I bought this grey polo at Target. Wait, no. That’s not it.
Target shirts autumn apart after two washings. Let me try this again. This matters.
I’ve been thinking lately about workhorse basics, about enduring quality. Last week, Jackson came home from school wearing a jumper that looked, for lack of a better term, sad.
It had been nice navy jumper once, perhaps capable of lasting through multiple school years.
Now it looked like Jackson had intentionally destroyed it. Except he hadn’t. He has odd tastes in clothes destruction, generally speaking.
We’ve had trousers explode out of the crotch from normal wear many times. But that jumper didn’t make it through one grade. Half the knitting fell off in his hands.
It was depressing because even “good” clothes these days aren’t very good. Quality basics are tragicomic: It’s a shame we expect so little from them. I thought about this more in Britain than I probably would have otherwise.
Over there they still have “high street” clothing, much of it very similar to what we have in stores stateside. But from talking to British guys on forums and Twitter, their high street still has options for clothes that aren’t fire traps. It peaked my interest and got me researching what British high street shopping has become. (I promise, most of these places have U.S. equivalents.
It’s the philosophy I’m after.) First lesson learned: My brother- in-law Tom lives in London. He moved there five years ago for a finance job. He complains about it raining too much but lives in the east end near Tower Bridge so whatevs.
He mentioned this back around Christmas that he had this jumper he bought years ago from somewhere called John Lewis that was built like a tank. Seven years. He was pretty proud of it.
Even now, looked like new. No stretching or fuzz. Seven years!?!
This is America where Lauren buys a shirt I like and Sophie destroys it within seven months. Sophie will grab the nearest article of my clothing to wipe her hands on if it’s within reach. She’s leaned this skill out over time.
This surprises me because she’s allergic to everything so she’s constantly rubbing her hands on her clothes to remove the topical creams. But this John Lewis jumper? This made me wonder if maybe Britain still had some quality basics I hadn’t heard about.
Tom mentioned he’s bought countless items from John Lewis’s basics section. Said their cotton-shirts don’t shrink after washing. He’s owned Oxford shirts from there he’s taken to work daily for years, collar still lies flat.
Came here and bought three shirts from somewhere a few months ago and after one wash they all had these weird horizontal waves. Looked like I hung them in the bathtub to dry. Tom says prices are fairly reasonable.
We’re talking £50 for a good shirt . £70 for a solid jumper. Prices like that aren’t anything to write home about, but it’s not bad if it actually lasts. I remember buying a polo shirt last summer that was $70.
Maybe. Only wore it once and there was this gaping hole next to the pockets. Didn’t bother Sophie.
She likes her meat cooked well. Turns out Marks & Spencer is the granddaddy of British basic clothing. Tom’s dad shops there and Tom actually had an embarrassed tone when he mentioned it at first. “Wait, dads shop at Marks & Spencer?” But lo and behold, he got me hooked on some of their stuff as well.
Their plain t-shirts are actually impressive for the price. They’re somehow strange durable around collars. Another pet peeve of mine: buy a nice shirt and wear the damn thing twice and suddenly it looks like you’ve gained twenty pounds because it doesn’t fit right around your neck.
Tom says their underwear is legit too. Been wearing same style boxer brief from M&S for years. Can’t argue with that.
Same here. Found some trouser underwear that fit me just right a few years ago and I’ve bought multiples of them since. Lauren teases me about it but I don’t care.
They’re comfortable. Tom also mentioned this Japanese brand called Uniqlo that’s taken over London. He loves their plain t-shirts.
Says they actually have weight to them. They don’t become see-through after one wash like you’d expect these days. The coat culture also sounds promising.
Tom’s got this navy jacket from Uniqlo he’s had for five years and it looks new. Lives in London. Torrential downpourcity that never lets up.
If a coat can survive Britain for five years and still look good I’d buy it on sight. Oh, here’s another cool British brand I’ve heard about. Community Clothing .
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Love the name. Founded by some dude who was on a British sewing show, clearly he knows his shit. They actually make their clothes in the U.K. (Sold me already, obviously) and pride themselves on high-quality basics.
Think heavyweight cotton t-shirts,actual sweatshirts, not thin joke sweatshirts. I hate thin clothing. When I go into stores and pick up shirts they feel cheap.
I know that sounds weird but you’d be surprised how many clothes feel like they’ll autumn apart when you touch them. My dad still has dress shirts from the 90s he wore when I was a kid that look better than half the shirts I bought last month. No shame, here.
Just clothes dying too soon. The planned obsolescence of clothes is infuriating. Obviously companies are going to want you to buy new things but come on!
Give us some baseline quality control here. Especially when your kids will wear that jumper for three days straight before giving up on life and crawling under the sofa. I hate that we’ve all accepted this.
It shocks us now when clothing actually lasts more than a season. My bar is so low that if I wear a shirt five times and it doesn’t totally degrade in quality I celebrate. From what Tom’s told me it’s almost a different philosophy over there.
Yes, they like having nice things but there also seems to be an appreciation for buying less and buying well. Most of the men he works with have way smaller closets than I do but everything in theirs works. Where I have twenty random shirts I only look good in under certain lights, they have ten shirts and they all look great.
Even after wearing them eight times. One of their favourite brands is Albam. Workwear inspired shirts, trousers, and jackets that are clearly built to last.
Pricey for high street prices but who cares? I’m finding myself doing this ever more with clothes since having kids. What am I actually going to pay per month if this lasts the way it should?
Found another company, Folk . More expensive. But man, $45 t-shirt ?
What is this, 1820?! Doesn’t matter. $45 and it lasts two years? Sign me up.
Stop giving me t-shirts that autumn apart after six months. I don’t have time for your nonsense. H&M even has a more mature line now called Arket that focuses more on quality basics than trending colours.
Their plain cotton t-shirts are supposedly decently thick and actually feel like shirts. Their wool coats are well-made and don’t break the bank. Tom’s mentioned this handful of times: outerwear.
A good coat should last you years. When I bought my current work jacket I was pregnant with Jackson. It’s been maybe six years and still looks “business casual” enough to wear during Zoom meetings.
Casual jacket? Please. One had pilling problems immediately.
Another lost shape after two years. The last had a weird stain that wouldn’t wash out no matter what. Tom talked about one particular company that does incredible outerwear, but prices jump significantly.
Private White V. C., based in Manchester, England, crafts coats that’ll run you four hundred plus. Ouch.
That’s definitely not in my price range but… Jesus Christ. Buy one coat and wear the hell out of it for the rest of your life. Bet my grandparents did that.
I want that. I’ve always noticed this phenomena of clothes getting worse as they get “cheaper”. Sure, I can go buy a jumper for twenty bucks but if it looks like hell after one wash was it really twenty dollars worth of material?
Spend sixty on something that looks remotely acceptable in two years? My kids will literally judge me if I’m wearing filthy thrift store leggings and a stained hoodie. Lauren’s noticed me poking around about this lately.
Asked me the other day what the hell I was researching, British clothing brands? Internets, friends. Internets.
I just don’t like feeling sloppy because my clothes can’t keep up with my lifestyle.
I wear the same five-ish shirts weekly because I know I won’t regret it later. Want to expand that library a bit but not break the bank or fill my closet with clothes that autumn apart.
What I’ve learned is there are still good companies out there making quality basics. You just might have to pay a little more money up front to get it. London or Plano.
Same difference. Kind of want to plan a trip to London now just to go explore these shops. Though then I’d probably spend more money shipping stuff back than I bought and Sophie would destroy it within a week of arrival.
Still. Seven years for a jumper. LET ME LIVE.
