And Other Fabrics please

I love the idea of & Other Stories.

I would love to be the type of woman who shops in here. I believe her to be effortlessly stylish, collected and together. She wear a low heel, carries a functional bag and possible still buys Vogue UK. Although, let's be real, who still buys that?! 

I always go in armed with the notions that today will be different and I will find a thing I like enough to spend the extra money on. Today is the day I will become their target audience. But it falls flat every time. Nothing jumps out at me enough to justify the horror I feel at their price tags. Let me be clear, I am willing to spend monies on things but I need them to be the VERY THING. The VERY THING is something that feels special, feels well made and feels, well, comfortable. 

I am so over battling with my clothing just because I'm woman. (Tights I'm looking at you)

So I found this dress, shirt and skirt combo in &OS in Manchester this weekend and was instantly in love with the print. Which in turn is odd for me as I'm not normally a print girl. 

 I loved how quirky it was. The colour combination, the length, cut and style of the dress screamed 'I can be worn to your new job' loudly enough for me to hear it. I checked the price tag and it wasn't that bad at £49. I've bought worse for that money.

It was when I felt it that a problem arose quickly followed by another few.

You know when you touch a fabric and just know you will do a big sweat in it? A big massive possibly smelly sweat? This was that fabric. It didn't feel £49 worth of lovely fabric. It felt light, airy and weird.

The website claims this is 100% cotton but it didn't feel like it. It felt uncomfortable. The more I stared at it the more I felt more issues arise.

I've written before about the pathetic attempts of brands to include a belt without including an actual belt. This is where the pitiful string comes in. I can't stand it. I would rather you give me a baggy shirt dress that I can add a nice belt to myself rather then this wispy excuse. My other pet peeve is sponge applicators in expensive palette. Save your effort and just let me buy a brush lads. Chanel are the worst for this.

I looked at the skirt but didn't fancy a wrap around because I'd spent all night holding my own wrap dress shut in various bars around Manchester. Also, as a taller woman, things that are wrap dresses on normal women are a lot shorter on me so this skirt had the ability to be incredibly short.

Same for the shirt. Things that are cropped on most ladies are way too short for me to even consider.  But ultimately, it was the feel of the fabric that put me off.

I'm not sure what the purpose of this post is to be honest. I think I just wanted a moan about the fabric. What better reason to have a blog though?