Locally available goods of any description

Chat about anything local that doesn't fit elsewhere!
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Richard
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Re: Locally available goods of any description

Postby Richard » Wed Dec 05, 2018 8:07 pm

To be honest seahermit, I doubt that very many men in Hastings share your desire to buy quality apparel.
Your sartorial tastes are, however, quite refreshing to hear of, as well as the lengths you will travel to search them out - but to put it mildly, most Hastings men seem to prefer to 'dress down' in worn-out clothing, as this manages to confer on them some sort of desired 'street-cred'.
Dark coats and black leather, if possible and certainly not anything elegant or expensive.

Local men in Hastings seem to care little about their appearance in quality designer clothing, whereas women are far more concerned about paying for refinements.
It is the women who will pay for beauty products and this wish to appear glamorous and refined extends to purchases of designer-furniture, from what I have witnessed.
Young and middle-aged women will always pay good money for quality items for the home, often dictated by the fashion magazines of the day.
Do women, then, have more good taste than men, maybe not always but it is they who are prepared to pay for it and the local economy pays homage to that trend.
Retailers should always be aware of the buying power of women over that of men.
To finish the point I would say that many men may like to buy a particular product for the home but will suggest that the final say on their intended purchase has to be vetoed by their 'other half' lady-friend for approval.
'Gay' people will also pay well for good quality or unusual designer items and that is another area of interest.

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seahermit
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Re: Locally available goods of any description

Postby seahermit » Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:46 pm

There are a few of us left who care what we look like! More importantly, I just don't see the point of buying cheaply made clothes. They are thin and don't keep you warm, badly cut and therefore uncomfortable, and they wear out quickly and need replacing. And of course I certainly wouldn't like to look as if I am a Hastings resident!

A lot of people look pretty scruffy these days, whatever the gender. I think it is a great shame and reflects sloppy attitudes. I find it difficult to respect a woman who doesn't have self-respect herself and look reasonably groomed - enough said, without giving away too much about myself!

Beauty etc. has little to do with fashion or two inches of cosmetics and I hate the the word "glamour"! It comes from within. A young fit woman can wear a white tee-shirt, smart pair of jeans, heels and maybe just one nice necklace - she'll get plenty of looks down the street. They say the best make-up makes you look as if you didn't put any on ..

I'm not a snob of course. Ask anyone. Anyone who matters, that is ..

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seahermit
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Re: Locally available goods of any description

Postby seahermit » Wed Dec 05, 2018 11:56 pm

Re: the Savers shop, I think there is one in Terminus Road, Eastbourne. If they are owned by Superdrug, that looks like an attempt to cash-in on the current craze for bargains. But, as you say, do we need any more outlets selling shelves full of "glamour" products? Glamour is not essential. In parts of the Middle East, they are trying to get one decent meal a day!

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Richard
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Re: Locally available goods of any description

Postby Richard » Thu Dec 06, 2018 6:20 pm

On the streets I guess it is a personal choice and there are no 'clothes Police' to worry about.
Some people have had a very hard life and many are still in relative poverty.
I like to feel well-dressed but I also like to loaf around in casual stuff (dress down) when I can.
I don't really have the spare cash to indulge in smart clothes, however I do have a 'Jaeger' jersey which is of a very fine woolen weave and has lasted well.
Generally the finer the weave the greater the quality and hard-wear-ability, be it cotton sheets, jumpers or toweling.

I know a 'character' who looks like 'The Mad Hatter meets Boy George' his apparel is not necessarily of the best fit but he turns heads nonetheless.
There is an art to dressing in order to catch attention but it doesn't have to be of the highest order and why would that matter anyway?

I can agree that many a young woman doesn't have to try hard if she has a good body and will attract attention without the need for high fashion.
Vanity is an example of pride, one of the seven deadly sins...

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seahermit
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Re: Locally available goods of any description

Postby seahermit » Thu Dec 06, 2018 8:12 pm

"It isn't what you wear but how you wear it" - true I think? A sense of style and taste is an important factor. However, quality matters too - good clothes simply hang better, wear better etc.

