I love this time of year

[Charlotte7]

This morning was the first time for a week or so that I've had to get the train up to the city. How things have changed in a week! I have to go across the city centre to get from the railway station to the office and of course I go past as many clothes shops as I can. There's Marks and Spencer, Oasis, Monsoon, Coast, Dorothy Perkins, River Island, Top Shop, Debenhams, John Lewis, H&M, Primark, TK Maxx and many more. The displays are gorgeous. The Christmas partywear has arrived! The windows are full of shiny, lacy, crinkly, sparkly, all kinds of everything to make a girl shine in the dark of winter. I could easily spend hundreds of pounds. I'll enjoy my walk around at lunchtime, window shopping and keeping the pink fog at bay (as best I can).

[KymG]

Good for you.
I assume you are a Uk girl then, judging by the shop names?

[Charlotte7]

Hello Kym, yes, you're correct on the UK shops theme. I'm one of the Brits on this forum.

[KymG]

Good, me too.
Think we are outnumbered slightly.....

[Barbara Jo]

....Just as long as you don't do like the line in " All The Young Dudes" .... :)

" And Wendy's stealing clothes from Marks and Sparks"

[DIANEF]

Sounds like my kind of day! All those shop names are very familiar in my part of the world.

[Charlotte7]

Barbara Jo, you're sooo naughty, you made me think of Pink Floyd's Arnold Lane.

Diane, there's a few of us here. It's great to talk about our shops too. But we do have lots in common.

[colleen ps]

And don't forget Sainsburys, there is double up points on nectar at the moment, so 4000 points gives you £40 to spend. this time of year watch for the 25% and half price sales too. My wife and i will be doing lots of clothes shopping this weekend LOL. Oh, and dont forget the mark down rack's, Sainsburys usually have a lot of stuff for less than a fiver, its just a shame their shoes only go up to a UK 8. We love picking stuff out for each other.

Primark has some really nice stuff in at the moment too if you want to get lots for your money, and they also have a wide fit shoe section and sizes go up to size UK10 in the larger stores.

Looks like a visit to lakeside is on the cards, maybe Bluewater too.

For larger size shoes, you can also try Deichmann, New look and Simply Be. and i have always tried them on in these stores when in Drab, yes i get looks but hey, its my money i will spend it on whatever i want LOL.

[kayegirl]

And it's not just the shops. I really enjoy some of the TV ads, particularly those of the major stores. Although I couldn't tell you which is which, but the one with the little lad and the monster under the bed, wins my vote this year.

[Rachelakld]

love shiny, but surely nothing good in Primark???
As for me, a long way from Yorkshire, out mowing my lawns in my shoe string top and 3/4 pink running tights, on a beautiful pre-summer day
Later shopping and wanting all the light summer clothes

[Charlotte7]

Colleen, you're right about Sainsbury's. I have quite a few things from there. Their offers and reductions are really good but sometimes I find I have to pay full price, just to make sure I get it. (I suppose that's the pink fog hitting me again).

[colleen ps]

Rachelakid, You say surely nothing good in Primark but if you have not been for a while, the quality has improved a lot lately and the prices are still good. The clothes sizing can be a bit erratic, but for good value large size shoes,in the Uk, they are pretty good. I admit Primark would be the last store to visit, but its better than nothing if you are on a budget.

Charlotte7, I suppose we are lucky in that there are three large Sainsburys close to us. No, make that four with the one near lakeside. if we cant find the sizes or styles in one, we just move on to the next one until we find it. Only once we could not find a particular skirt in any of them in my size, but i still managed to find an alternative for under a fiver.

I know i mentioned, value for money and budget etc, but we are both addicted to clothes/shoe shopping so we keep the costs down to feed our addiction. If we want quality, don't worry, we know where to go LOL.

Sainsburys is our go to first stop, as with regular 25% and up to half price sales and a large Nectar card balance, we can still rummage through the "new lines" and not spend a fortune.

This is our usual saturday morning chat over a cuppa.

SO, Shall we go shopping today?

Me, OK where do you want to go?

SO, Sainsburys

Me, Which one?

SO, I dont mind but we mustn't buy clothes this time.

Me, OK, (laughing)


It never turns out that way in reality, First stop, Womens clothing, next stop Cafeteria, move on back to clothing, Do you see a pattern here LOL

[Charlotte7]

Colleen, yes Sainsbury's is like that for me. A while back they bought out a deep red leather look, just above the knee skirt. I had to have one. Then there was the same skirt in green. I had to have one. And, then they had it in black. I had to have that too. Come to think about it, I quite like leather skirts (more leather look due to cost).

