Chic to Cheap
- 25 Apr 07, 02:17 PM
Picture the scene΅.queues ten deep around the block, mounted police and security staff keeping impatient crowds in line, an undignified stampede as the doors finally open. No, it΅―s not the FA Cup Final or Harrods sale or even the X Factor auditions. This is the opening of a new Primark store on Oxford Street in London with 50,000 shoppers through the doors on the first day of trading.
If you had told me that in the late 70΅―s when I was an employee, I΅―d have sent for the men in the white coats. Oh yes, when I was at school my Saturday job was working in Primark in the Northcott Shopping Centre in Glengormley. What I remember most was the uniform ¨C turquoise polyester blouse, petrol blue nylon front pleated skirt and matching acrylic v neck sweater ¨C not quite what you΅―d expect from the high street΅―s favourite fashion chain, but times have changed in more ways than one. Indeed, only yesterday I was complimenting a colleague on her very lovely short black swing coat. ΅°It΅―s Primark΅± she said with as much pride as if it had been Prada ¨C and quite right too. Couture is so over. Cut price chic is cool. So much so that even super model and party girl Kate Moss is designing a range of outfits for Top Shop ¨C mind you, she΅―d look amazing in a bin bag she has such a sense of style - and the uber cool songstress Lilly Allen will have her own collection of pretty girl dresses in New Look.
By way of explanation consider the zeitgeist. We live in such a restless age. Boredom thresholds are low and everything is disposable - people, places, clothes, objects. It΅―s all about moving on, the cult of the new, and of course nothing typifies that more than fashion. Yes, there will always be room in every girl΅―s wardrobe for the classics, the basics that never go out of style, but in general you don΅―t want things that will last for years, you want something you can wear for a season, bin and move on, something that hasn΅―t cost you a fortune. The vast majority of us aren΅―t ΅®WAGs΅― or ΅®IT΅― girls or heiresses, we work for a living and have budgets that are more Debenhams than Dolce and Gabbana. Mind you, even those with the dough now recognise that when it comes to shopping, the High Street is where it΅―s at and you can still get the look of the catwalk, but at a whisker of the price.
That΅―s why, unless you΅―re Victoria Beckham, Armani and D&G and Prada are so last season. This is the age of Primani and Prida. All in favour of a new outfit top to toe for ?50 please raise their hands!
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I find this all too confusing. Once in a high street store, either men's or women's department, I look at the stitching, which is always frayed, and wonder why I have bothered. People may no longer wish clothes that will last for years, but don't they want an outfit that will keep its shape for a few weeks?
If you give people clothes that last for only a few months, they will come to expect that of materials and won't complain when their new dress splits its seams during its public debut.
I understand your reasoning, but can't understand why, if people want new items, they don't save and go to a tailor or dressmaker twice a year. And, more importantly, why durable denim became the hideous default trouser-covering of the populace.
Apologies Kim, I have begun to speak drivel. This sort of thing does make me animated though. If you want a bargain, there are second-hand shops a-plenty and one can almost guarentee that you won't be confronted with a sartorial doppelganger at the office party.
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I agree with the above comment. Trawling Charity shops is my favourite past-time! Just picked up an amazing Max Mara coat on Saturday. Half-price in the charity shop because it was black and more for autumn than summer! Just check the labels in there too. Sometimes Primark is as expensively priced. Will just go and put on my Versace jeans(?4.99!)
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