[heavy_rotation]

Thanks in advance.

[RebelScum]

mmm, maybe New Look, slightly better than Primark. Topman isnt that much of a leap from Primark tbh.

[ShreddedParts]

Topman is quite a jump from Primark.

Some larger New Looks do mens clothing. There is also the River Island mens department but it is on par with Topman for price. Uni Qlo has some decent mens fashion at decent prices.

Matalan and Burton will probably fit the description you are looking for though.

[RebelScum]

Top Man = Primark & New Look quality @ River Island Prices.

Primark, Asda, Tesco < New Look < Topman <<<River Island

< less than

[tysonstorm]

Matalan, New Look (some stores are women only though), Asda, Burtons/

[malpasc]

H&M - better design and generally better quality than Primark but not as "expensive" as Topman..?

[daisyduck1976]

Matalan and H&M get my vote for quality at low prices

[Creamtea]

Er, Topman are expensive...???? As others have said, New Look is slightly cheaper than Topman, but more expensive than Primark, however, I wouldn't say the quality was any better in New Look than Primark. Also asos sometimes have some reasonably priced stuff, if you search from low to high cost.
Oh yeah, forgot H&M. Got a cool shirt from there for a tenner last week - cotton/linen! The quality is usually ok and cheaper than Topman. They seem to be cutting back on menswear though lately.

[TYCO]

Topman is experimental. It can go right or it can go really really wrong. So with them you are paying for the design. The quality is pretty bad. Primark is safe "dad" clothing. There's rarely anything in there that is interesting or different, but if you want to look plain and boring then why would you ask for this advice. River Island is kind of for lads, they're not very fashionable in my opinion, but you do get good quality accessories (bags and shoes especially). H&M used to be special. They used to do interesting and experimental fashion at good prices, now they just do cheap basics and seem to go by a one-size-fits-all mentality, they've become the IKEA of fashion, which is unsurprising since they too are Swedish. As for New Look, they seem to be about 6 months behind everyone else, but for simple clothing they are good.

The best, in my opinion, of the cheaper stores are ZARA. They are somewhere in between. A larger ZARA store is preferable. They are not cheap for basics, and sometimes they have some expensive items but in my opinion they price fairly. If something is expensive in ZARA then there's a good reason for it, and looking through my wardrobe right now, it's the ZARA stuff that has lasted.

But,

There is no easy answer to this, everyone needs a good range of clothing if they want to be fashionable, and no matter how right or edgy something is, if it doesn't fit you well it will not look good. So in all honesty, if you want to dress well you should never exclude any shop. Try everywhere. Shop regularly. Have good comfortable basics you can match with items-of-the-moment.

[Creamtea]

Originally Posted by TYCO

Topman is experimental. It can go right or it can go really really wrong. So with them you are paying for the design. The quality is pretty bad. Primark is safe "dad" clothing. There's rarely anything in there that is interesting or different, but if you want to look plain and boring then why would you ask for this advice. River Island is kind of for lads, they're not very fashionable in my opinion, but you do get good quality accessories (bags and shoes especially). H&M used to be special. They used to do interesting and experimental fashion at good prices, now they just do cheap basics and seem to go by a one-size-fits-all mentality, they've become the IKEA of fashion, which is unsurprising since they too are Swedish. As for New Look, they seem to be about 6 months behind everyone else, but for simple clothing they are good.

The best, in my opinion, of the cheaper stores are ZARA. They are somewhere in between. A larger ZARA store is preferable. They are not cheap for basics, and sometimes they have some expensive items but in my opinion they price fairly. If something is expensive in ZARA then there's a good reason for it, and looking through my wardrobe right now, it's the ZARA stuff that has lasted.

But,

There is no easy answer to this, everyone needs a good range of clothing if they want to be fashionable, and no matter how right or edgy something is, if it doesn't fit you well it will not look good. So in all honesty, if you want to dress well you should never exclude any shop. Try everywhere. Shop regularly. Have good comfortable basics you can match with items-of-the-moment.

Not true. I was in my local one yesterday and their were quite a few young "trendy" guys shopping in there. And they all had stuff it looked like they were going to buy/did buy.

[Master Ozzy]

That's exactly what Primark clothing is..."Dad clothing". There's no fit to any of the clothes and they just look really cheap. New Look isn't much better and like another poster said, River Island is for the "lads". Fashion wise...Topman, Zara, All Saints. The Topman clothes are fashion over quality, but if you look after them then they last quite a while...I don't think £20 for a tshirt is that expensive if it's going to make you look fashionable. Zara the quality is much better, but I find that their sizes are sometimes huge. All Saints is fantastic and really, really good quality, but it's very expensive...if you've got bit of spare cash though at the end of the month then it's worth it. American Apparel is very hit and miss...their clothes have an amazing fit, however they're very expensive and the quality isn't too good. H&M is ok for basics, but it's gone down hill in the last few years...everything in there now is so bland and dull.

