Topshop Nostalgia

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Even if you buy quality high street stuff it dates so quickly though! My cute little Topshop outfits from 2017 are still going strong but they make me look like the sad millenial I am šŸ˜‚
 
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Even if you buy quality high street stuff it dates so quickly though! My cute little Topshop outfits from 2017 are still going strong but they make me look like the sad millenial I am šŸ˜‚
I've even got primark stuff from about 10 years ago (just basics like t-shirt etc) that hasn't fallen apart, oh think across the board everything is just worse quality
 
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It was really tough to find nice fashionable clothes over a 14 wasnā€™t it? (And to be fair to the slender of build, not many size 8s around then, my friend was tiny and she got very good at alterations!) I think warehouse did size 16 and maybe Etam and Richards (outing my great age) but Topshop/Miss Selfridge/Chelsea Girl only did 10-14 and there was much less difference between sizes then - think a 10 was 32-24-34 and a 14 36-28-38, so not exactly catering to a big demographicā€¦my cousin is quite tall and she struggled too, trousers rarely came longer than a 32 and shoes tended to stop at 7.

How much more confidence weā€™d all have had if there were nice clothes like there are now, I wonder.
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Favourite item from Topshop - floral dress c.2005 which I still wear every time itā€™s warm enough
Worst item - either some lilac corduroy skinny bootcuts (why?????) from approx 2000, or a horrible padded cotton coat with a very busy lining and a drawstring in a rank NHS blue, bought in about 1989 with my Christmas money!
Yeah deffo, clothing wasn't inclusive at either end. I've always been tall and gangly and found it more or less impossible to find clothes that fitted me, one of my friends could never find anything from the high street to fit and she couldn't have been more than a 16 (bloody stunning though I always envied her figure). Looking back don't know if we could have supported her better, I mean shopping was the thing to do at weekends and we didn't want to not invite her as that would have been more hurtful; but seeing her browse the bags and jewellery as no clothes would fit must have been hard for her. I was lucky I guess that my body type was hard to dress but also in fashion at the time (eurgh I know bodies shouldn't be in fashion but I didn't feel bad about nought fitting if that makes sense). Its great there's more choice now.

Agree about general quality going downhill, even brands like mulberry now are made abroad and you can tell the difference.
 
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Yeah itā€™s so bad that as said above the new generation just shop preloved now! Which is actually great :)
 
Appreciate this isnā€™t highstreet but this weekend saw the Mulberry wallet I bought my brother for Christmas 2012 and heā€™s used daily since and itā€™s in shockingly good condition, like one visible nick in the leather by a card slot because itā€™s probably been used every time heā€™s bought anything for over a decade - versus the two Iā€™ve bought for my husband from more expensive brands that havenā€™t even lasted a year after Christmas (btw both had wanted/needed wallets Iā€™m not just mental about wallets) - I think itā€™s because the old Mulberry had stitched leather edges whereas most now have that rubbery leather edge finish which inevitably peels and the item then loses all shape and stability?

But itā€™s wrong that ā€œluxuryā€ brands are cutting these corners too, especially with price rises.
 
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Appreciate this isnā€™t highstreet but this weekend saw the Mulberry wallet I bought my brother for Christmas 2012 and heā€™s used daily since and itā€™s in shockingly good condition, like one visible nick in the leather by a card slot because itā€™s probably been used every time heā€™s bought anything for over a decade - versus the two Iā€™ve bought for my husband from more expensive brands that havenā€™t even lasted a year after Christmas (btw both had wanted/needed wallets Iā€™m not just mental about wallets) - I think itā€™s because the old Mulberry had stitched leather edges whereas most now have that rubbery leather edge finish which inevitably peels and the item then loses all shape and stability?

But itā€™s wrong that ā€œluxuryā€ brands are cutting these corners too, especially with price rises.
ive noticed that a lot of luxury bags have bad stitching nowadays
 
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@heretoreaditall2019 you found the depop and Vinted thread! Youā€™re in for a wild ride haha, think we need some more from this thread in there to make the discussion more sophisticated šŸ˜‚
 
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@heretoreaditall2019 you found the depop and Vinted thread! Youā€™re in for a wild ride haha, think we need some more from this thread in there to make the discussion more sophisticated šŸ˜‚
Omg no I love it as it is - itā€™s every thought that goes through my head on Vinted and eBay! I was actually back there lurking to figure out if I can use an inpost locker for an Evri delivery. Iā€™ve listed some bits tonight out of sheer boredom and shocked Iā€™ve already had a few sales!
 
