I hate shopping for clothes

unwashed potato!

unwashed potato!

unwashed potato!

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I really do hate it. I'm mid 30s now, and I struggle to find any where in the UK that sells something I like that feels appropriate for my age.

And it's not that I don't enjoy shopping for clothes, I do, it's just that I find any time I try it (rarer and rarer these days) I waste time and feel the strores are made for young adults.

An example is I just want some simple casual polo tops and simple casual shirts. But casual seems to be "trendy" or stylish rather than what I'd say is just plain simple nothing to them.

H&m used to be my safe place to always find something but now I just feel like I'm 10 years out of date for that store. Same with topman and the others like them.

So any way, the point of this thread is that I'm curious where do you men go shopping these days for clothes? I want actual stores to walk into.

I've tried a few online, shein, mandm come to mind, and I send 95 percent back, and usually regret keeping the other 5 percent.

I think what I really miss is the days of department stores. Debenhams, house of fraiser, gave a real good choice for clothing.
 
I still like the idea of buying in store but it almost never works out in practice. Combined with driving, parking and crowds it's just not a nice experience. The shops that do stock brands i like almost never have the sizes I want either so everything is bought online now. I know what will fit and what sort of things I like so it mostly works out.

That said I'm going to try and buy some chinos today which I'm going to try and find in a few stores I have in mind. Let's see how it works out.

I miss department store too though. I tried a few nice polos on last week in John Lewis without looking at the prices and almost bought a Ralph Lauren polo until I realised it was £125. Ended up buying a few online the next day for way less and they look just as good.

Times they are a changing.
 
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I feel your pain.

I usually get most of mine from M&S now. Most of the stuff is ok without being to "trendy", plus you get no staff asking if they can help you all the time.

There is a Fenwick's near me, but i begrudge paying the high prices now.
 
My go to's for me are Boss, JD Sports, Frasers, Calvin Klein, Police, Hugo, Adidas, Superdry, Tommy Hilfiger and if lucky to find a High St left with stores, it'll be the indie type places.
 
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I can't find stuff my size anywhere. Wearing clothes that I hate just because that's all I've been able to find. I just don't understand how there's loads of ppl around who look like me, they all have clothes, but when I go online and pop my size in 99% of the choices disappear.

On the occasions where I do find something, I know it'll be discontinued when I want to buy more. So I go back to buy more immediately but it's already discontinued before I can even place a second order.

I need to put a lot more time into this because never feeling comfortable really affects my quality of life. I just never seem to have the time.
 
I just find there’s hardly anywhere left on the high street to actually shop in! Combination of Gap, Topman, and the department stores gone, then the retail brands like Fat Face, White Stuff, French Connection etc and to some degree Next all closing most of their stores, there’s really not much left on the high street.
 
throwaway4372 said:
I need to put a lot more time into this because never feeling comfortable really affects my quality of life. I just never seem to have the time.
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I feel you and you're not alone on this. Though I should add my wardrobe does have items of clothing I feel happy in due to going to America 4 years ago and stocking up then, but plenty of those clothes are now getting old and need replacing.

I see videos on YouTube some times of "how to dress in your 30/40s" etc and like the simple brand less style but struggle to find places that sell these clothes in a size I like or even to sell anything like those clothes.

I guess my issue is the brands that have their name displayed on the clothes. Superdry isn't paying me to advertise for them.
 
unwashed potato! said:
I write these off just because to me that are for teens/young adults.

Wearing clothes that say boss or police on them just doesn't fly for me.
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Many have more discrete logos for those who do not want to shout when out.

Perhaps M&S would be better for you.
 
I've started buying a lot from Reiss recently and find their clothes age appropriate from someone in their mid 30s. Best to wait until the sales though as they are quite expensive but heavily discount when the sales are on.

For jeans, Nudie and Edwin are my go-tos
 
images
 
unwashed potato! said:
I really do hate it. I'm mid 30s now, and I struggle to find any where in the UK that sells something I like that feels appropriate for my age.

And it's not that I don't enjoy shopping for clothes, I do, it's just that I find any time I try it (rarer and rarer these days) I waste time and feel the strores are made for young adults.

An example is I just want some simple casual polo tops and simple casual shirts. But casual seems to be "trendy" or stylish rather than what I'd say is just plain simple nothing to them.

H&m used to be my safe place to always find something but now I just feel like I'm 10 years out of date for that store. Same with topman and the others like them.

So any way, the point of this thread is that I'm curious where do you men go shopping these days for clothes? I want actual stores to walk into.

I've tried a few online, shein, mandm come to mind, and I send 95 percent back, and usually regret keeping the other 5 percent.

I think what I really miss is the days of department stores. Debenhams, house of fraiser, gave a real good choice for clothing.
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Crew Clothing
Joules

There you go. Middle aged man perfection. Get yourself some quarter zips.

(Describing myself, I have so many quarter zips and tees/polos/rugby shirts from them). Logos are discrete, quality is decent, I have stores near me so can go in and try.
 
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Who's to say what is "age-appropriate"?
A friend of mine has a son who is a relatively famous skateboarder - Famous enough that he gets sent more bundles of free merch from skating companies than he knows what to do with... so he gives them to his mum for her to wear... and she's the coolest looking granny in the city!

Dress the way you want to, not how you think other people expect you to.
 
Completely agree.

I just want nice fitting good quality polo t shirts for summer.

And something long sleeves for winter that isn't a shirt or a jumper. No idea what to do here. I like merino jumpers now but they are expensive and don't last very long.

Jeans these days are such crap quality that I just expect to replace them a few times a year. Usually I get my jeans from Next.
 
Next for jeans/polos/boxers, M&S for work trousers, gym wear brands that probably aren't "age appropriate" for a nearly 40 year old but there we go for most other stuff.
 
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