Wormella
Well-Known Forumite
Daughter has got me on the secondhand path. Carboot, charity shops and vinted. Not only do we find genuine quality, we save a fortune and reduce our fast fashion demand which by association improves our environmental impact. I'm a convert! When we do buy new we buy better quality and less often. Haven't missed shopping on primark at all
https://www.ethicalconsumer.org/fashion-clothing/what-fast-fashion-why-it-problem
It's not the answer for everything - I mean, someone has to buy new for there to be new clothes in the 'eco system' and clothes don't last forever, even quality ones.
I think accepting you have a certain style and going with it take a bit of time to bed in as a person so it's fine to experiment with looks, which you might not want to spend a fortune on. As discussed elsewhere in this thread some places are reliable for sizes and certain things (I'm a fan of Primark or Asda pajamas for instance).
What I really miss in Stafford is a decent dress agency - we used to have a few of them. (Pretty wrap dresses are very much a weakness of mine)