Why You Shouldn't Rule Out Shopping In 'Older' Stores

I find myself ignoring some shops because of their demographic - the demographic I have subconsciously given them - some I naturally associate with an older market and am therefore less inclined to pop in to but having recently found some gems online, it's a mistake I won't be making anymore.

I don't know about you but usually I don't give too much attention to brands that I associate with an older market, places like Marks & Spencer, Next, La Redoute and more were once brands I would only associate with an older market and for that reason I never found myself perusing those websites. However, nowadays that has completely changed. I'm often left dumbfounded by the incredible, trend led pieces that I come across when and where I least expect them. Marks & Spencer came out with some incredible bell sleeve knitwear during the winter - you know, the blush pink top every blogger had in their wardrobe that I sadly didn't manage to get my hands on - but what's so great about these brands? Well, I've always found the quality to be far better than that of your typical high street stores albeit for a slightly higher price, and no option for student discount *boo*, in the long-run, it's worth it.

I unintentionally ended up with an outfit that is pretty much head-to-toe from Next which prompted me to write this post; I thought about how often I would disregard Next while shopping on the high street because of the misconception that it isn't for me or my age group. When actually, I got some really great pieces recently which I've been wearing so much! Whilst shooting this look a lovely lady stopped to comment on how stylish I looked, we ended up chatting a little bit about street style and she went on to tell me that she once had a street style blog herself and she would definitely have worn this outfit which I absolutely loved hearing because firstly, it meant she liked what I was wearing (always a confidence booster) and secondly, she looked pretty stylish herself so I valued her opinion a great deal.

To sum up the look, I've got on a white shirt with a twist thanks to the wide sleeves and sheer panels but it's all still quite demure because of the positioning of the pockets over the chest - it's both cute and practical. I also finally found a pair of cropped jeans I like which I'm so pleased about. I was actively trying to hunt down a pair but couldn't find any that were flattering on me so when I gave up the search I came across this style on Next which I now have in both blue denim and white, they always say you end up finding what you're after when you stop looking for it and that's exactly what happened. Accessory wise, I'm sporting some gorgeous closed toe mules (not quite sure if that's the proper term for them but let's just go with it for now) the bright pop of colour is perfect to make your look more spring-like, especially if you're a monochrome kinda girl, and red is the colour of the season so you're definitely winning with these in your shoedrobe. I've finally got a new bag to share with you too! This one is from New Look and available in five different colours so there really is one for everybody, I picked the classic black and gold bag because that's just my thing.

SHOP THE POST:

Shirt - (c/o) Next
Cropped jeans - (c/o) Next
Red mules - (c/o) Next
Ring handle bag - (c/o) New Look
[Photos taken by Maria]