Oh, Topshop, Why?

As a teenager, I had no money of my own (the waiting on job I had paid £20 a night, money which normally went on my mobile and on Sainsburys chocolate chip cookies) and so I couldn’t afford to wear the clothes I liked in Topshop, instead having to persuade my mum each time I liked something. This method was not usually that sucessful.

I went to uni in Aberystwyth, and I suddenly had some money thanks to the student loan. But Aber is a tiny little town, with about 8 shops that sold ladies clothes, including a Dorothy Perkins, a New Look (founded by an Aber Economics grad, hooray for my school!) and Cafe Society, a quite expensive shop (at the time)

I got used to wearing the same things as other people (when there’s so little choice, you don’t really have many options) and would go back to Chester to buy things occasionally.

When I left uni and became a proper working person, I suddenly had money every week and a good choice of shops to spend it in. I could finally buy things I liked from Topshop! (Unfortunately because I was now 22, I felt a little too old to shop in the Chester Topshop at weekends as it is mostly full of 15 year olds and shop assistants who seem to think that you’re too old to shop there after the age of 21)

Now I have moved to Bristol, I feel like I have more options of what I can wear without being laughed at by people I know, so over the past few months, I have been storing certain items away.

So thats my story of clothes buying. Now I have the abilty, I want to wear things that don’t look like my mum bought them * So it annoys me slightly that Topshop seem to produce things now that wouldn’t look good on me, no matter how it was styled.

This top could probably be quite nice, if it wasn’t for the enormous ruffle that goes all around the body. Any girl with a cup size more than a B probably will look like she should be a clown or something.

I can’t even begin with this one. Silver plastic biker jacket. (I am slightly snobby in a way (I guess) with biker jackets, having grown up in a biker-y family. Its not a biker jacket unless it’s leather.)

OH MAN. Who has decided that this sort of playsuit is acceptable. This is only going to look good on very tall, very skinny people.

I saved the best till last. We are not in the early 90’s, and I don’t care if its supposed to be fashionable. It wasn’t cool the first time round. Maybe thats why it’s only £25.

Sometimes Topshop does have some lovely stuff, such as this yellow dress from the Kate Moss collection. It currently hangs in my wardrobe waiting for July so I can wear it for my dads wedding.

I do feel a bit wrong when I admit that its from the Kate Moss collection, bearing in mind her “designs” have produced these shorts which are so hideous, I can’t even put a picture here.

Sometimes though, it feels like they stock over the top items to see if people will actually buy them. What do you think? Am I just being too old fashioned, is Topshop just very “fashion forward”, or do they stock items they think people will just buy because its from Topshop?

* To be fair to my mum, she was often wearing new things from places like New Look. My mum was well cool.