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Iā€™m not sure tbh but someone on the thread will know, ask away :)
 
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I think Topshop on asos are listing accessories from 5/6 years ago.. as seen a lot of stuff I used to own
Also, does anyone else have issues with stuff going bobbly?! Esp &otherstories jumpers
 
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Slight tangent but people seem to have so many clothes to get rid of? Thereā€™s one of those clothes bins in my area and itā€™s always absolutely overflowing with bags stacked around it etc. Itā€™s only a small suburb, people must be getting rid of like a bag a day šŸ˜®
 
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I think Topshop on asos are listing accessories from 5/6 years ago.. as seen a lot of stuff I used to own
Also, does anyone else have issues with stuff going bobbly?! Esp &otherstories jumpers
I've stopped buying &OtherStories jumpers the bobbles were so bad and just not worth the massive price tag. As cute as the designs are.

There's a new Flannels opening in Cardiff where the old Topshop (šŸ˜­) used to be. I've never shopped there but checked their website and an a bit shocked they're opening a shop selling Ā£500 dresses in a cost of living crisis and at a time when the high street's on its knees anyway. I'm sure they've done heaps of market research and/or are just rapidly expanding as a brand but it feels very brave/stupid lol. The street which its on doesn't even get great footfall and has lots of boarded up shops too. Bit depressing as it had Topshop, River Island, Zara, Miss Selfridges and many more back in the day. Now all gone or relocated.
 
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Iā€™m 37 and Iā€™ve always been absolutely clothes mad! Always high street clothes and I was a massive topshop fan. Iā€™ve changed a little since having children, so I donā€™t always buy for me now, but I struggle to buy for me even when Iā€™m trying to. Thereā€™s just so much less choice fashion wise. Iā€™m finding a lot of the trends are lasting longer than a season too which isnā€™t a bad thing as I think Iā€™ve definitely been guilty of buying too much!
 
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Slight tangent but people seem to have so many clothes to get rid of? Thereā€™s one of those clothes bins in my area and itā€™s always absolutely overflowing with bags stacked around it etc. Itā€™s only a small suburb, people must be getting rid of like a bag a day šŸ˜®
Loads near me are always overflowing too. Think itā€™s another issue with such poor quality clothing - example, kids grow out of their clothes really quickly but by the time theyā€™ve been worn / washed a few times they are in too poor condition to hand down, sell or even take to the charity shop.
 
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Slight tangent but people seem to have so many clothes to get rid of? Thereā€™s one of those clothes bins in my area and itā€™s always absolutely overflowing with bags stacked around it etc. Itā€™s only a small suburb, people must be getting rid of like a bag a day šŸ˜®
I wonder that moreso when I see individual Vinted profiles rammed with sooo much stuff, or people on Facebook resell groups for mums/kids with bags and bags of stuff - thereā€™s definitely a consumption problem, I canā€™t remember what the stat was but think it was the British fashion council who said we have enough clothing in circulation to meet the needs of the next 3 generations?

Locally and especially in (post war?) suburbs imagine house clearances will play a part too. And I donā€™t think theyā€™re collected v often tbh šŸ¤·šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø
 
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I wonder that moreso when I see individual Vinted profiles rammed with sooo much stuff, or people on Facebook resell groups for mums/kids with bags and bags of stuff - thereā€™s definitely a consumption problem, I canā€™t remember what the stat was but think it was the British fashion council who said we have enough clothing in circulation to meet the needs of the next 3 generations?

Locally and especially in (post war?) suburbs imagine house clearances will play a part too. And I donā€™t think theyā€™re collected v often tbh šŸ¤·šŸ»ā€ā™€ļø
Thereā€™s a huge overconsumption problem. Itā€™s why I buy the vast majority of my clothing second hand. Even a lot of my furniture and decor in my house is antique/vintage or second hand. Because overconsumption has become a cultural norm, and as a problem extends beyond fast fashion.

In the 90s/noughties the high street relied heavily on sweat shops etc and had frequent, seasonal collections which started driving consumption.

