We don't run on this high street; we run this high street

[hooplah]

just like you can always pick out girls who will have "keep calm and carry on" and audrey hepburn in breakfast at tiffany's posters in their rooms

tory burch flats and longchamp bags usually strong indicators

[germinal]

lol those jackets were everywhere here last year, along with overcoats with biker jacket detailing/zips
this year i'm seeing on girls in more biker jacket hybrids and pastel colour coats
surprising lack of bombers

saw a girl in a presumably high-street knock-off of the celine mohair overcoat on the tube yesterday, the mohair had gone all rank and straggly
saw a dude in what was possibly the burberry shearling on berwick st today, did a triple take

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

Is this forum mostly UK people? Seeing a lot.

[ramseames]

Besides a few prominent members it's still mostly American.

[smiles]

i'd say we are pretty solidly international. hk, singapore, canada, japan, america, uk, belgium, and others i'm forgetting. also a refreshing mix of genders.

[bels]

[maj]

went to primark with my mum today, shocked me how cheap this stuff was. full fishtails for like £25 tees for like £2 store was rammed. qual no different to topman if i'm honest, but it reminded me how much i hate shopping in high street stores. people just pushing each other climbing over things to reach some designer ripoff to discard it later on the floor, can see why people pay for stores like reiss and stuff mark up if i liked shopping on the high street, none of this zoo behavior.

the prices are cheap on the street but if i'm shopping in store i'd much prefer a nice experience otherwise i might as well save the bus fair and order online.

[bels]

When people throw static at you for spending too much on clothes that's what they're comparing it to.

Agree that primark is total chaos though. I should go in and take some bleak pictures.

[Syeknom]

Every time I've gone into Primark about half of their stuff is strewn on the floor and no one seems to mind

[bels]

Was in TKMAXX today. Saw this fake selvege:

[can-]

you mean tj max?

[bels]

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=165&start=30

[odradek]

real question: is that fake selvage? it is a self finished edge, i imagine there's some grosgrain/ribbon making machine where they throw in a single red warp and just make super long strips of selvage to sew into items. i have a levi's chambray that has that going around the neck and it certainly looks like a standalone selvage.

[charybdis]

[Syeknom]

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

I buy all my socks in uniqlo because they're great, but while I was in there yesterday I picked up a long sleeve tee. I'm SO impressed with it, it's 100% cotton, a nice mustard, and has a really soft hand. It actually feels like moleskin, and just as good as any of the japanese loopwheeled offerings. Might go pick up some more colours.

http://www.uniqlo.com/uk/store/goods/078726

[bels]

I bought some of those last year. Nice but I found they shrunk like crazy.

[charybdis]

Why is the uniqlo UK online shop not fucked up like the US one is?

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

I thought they might, so I bought an XL. It does piss me off when things shrink though when they're not supposed to -- it's like they did no QC. If you put out a product that might shrink, just tell people, there's a whole bunch of people who will be totally into it.

I had 3 products from H&M lose their shape and shrink when I was like, 14, and I never went in there again.

[bels]

To be fair I emailed them and they said :( and when I posted the stuff back they refunded me + postage.

Still annoying though innit?

[Bobbin.Threadbare]

Really annoying. Also, you shouldn't have had to go to the trouble of emailing them and sending it back. That's a broken, wasteful system for everyone involved.

I'm unusually passionate about broken systems today as DHL was meant to get a package to me before noon, and it's not here yet. I hate DHL, it's the absolute worst, but almost every business uses it. Once my fashion business is ticking over I think I'm going to fix logistics because this shit isn't on.

[bels]

Dat travelling salesman problem doe

[maj]

dodged a bullet with not getting a fishtail, burtons dropped 2 and already becoming the must have item this winter around town

[anonomous]

An olive/green fishtail/parka is so common around portsmouth. I can count at least 10 if i go out to town.

[kewks]

are the high street stores for women better in europe? every time i go into forever 21 i am shocked that people can justify spending money there.. they have the most ridiculous things (like a shirt that said #ootd and another one with djing holographic cats on it)

[bels]

It feels like there's a lot of choice in female high street stores. Like if you don't like F21 you can go a bit more upmarket but you don't have to go all the way to the top.

Plus when you compare stuff like http://www.cosstores.com/ men's collection to the women's collection it's crazy.

[ramseames]

Idk if I'm totally off base but isn't aritzia/TNA very much a high street store?

[Syeknom]

Lot of high street stuff and options for women here: COS, WE, Espirit (very popular), S.Oliver, Mango, C&A, Scotch & Soda, Talking French, Massimo Dutti (though they front like they ain't high street), Zara, H&M, F21, Paprika, Appel, Zaza, etc etc.

COS stuff for women is so much more interesting than for men.

[bels]

Jigsaw and Reiss are two other high street mid range shops. Though they both do menswear. Whistles is womenswear only though, and monsoon. The low end of high street is the same here but it feels like there's more of a scale from their to the high end.

I sort of had a conversation once where I said women's high street is always better than men's due to the fact that womenswear in general is more experimental and varied, so you can rip it off more easily and still maintain some kind of spirit of the thing. For eg sheer tops, they were big at some point right? So you can make a cheap sheer top which won't feel nice or be "high end" but can still give a very similar effect to a high end piece. Or wedge sneakers, you can make a cheap shoe that looks like a wedge sneaker. Or a gradient print tshirt. Whereas as higher end menswear (to me) is more about small details, expensive fabrics and fancy manufacturing techniques on a basically boring item. So when you cheapen down the piece and the fabric sucks and it doesn't have the small details or technique, it becomes just a poorly made and boring item.

I know for more out there menswear pieces this doesn't apply and it feels like there's a market for someone to rip off say, jilraf marble shirts. But the market is maybe too small for a true high street brand to go for it. Which is why I love cos. I think they have an a wang neoprene bomber in their latest drop.

[bels]

A relative has reccd me Adolpho Dominguez claiming it's like a more colourful cos. Any second opinions @ prices look alright so I might check it if I'm in London