I don't waste money on a wardrobe of expensive clothes but I like to have a few nice things around for smart occasions. Treated myself last year to a dark blue tweed jacket (not Harris tweed) from Wards in Bexhill. Except that I have only worn it once so far! I don't get invited to many cocktail parties .. And I have a smart brown leather Norfolk jacket for when I want to show off. And a few swanky striped shirts for the summer.

Interesting discussion. Always fascinating to see what others do!

Re: style, there is a very pretty, smiling barmaid in the John Logie Baird (she used to be a ballet dancer) who could wear a dustbin lid and still look amazing. Some just have "it" and the rest of us don't!

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Richard
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Re: Locally available goods of any description

Postby Richard » Fri Dec 07, 2018 12:03 pm

seahermit, the problem with your fair reasoning about style, good taste and etcetera is that there is something of a confusion apparent when it comes to finding the truth that style in clothing is often achieved at the expense of quality.
'Style over substance'.
It shouldn't happen but time and again it does and I am not sure exactly why, unless the cheaper labels are just copying the famous brands and doing so with cheap materials and sweated labour.
WE have been over this before yet it still irks me.
Some designer labels mean a lot whereas others do not.

I will probably be shot for saying this but many women will choose style over substance any day, if it makes them feel better or more glamorous/sexy/appealing etcetera.
Perhaps it doesn't matter if the quality is poor because women will only wear the stuff a couple of times before chucking it onto the huge pile in the wardrobe.
Men will wear and wear clothes if they can get away with it...

Apart from that, take the issue of warm winter coats, this is a minefield in itself in materials and design and by the way, heavy coats do not mean warmer or better at all, unless you happen to like trench coats or duffel coats or long leather wrap-arounds, of course!
Style is much less important in this case - do they keep you warm is really all that matters!

By the way 'Savers' is a very bright and cheerful corner of town now and so-very-much-better than the empty premises previously.

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seahermit
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Re: Locally available goods of any description

Postby seahermit » Fri Dec 07, 2018 2:00 pm

I think that men these days are often as bad as women for being tempted by cheap, showy clothes which they know might not last well! I have bought colourful, stripey shirts from places like Peacocks which were half the price of M&S and much nicer - they looked great for one or two summers but ended up as floorcloths fairly quickly!

You are absolutely right, weight of a coat does not signify warmth (although traditional duffle coats/overcoats may be the exception). I have a very good padded parka for when the weather gets really horrible, but it's on the light side - for extra warmth you just add a thick pullover or fleece. Two thin layers are much warmer than one thick one. And quilting/lining materials like cotton are heavier but don't actually work as well as lighter man-made fibres - but not so good for the planet, I know ..

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Richard
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Re: Locally available goods of any description

Postby Richard » Fri Dec 07, 2018 8:07 pm

Fashion now trumps quality because durability (these days) is not of the essence, at least not to those who produce it.
Durability was once more important but, like everything else, manufactured goods now rely on built-in obsolescence in order to create more revenue for the fashion chains and labels.
By way of an example, motor-vehicles are replaced by many companies, 'en-masse', after a few short years, because vehicle manufactures offer deals that make repairs and maintenance too costly. Most companies want a fleet of smart new cars and don't mind paying for deals to achieve this.

Insurance companies won't pay for repairs to a cherished private car, damaged through no fault of your own, they will offer 'write-off' costs only, on the least excuse.
If you want to keep your damaged car you have to pay for repairs yourself and accept the low sums offered by the Insurance company to cover 'write-off' as a subsidy to your own repairs.

It is not really in the interests of the manufacturer to have goods that last well and don't need replacing. We live in a disposable society but with unknown costs to the environment and one day the birds will come home to haunt us.

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Richard
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Re: Locally available goods of any description

Postby Richard » Sat Dec 08, 2018 11:24 am

'Savers' are one of the best laid out shops - for what they sell - that I have seen.
Spacious, clean and welcoming, it should attract many customers and have a knock-on effect locally.
The only other shops that attract customers from further afield are the Junk and Antiques shops.

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seahermit
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Re: Locally available goods of any description

Postby seahermit » Sun Dec 09, 2018 1:29 pm

The throwaway attitude where everything is temporary and disposable is the worst aspect of consumerism, irresponsible and shortsighted.

We are already starting to pay the price heavily - pollution, mountains of waste, changes to the environment. A lot of it is probably now irreversible, even if tomorrow we stop doing all the wrong things.


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