClub was trying to say.

I read her post as Me+Em don't do limp, tiered, thin fabric frocks.

Indeed! 😄

Apologies if my sentence structure was unclear.

Yes still struggling with it, 😂

I guess I'm struggling to imagine where most women would wear their dresses - not work, unless high flying Execs in the City maybe, or very much in the public eye. (I know the PM's wife is a fan of theirs.)

I'm a solicitor in non legal aid private practice. I'd wear them to the office if they spoke to me more and I'm there are colleagues who wear them or similar. We are not high flying Execs or in the public eye.

I'm also a member of a private members club and am often there for Saturday lunch or evening arts/ music events and they'd fit there as well.

I wouldn't have a problem finding occasions to wear them, but they wouldn't make me want to skip through to the communal dining area in the office going "look at me,look at me, look at me" - which is an essential requirement for anything I buy.

Obviously that's only in my head and I don't do that in reality but clothes should make me feel I want to.

It’s a hierarchy (in my head) @Notsosweetcaroline

At the bottom: cheap / midrange ingratiating High St designs. All meant to make women look either unthreatening or ‘available’.

Middle: Me and Em pretty colours but slightly fiercer cuts. Clothes for women who get to be on the board because The Men see the pretty dresses and think the clever - but nice - ladies won’t cause too much trouble.

Top: (in my head, you don’t have to agree!) Original Jil Sander, current Margaret Howell, Rohe, Toteme, etc. Plain or difficult shapes. Nothing pretty whatsoever. Nothing ‘nice’.

I repeat - that’s my perception of the clothes. I’m not saying everyone who wears them fits my entirely superficial descriptions.

Middle: Me and Em pretty colours but slightly fiercer cuts. Clothes for women who get to be on the board because The Men see the pretty dresses and think the clever - but nice - ladies won’t cause too much trouble.

Wow. Incredibly out of date ideas.

I don't see many pretty dresses except a couple of summery ones that shout' mother of bride/ groom, wedding guest wear' or Ascot.

Most are plain, quite severe, dark colours, tailored.

To me they all look like ‘pretty dresses’.

Sorry.

I think it comes down to taste. I could wear some of their tops and accessories but the dresses would need 30cm chopping off the length.
I eat in nice places occasionally (Savoy) but most women are smart casual and anyone overdressed looks out of place. IMO.

I find this quite misogynistic.

I think our definition of pretty dresses is different.

I'd say a 'pretty dress' was something like Ellie Eco Cape Sleeve Tea Dress Graphite Grey Multi Floral Print | French Connection UK

@NotsosweetCaroline,and I dislike clothes designed to make me look harmless (in the workplace) to men.

I think the issue with their dresses is too many are sleeveless (I need sleeves for my arms), too many high necks, too long, too much black and quite heavy fabrics for summer. The other styles (dare I say it) can be found with other brands even the dreaded Boden, Jigsaw, Whistles, maybe Sandro, etc.

There are a few nice pretty summer dresses but the models are very tall and can carry off the big prints.

So do I and a bit out of date.