[DaisyLawrence]

I am not so sure there is any inherent quality in Primark or even Sainsburys clothes for that matter. I only buy new genuine designer clothes these days BUT am patient while shopping for them and ONLY buy on-line and in charity shops (thrift stores for our cousins across the pond?). I definitely pay less than I would in Primark everytime. Only yesterday, for example, a brand new Karen Millen skirt for £4 which retailed for £110 only last year. My wife and I do really love charity shop hunting though which is the most fun a girl can have without doubt. She generally does even better than me.
Daisy x

[Charlotte7]

Daisy that would be fun if it were possible. Charity shops rarely have my size. I don't shop in Primark, but I do in Sainsbury's. For me the big drivers in my shopping are: Do I like it? Can I afford it? Do they have it in my size? Being a GM the last one is important as I'm larger than most GGs. Karen Millen would not be available in my size. Sainsbury's score well here, they do my size.

[DaisyLawrence]

You have a good point Charlotte. Karen Millen only designs for model size girls that is for sure. My wife is a size UK6 but needs a 10 in KM. I do, however, have the luxury of fitting into their size UK12 skirts but rarely find dresses big enough (size 14 in general due to shoulder width which would be 16 in Karen Millen, a size they rarely produce). Doesn't matter how good it is or how nice it looks if it doesn't fit!

Daisy x

[Minnietheminx]

I love Primark and had some lovely clothes from there. I love simplybe too for clothes especially Joe Browns as unusual and great as go up to larger sizes so even when i was at my biggest i had a really nice choice of clothes. I dont pay for designer simply because i used to work in a lingerie factory and i know that we used to put put different sewn in labels on for top stores then plain label for market ones and same with tags..posh for the big stores simple tag for market..same item just posher tag and packaging...so lesson learnt ..same with stockings. posh box for big shops and plainer box for markets....same stockings though! xx

[colleen ps]

For me the big drivers in my shopping are: Do I like it? Can I afford it? Do they have it in my size? Being a GM the last one is important as I'm larger than most GGs. Karen Millen would not be available in my size. Sainsbury's score well here, they do my size.

Same here.

And to Minnietheminx, I am sure that a lot of us know this ( i do ) but chose to ignore so we can display the labels LOL

[Barbara Joanne74]

I too love this time of the year here in the NW of the USA. Fall means sweaters, leggings and boots both for me and all the other beautiful women out there. Sweaters and leggings are my go do in girly mode. But the Christmas dresses are beautiful as well, just not on myself

Barbara

[Dana44]

I agree that this is a good time of year. The temp is slightly lower and shopping is so nice as the store have a good picks

[DIANEF]

The only things that matter to me when buying something are if I like it and the quality is good enough. The label, designer or otherwise doesn't matter. Charity shops are great for bargains, my sons girlfriend got a coat for £5 that was £500 new. Wish I'd found it first!

[Minnietheminx]

Same here.

And to Minnietheminx, I am sure that a lot of us know this ( i do ) but chose to ignore so we can display the labels LOL

LOL that used to be a joke i had with my neice that swore by labels.i used to say to her do you walk around with your knickers on inside out just so people know lol x

[Jackie7]

hahaha what I enjoy most about this time of year is getting back into shapewear, slips, pantyhose -- layers of complex female underwear to keep me warm and womanly in my cold-season dresses. Also shawls and scarves, and soon, good-fitting gloves.

[leannejacobs]

I find Matalan as good as any, lots of reasonably priced goodies there, TK max is a favourite too, missing Brantano for the larger sized shoes now though.

[Stiletto Gurl]

I just really love the colder months.. its easier to dress and be passable with more clothes on..

[Sandra_Dodds]

I have the opposite feeling because the temperature is warming up in my part of the world. Most of my wardrobe is for the cooler months and so my cd-ing tends to be seasonal. I am one of those who count down the 90 days of summer until the cooler months return. Have fun all you heading into winter.

[Charlotte7]

Sandra, I know exactly what you mean. I love what I call the tights seaon. Here, we're in the tights seaon now. For some of us, the cooler weatheŕ is best.

[CynthiaD]

I much prefer hot weather, but I have a number of woolen dresses and long-sleeves that just don't work during the summer in Texas. I'll be breaking my cool weather stuff out soon.

Also, Winter isn't my favorite fashion season because the colors all seem so dull, and the styles all seem kind of baggy.