[Creamtea]

Originally Posted by Master Ozzy

That's exactly what Primark clothing is..."Dad clothing". There's no fit to any of the clothes and they just look really cheap. New Look isn't much better and like another poster said, River Island is for the "lads". Fashion wise...Topman, Zara, All Saints. The Topman clothes are fashion over quality, but if you look after them then they last quite a while...I don't think £20 for a tshirt is that expensive if it's going to make you look fashionable. Zara the quality is much better, but I find that their sizes are sometimes huge. All Saints is fantastic and really, really good quality, but it's very expensive...if you've got bit of spare cash though at the end of the month then it's worth it. American Apparel is very hit and miss...their clothes have an amazing fit, however they're very expensive and the quality isn't too good. H&M is ok for basics, but it's gone down hill in the last few years...everything in there now is so bland and dull.

Whatever. I obviously imagined all the young "creative, trendy" East London types in their the other day. You obviously have superior knowledge.

[Creamtea]

Deleted.

[Master Ozzy]

Originally Posted by Creamtea

Whatever. I obviously imagined all the young "creative, trendy" East London types in their the other day. You obviously have superior knowledge.

Yes you obviously did. Anyone with an ounce of fashion sense would not buy their clothes from Primark.

[CABLEDUDE]

I love River Island, but if you want a bit cheaper, I'd recommend H&M

[Beau_Soir]

Originally Posted by Master Ozzy

Yes you obviously did. Anyone with an ounce of fashion sense would not buy their clothes from Primark.

Agree with this, it's awful! My friend dragged me in there once, it looked like a war zone, complete and utter mess and lots of deranged people randomly grabbing things of hangers and shoving them into a basket like the world was about to end. The highlight of the day was when my friend picked up a jacket which she thought was 'cool' and contemplating buying, I told her to look behind, only to find a woman around 70 trying on the same jacket. She didn't buy it in the end

[Kiko H Fan]

Matalan.

[Creamtea]

Originally Posted by Master Ozzy

Yes you obviously did. Anyone with an ounce of fashion sense would not buy their clothes from Primark.

Well you obviously have no idea.

[21stCenturyBoy]

ASOS is online and pretty varied in price- anything from £10 to £250 for a T-Shirt for example.

[Master Ozzy]

Originally Posted by Creamtea

Well you obviously have no idea.

No I think it's you who has no idea!!! Nobody in their right mind who knows anything about fashion would buy clothes from Primark. There's no fit whatsoever to any of their sizes and everything looks like it would have been worn by chavs about 10 years ago.

[Viridiana]

Originally Posted by Master Ozzy

No I think it's you who has no idea!!! Nobody in their right mind who knows anything about fashion would buy clothes from Primark. There's no fit whatsoever to any of their sizes and everything looks like it would have been worn by chavs about 10 years ago.

It's not for nothing the fashionistas call Primark, Primarni, look it up! Where have you been the last years???

[Creamtea]

Originally Posted by Master Ozzy

No I think it's you who has no idea!!! Nobody in their right mind who knows anything about fashion would buy clothes from Primark. There's no fit whatsoever to any of their sizes and everything looks like it would have been worn by chavs about 10 years ago.

Oh purleese. I don't deal with fashion snobs. They usually end up knowing zero about looking good. People who can effortlessly look good in clothes from any shop don't really need to worry about such shallow things as where their clothes come from.

[Master Ozzy]

Originally Posted by Creamtea

Oh purleese. I don't deal with fashion snobs. They usually end up knowing zero about looking good. People who can effortlessly look good in clothes from any shop don't really need to worry about such shallow things as where their clothes come from.

No, people who can effortlessly look good in clothes from any shop are called good looking!!!! Some people actually take pride in their appearance and the way they dress and want to look good, and I'm sorry, but unless you're stunningly good looking and can look good even in a bin bag, then Primark is not the way to go. I'm not a "fashion snob"...it's pretty well known that Primark is crap.

[heavy_rotation]

Primark is 90% shit, but I picked up a nice t-shirt and some good skinny trousers/chinos from there.

[TYCO]

Can we settle the argument over Primark?

I labelled it as "safe dad clothing" because Primark just copy what other retailers have been successful with - but a bit too late.

Obviously in a shop that size it's possible to find SOMETHING acceptable to wear, but it's never going to be cutting edge, it's going to have been in fashion for at least 6 months before it comes to Primark. Certain styles like chinos have fortunately remained fashionable for more than 6 months.

I would never rule out Primark, I would always take a look. In the same way that I won't blindly follow the same shop season after season. There's nothing more tragic than seeing someone dressed completely in one label. Even if it's a great look, if you can tell they didn't put any thought into it themselves it's a turn off.

Fashion is complicated.