High street fashion is so awful at the moment?

[Moonlightfrog]

Just been into town. Went to Primark, M&S and Next. I am after a winter dress, but primark had no dresses at all, Next only had 2 casual type dresses (both denim shirt type dress), M&S was all brown and beige and over priced.
I don’t have a huge amount of money to spend on clothes, I have gained a little weight (thanks menopause) and my trousers are a little uncomfortable so I wanted a dress that I could layer and wear with tights and boots as it gets cooler, possibly needle cord in a plain colour. I was hoping to grab something in town whilst shopping with dd but the clothes in the shops are just disappointing.

Are there any good online shops with high street prices?

Before anyone suggests vinted, I have been looking but can’t really find what I am looking for…..I’m not even sure I know what I am looking for.

Quite a few here also @Moonlightfrog

https://www.johnlewis.com/search/women/midi/_/N-53f3Z1z0q18a?search-term=Corduroy%20dress

And everything is advertised as "polished" or "a great layering piece" even when it is clearly neither of those things, especially that awful M&S cardigan with the collar that looks like a dead cat.

M&S

https://www.marksandspencer.com/l/women/dresses/midi-dresses?filter=Colour%253DBeige%257CBlue%257CCream%257CGreen%257CGrey%257CMulti-coloured%257COrange%257CPink%257CPurple%257CRed%257CWhite%257CYellow%7ESleeve%2520Length%253DLong%2520sleeve

I like this:

https://www.marksandspencer.com/cord-blouson-sleeve-midi-shirt-dress/p/clp23097559#intid=pid_pg2pip48g2r8c2%7Cprodflag_Online%20Only

And corduroy especially in brown is a 70s abomination that should never have come round again. I was there the first time round and even then it was considered to be dodgy.

It’s the dress lengths that drive me batty. I’m not that tall and it’s all midi (which is too long for me) or mini (too short). I want knee length and slightly fitted. Don’t like the sack look on me , it’s no good with boobs.

Apparently brown is the new black. Its everywhere atm.

It depends. I’m in my 70s and dress similarly to my daughter (and granddaughters) with some minor tweaks. We shop in many of the same places.

The absolute worst photo I have of me is wearing a brown corduroy pinafore dress over an orange roll neck jumper. 1970. There are many identical such dresses in the shops right now. (The jumper was actually quite nice.)

Nobody's child have a lot of needle cord dresses and a few on sale at the moment

I had the same problem this summer with skirts. Everything was either dresses or trousers, I couldn't find a decent summer skirt for love nor money. I've been pleasantly surprised with Primark's winter range so far. Not normally a place I'd shop because lots of it is absolute tat, but I've bought several lovely base layers, jumpers and cardigans etc and they seem to be lovely quality for the money, although I've yet to do the wash test so time will tell.

I'm going back for some lovely grey flannel barrel leg trousers I saw but they didn't have my size.

Next is always dire. M&S goes in peaks and absolute troughs these days.

I had an email about Tu having a 20% off promotion at the moment, for those who like their clothes. Might be worth a browse.

I did buy a short sleeved jumper in primark for £10 which I am wearing now, for £10 I am pretty impressed, though I haven’t washed it yet. The rest of the shop was disapointing but our local primark isn’t very big. Just seemed odd that there were no dresses, just lots of jeans and jumpers.

This is exactly how I feel. I do like Disturbia and used to like Joe Browns but it’s the same kind of thing every year.

I have a picture in my head of what I want. Ideally a needle cord dress but with shorter or half length sleeves so I can layer…knee length (which is impossible when I am 5ft 3) that I can wear with tights and boots…..oh and in a plain ish colour, fine with earthy colours even though everyone’s moaning about them 🤣.

I just realised I has another box of clothes in storage which contain some Hush needle cord dungaree that I had forgotten about. I am outdoors a lot and I find the cold so needlecord is a little bit warmer without wearing wool/knitted dresses which make me itch.

Have to say I quite like all the darker shades myself coming into autumn/winter after wearing a lot of pastel shades and white in summer. 1970s colours remind me of being a little kid. When I was desperate to get out of brown and green and into as much pink as possible! But not so now, I like wearing both palettes.

Joe Browns gets a bit too ditzy for me very quickly. But I do like some of their stuff. I have their lilac cord jacket after looking at it for ages.

Used to love Oliver Bonas but it has gone very boxy tops and cropped flares this year, have been rather disappointed. They have a couple of nice shirts in at the moment but I just ordered something practically the same for a fraction of the price in the Uniqlo sale instead.

It currently have 20% off.

That should say Tu have 20% off 🙄

This is where I miss brands like Joanie.

I sympathise with the sentiment but not the specifics OP, as I have to say I am like you most years with this year being the first exception in a really long time!

I am 30 and like dressing in nice, not-too-edgy but flattering clothes that have some sort of shape/angle to them, and I probably tend towards the younger age range in terms of styling so for years I have felt like there was absolutely nothing on the high street for my tastes, but this is the first time in ages I did a proper Zara shop and was mostly pleasantly surprised - jackets and outfits with actual shape to them and angles, the colour palette really suits me this year for once, and I am not a fan of barrel jeans normally but even found a pair in my size that was surprisingly flattering. A lot of similar stuff in H&M too which I love.

One thing that I did find though, when I was a recent grad/early on in my career I remember Zara was at the higher end of what I could afford and their pieces were of a much higher quality. The prices haven’t gone down but while design/shape wise the clothes I bought are great and flattering, they feel so cheap and plasticky in my hands andike they are about to disintegrate? Very odd and a bit disappointing!

Damart has some stuff that is OK as does Cotton Traders, Bon Marche, Peacocks, M&Co etc.

Agreed - I live in a big city and near another two and even there you can’t ’go shopping’ and come back with bags of swag. I have to look online, have it delivered / do click and collect and try it on in the changing rooms on the way home from work etc. You can’t find the full range of sizes on the shop floor, even in flagship branches - I also live/work near two of the biggest M&Ses in the UK and their stock is poor too!

Re cord dresses, Tu have had good ones the last three Autumns. I second Debenhams also and Vinted but this can be hit and miss, as there seems to be more misrepresentation on there than there once was re sizes and descriptions. It is frustrating - like you, I want to see the product on the rail and try it on, as there are so many fabrics that are not your friend when you hit a certain age and state of hormones and you can’t predict it necessarily from the online product details in advance, unless it’s majority polyester. However, going into city centres and braving car parks and crowds is not for the faint-hearted so I put up with the faff of ordering and returning rather than disappointing, futile trips which stress me out.

Ooh, yes, I forgot to mention Debenhams in my posts, PLEASE if any of you are going to order anything from there, for the love of God read reviews.. they are SHOCKING.

I saw a really nice jumper the other day (can't remember which shop), it wasn't cheap, about £60. 100% polyester. They are having a laugh.

I'm a lifelong, seasoned shopper and defender of 'real shops'. Even so, I visited a big city high street recently and gave up after two large stores. I was quite shocked but I think it was a mixture of fatigue (I hadn't been well and I'm not getting any younger) plus boredom, not so much with the clothes themselves but the way they were laid out, the streamed music etc etc. Everything was so bland you could barely tell one store from another.

And yet, if you drop me off at a large vintage fair or somewhere that still has good charity and independent shops with a personality, then I'll keep going for hours.

I know I keep saying this and I know some posters have very busy lives and little time to themselves, but there are still alternatives to the high street chains and, if we don't use them, we're going to lose even more of them than we have already.

Seasalt?