Style in the aisles? Jane and Beryl go supermarket clothes shopping
Monday 11 June 2018
Lets face facts: Beryl does not like supermarket clothes and has to be cajoled like an infant into behaving well in the aisles. As usual the taller and possibly thinner Jane looks better in this stuff than the gnome-like Beryl. She has tried on some kit and is now having a tantrum: Jane is walking away and ignoring her. Why, you may ask, are our fashionistas in among the groceries? Because, as Jane points out, she has had the odd stellar garment from this source and at a bargain price.
TESCO
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| Tuxedo £15 (sale), dress £20, shoes £12 |
Top of our three supermarkets in Jane and Beryl's opinion this time is Tesco. Nice bright colours abound, and they each left with an item. The ditsy floral print of this dress is bang on trend and with the super bargainous jacket and silver plimmies makes a great go-anywhere ensemble for summer dressing all for the princely sum of £47.
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| Dress £16, cardigan £12, plimsolls £12 |
Jane is always cautious about the strapless look these days: just too much middle-aged flesh out there for all to see. This black dress, however, once covered up with the orange cardi, would be a credible ensemble.
As the holiday season approaches, Jane and Beryl feel they must at least - reluctantly - consider the swimsuit issue, so why not in the draughty confines of the supermarket changing room? Jane found this one at £16 to be a bit of a triumph, although still doesn't consider herself to be 'beach ready', whatever that means... (and probably never will).
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| Top £14, hat £8, trousers £14, shoes £12 |
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| Top £18, trousers £14, shoes £12 |
By now things are heading down hill a little sartorially.
Jane and Beryl are feeling decided aged indeed, as if they have boarded the bus to Monkeyworld with the Sixty Plus Club. Beryl liked the trousers, but has an inter-size problem. These are a ten, (too big) but the eights are snug in her lady garden. The sizing was decidedly generous, leaving our duo feeling a little euphoric. Apparently, sales of this style of panama hat has gone strata-pheric after Megan Markle was seen wearing one. Jane thinks however that Beryl looks likes she is moonlighting from the butchery counter, which was not the look Beryl was aiming for.
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| Top £14, shorts about £10 , shoes Beryl's own |
Beryl, who turned up for the photo-shoot in a black bra, (school girl error) grabbed a flesh coloured brassiere from the lingerie rail. All Beryl is saying is that bra buying for a WOACA is an art of its own, best approached with forensic care, and buying a bra from a super-market is in her opinion a recipe for an ill-fitting disaster.
The shorts which have a lovely patterned fabric, turned out to be a right pair of droopy drawers. Beryl however bucked up and bought the top in a smaller size as it is just the sort of anonymous item that supermarkets do really well i.e. one that she would be hard pushed to identify either its origin or price-point.
These gold espadrilles bought earlier in the season from Tesco for £15, illustrate the point perfectly. Some frivolous fun to funk up her summer wardrobe.
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| Top £18, trousers £14, shoes Beryl's |
SAINSBURY'S
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| Shirt £16, trousers £15, bag £18 |
Sainsbury's came in next with some attractive and winsome Cath Kidson-esque seaside print sundresses and tops, and some great handbags. Here, Jane is toting the one she liked best, with a print collarless shirt in a lightweight fabric for the summer. Catalogue entry over. The top emphasised her pale complexion too much and was not a keeper. The linen trousers were appealing, but yet more black Jane does not desire, so this went back on the rails too.
You will notice that Beryl is under-dressed, courtesy of Mr Sainsbury. This is because nothing fitted. Beryl's knockeredge would not fit in their size 12 sundresses, so she has gained two dress sizes in the 35 minutes interval between shopping in Tesco and Sainsbury's and all with no lunch.
Beryl really liked the colours and pattern of this cozzie, and would consider it. Sadly the décolletage was more humph, than oomph! This is because they do not put separate cups in these giving a girl a mono- bosom, this said, a good suit for it's £18 price tag.
ASDA
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| Trousers £12, vest top £1.50, mac £14 bag £12 |
George at ASDA has historically come up trumps for Jane as she used to spend a lot of time - up to four hours a week - lurking amongst the polyester and the prints while waiting for her daughter's ballet class. Those days are gone and confined now to the odd dash around their offerings, she is less impressed. Jane and Beryl found so little product on the rails in their local store that they wondered if ASDA was closing its clothing department?
The mac was a good fit, however, and Beryl says the best one Jane has ever tried on and in the sale for a bargain £14: high praise indeed.
No this outfit is not from from Asda, and the eagle-eyed among you may notice that this appeared on the 'Summertime... and the dressing is easy' blog of last week. These Halluber trousers were £79, while the ones in Asda are £12. Both have elasticated waists, and sport this season's botanical print. The Halluber trousers are eight times the cost of the Asda offering, and Beryl has to miserably concede that they are not eight times nicer. You can, of course, draw your own conclusions, but eight times more is a lot of dosh.
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| Kaften dress £28 Asda |
Next week: Flower power has always been up there as favourites with Jane and Beryl, ditsy or otherwise... you decide
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