By the teenies, the rise of internet shopping meant cutting out the middle man of physical store shopping, it was immediately accessible online and then the likes of ASOS, Missguided, PLT etc started doing weekly launches for really low prices. They didnā€™t have physical overheads and relied on cheap Labour. In the case of Boohoo, they essentially had slave Labour in the U.K.

Bigger, more established brands changed their business models as well, with greater emphasis placed on increased manufacturing speed at a low price. Topshop notoriously began doing this when Phil Green took over, and it caused the then-creative director I believe, to quit her job. She didnā€™t like the exploitive nature of it, and the huge reductions in quality.

At one point, Zara prided itself on having knock offs on the shop floor within weeks of them being shown in collections. For a long time it was seen as a positive move, because it generated huge profits, made clothing more accessible and more affordable. I guess board rooms just shrugged off the human/environmental cost or actively ignored thinking about it.

However itā€™s gone to the extreme now. The cost to people and the environment is huge, and social media is making it too difficult to ignore.

A lot of stores are trying to establish themselves as ā€œgreenerā€. H&M is a huge culprit of this - it looks as though they are establishing themselves as a ā€œsustainableā€ alternative via greenwashing while they slowly (hopefully) change their supply chains and business model. Zara has made some paltry attempts at clothing banks and ā€œsustainbleā€ denim (though new clothing is never sustainable at this point).

Currently, there are approx 150 billion garments produced a year. They are made with fossil fuels that donā€™t decompose, they are dyed with harmful toxins that cause huge pollution. They are made with slave labour and cruelty to animals. They use energy and resources to create, ship around the world and advertise.

They make a small, unpleasant section of society hugely wealthy, while cheating the rest of us of value for money and quality. They prevent local textile industries from gaining foothold - because even donating used clothing is harmful.

Approx 92 million tons of clothing end up in landfill each year, globally. The average person in the U.K. wears a garment 3 times before discarding it, and only 20% of textiles are collected for recycling (note: this doesnā€™t mean they even are eventually recycled, as thereā€™s huge difficulty in recycling blended fabrics).

I loved Topshop at the time, but before I get too nostalgic I always have to remind myself that.. I was blissfully ignorant at the time.

For more info;
 
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Where do people buy their high heels these days? I donā€™t think Iā€™ve bought a pair for about 5 years - between getting older/lazier and Covid - but Iā€™d like a pair now Iā€™m trying to make more of an effort again šŸ˜‚

I had some great heels from Topshop 10-15 years ago. Some from River Island too. But itā€™s not the same on the high street anymoreā€¦

I want an interesting/beautiful design or colour and food quality. Budget up to Ā£100. Everywhere Iā€™ve looked seemed cheap and tacky or a bit mumsy!
 
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Where do people buy their high heels these days? I donā€™t think Iā€™ve bought a pair for about 5 years - between getting older/lazier and Covid - but Iā€™d like a pair now Iā€™m trying to make more of an effort again šŸ˜‚

I had some great heels from Topshop 10-15 years ago. Some from River Island too. But itā€™s not the same on the high street anymoreā€¦

I want an interesting/beautiful design or colour and food quality. Budget up to Ā£100. Everywhere Iā€™ve looked seemed cheap and tacky or a bit mumsy!
massimo dutti, sezanne, M&S and castaner are where Iā€™ve gotten my heels from.

I can only wear relatively short, block heels now though!

some of they I got new on eBay, Vinted etc because the above brands are still technically fast fashion
 
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massimo dutti, sezanne, M&S and castaner are where Iā€™ve gotten my heels from.

I can only wear relatively short, block heels now though!

some of they I got new on eBay, Vinted etc because the above brands are still technically fast fashion
Thank you! I love Sezanne.
 
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Where do people buy their high heels these days? I donā€™t think Iā€™ve bought a pair for about 5 years - between getting older/lazier and Covid - but Iā€™d like a pair now Iā€™m trying to make more of an effort again šŸ˜‚

I had some great heels from Topshop 10-15 years ago. Some from River Island too. But itā€™s not the same on the high street anymoreā€¦

I want an interesting/beautiful design or colour and food quality. Budget up to Ā£100. Everywhere Iā€™ve looked seemed cheap and tacky or a bit mumsy!
I bought these from Dune the other day. High, sparkly, neutral and supremely comfortable
 

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