Clothes shopping getting harder

All you ladies lucky enough to have an M&S or John Lewis ……my town ( county towny!) has Peacocks …Primark…. New Look….that’s it.

Meant to add putting size and brand in was meant to say on vinted site

I think White Stuff is so called because the founders needed to fund their love of skiing.

Roman almost all the time, we are lucky as we have a store about 6 miles away so don’t always need to shop on line

I meant to add, I usually read reviews where possible as this gives a good clue as to whether the item will be suitable for me or not.

I've been increasingly shopping online, from companies that I know well, so know their sizing but still sometimes order 2 sizes to try. My go to online stores are M&S, Next (I can collect from these 2) John Lewis, Boden, Joules, Monsoon and Seasalt. Online there is usually more availability than in an actual store...if you can find an actual store!

I got fed up trawling shops and. finding very little or expensive i prefer charity shops and have bought some lovely summer clothes just put your size in and shop some great bargains from higher end brands

Marydoll

I have lots of White Stuff clothing, true to size ( and I am rather round! 🤣).
It is my favourite retailer, but I only buy in sales or from the
Otrium outlet

I'm with you, Marydoll. White Stuff was first recommended to me by my daughter, otherwise I would never have looked. I just do not understand why a shop full of coloured clothes would call itself White Stuff!

Sadly my nearest branch has closed down, so I tend to buy online, and like you, wait for the sales as , for an OAP, they're not cheap. But they're very good quality and true to size.
Never heard of the "Otrium outlet" so now I'm off to Google that!!

I agree with the people who say there's not much that's nice to buy. I like natural fibers like cotton and expect things to last - a t-shirt should last weekly washes for at least a season and still be ok to wear. Increasingly this isn't the case. The shop I used to go to for good quality plain basics, particularly underwear, was M and S but now I find their limited range of good stuff is sold out both on line and in store. I often wonder who actually pays good money for all the overpriced tat I see when I go shopping. I guess selling good quality and long lasting and stylish clothes isn't good for business as we'd be able to buy a lot less.

Dig that sewing machine out of exile! The sky's the limit!

M&S often send text about shopping experience. I always tell them more is needed that appeals to 50+ age group. I think if we were all to point this out they might just listen. I doubt their buyers are 50+ .

Hi
I buy all mine on line for that reason .I’ve been to Lakeside in Essex twice this year and it was a waste of time .Often p and p is around £5 and returns r free so weighs up with cost of petrol or bus fares .
If they don’t have the stock then Wd can’t buy …Vicious circle

Love Wallis & white company

Coco12 I read your post with interest as I feel the same nothing is “nice” today , but some of the shops people are offering you are so expensive .
I do look in charity shops but our local ones tend to have stuff that you would have given away , so I am stuck 😪

Fat Face and &Other Stories

Boden and Saint and Sofia. Sizing very accurate at the later.

Great minds indeed! 🤓🤓🤓

Foxygloves

I have no hassle with returning internet purchases. Royal Mail Click&Drop collect from my doorstep without any extra charge and both they and Evri (who also collect) have an arrangement with several internet clothes sites for free returns.
One of my problems though is that I am generally at least a year or so behind “fashion” -by taste, I also prefer classic clothes- and I have had some excellent bargains of new with labels pieces from eBay. Did you know that manufacturers such as Seasalt, Joules, White Stuff sell their remaindered items through their eBay outlet sites? So that top or jumper I saw last year I can buy for as little as 25% of the label price. They also take returns and are frequently free postage.
Worth checking out.

Foxgloves - sorry, I realise I've just almost duplicated your post! Great minds think alike!

I've found eBay to be very useful. If you put the name of a shop you've used before into the search bar, then go to 'condition' you can put in 'new with/without tags' and get discontinued (but still brand new) things. I've done that many times - probably more than I should - to find favourites. Some offer returns if you're not sure.

I have no hassle with returning internet purchases. Royal Mail Click&Drop collect from my doorstep without any extra charge and both they and Evri (who also collect) have an arrangement with several internet clothes sites for free returns.
One of my problems though is that I am generally at least a year or so behind “fashion” -by taste, I also prefer classic clothes- and I have had some excellent bargains of new with labels pieces from eBay. Did you know that manufacturers such as Seasalt, Joules, White Stuff sell their remaindered items through their eBay outlet sites? So that top or jumper I saw last year I can buy for as little as 25% of the label price. They also take returns and are frequently free postage.
Worth checking out.

To buy decent make up I would have to do a round trip of 120 miles. Luckily my DD's know what I like and my colouring mainly keep me up to date.

I agree that clothes shopping is getting harder; I dislike online clothes shopping as the cut, colour and fabric vary from the pictures, and the sizing is also variable. Then the hassle of returning the item.
There are no M & S stores locally, the nearest being a 15 mile very convoluted journey; the Department stores have vanished. I use Seasalt, Crew and Phase Eight they are within easy reach and White Company online as I trust them. This summer all stores seem to have a permanent sale, I suspect because their stock is not shifting, precisely because customers are not buying sufficient online.

And as for buying decent make-up!

I prefer buying online, it saves the time and effort of trawling the shops. You do have to be proactive though, try stuff on as soon as it arrives and send it back straight away if it’s not right. I tend to order quite a bit of stuff from one company at a time because the returns are cheaper that way - some do free returns which is even better.

I’ve been trying on tops that looked fine when I bought them a few months ago , this buying on line isn’t great , I hate them all , now too late to return

We have nothing in our small market town not even a M&S clothes just food.
I buy on line if you look at M&S on line they do a lot of the other brands as well Jeagar,Seasalt, Hobbs,White Stuff and more.
I buy on line now and just get them collected if they don't fit. I don't know where I would go if I wanted something for a wedding etc.
The other big problem I have is I take a half size in a shoe and so few companies make them. I have three pairs of the same shoe in Gabor andCarvela but in different colours. I would love to have the shopping facilities I had when living near a city with a Market town full of upmarket independent shops that sold Betty Barcley etc.