The Student Room Group

Why are Topsop, River Island, Dorothy Perkins etc. so expensive?!

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Because it's fashion, darling.
Reply 21
I don't find it expensive. But I'm rich :smile:
Gotta hand it to them. Feeding off fools who think it is cool to join the crowd and buy from these poor-quality, exremely overpriced outlets, just so that they can join the other 10 million people who also shop at the same place and be part of the group.

Marketing at its finest.
Reply 23
That's why I prefer to do my shopping outside of the UK
Nope. They are ridiculously expensive. Doesn't bother me like, I can't stand Topshop anyway. I prefer New Look plus student discount :yep:

Oh and i've had clothes from River Island tones of times that have fallen to bits. Buttons are the worst. Forever coming loose/falling off.
I agree that they are expensive, however I think Topshop's prices are justified quite a bit. In terms of fashion topshop is like a bit of a transition between designer and high street to me.

I hate the pieces of clothing that EVERYONE wears, but most of the time you can find something good and unique.
Reply 26
Serina M
I agree that they are expensive, however I think Topshop's prices are justified quite a bit. In terms of fashion topshop is like a bit of a transition between designer and high street to me.

I hate the pieces of clothing that EVERYONE wears, but most of the time you can find something good and unique.

i see everyone in topshop all the time. i had a dress from there which i hadn't worn, went out and saw 4 people in the same club wearing it. i took it back.


topshop is horrendously overpriced. i don't see alot in there that i think 'ooh that's cute' so half the time i don't even bother looking and £38 for a top is excessive. it used to be affordable, i'm not sure what happened. i prefer miss selfridge, rive risland, new look, dorothy perkins.
seabird
i see everyone in topshop all the time. i had a dress from there which i hadn't worn, went out and saw 4 people in the same club wearing it. i took it back.




I'm not sure why you quoted me because I said the same thing :confused: Yes there are dresses/tops etc that quite a few people wear, but then they have items of clothing that most people wouldn't dare to wear, which is what I like about it. I agree that it is very overpriced, and to be honest even I don't shop there very much, only when it's a sale. But I like some of their clothes so you know, what's to stop me?
Reply 28
I don't really know, I would say that for the most part the quality isn't even particularly better, but I think you're paying for a better brand of high street name. For example, some people won't even shop in Primark, New Look etc so for them they'll just pay whatever price. For me, I can look at something and then I'll take some time to think about it and in the mean time will find something very similar somewhere cheaper and I'll buy it there instead because I'm incredibly fickle with clothes and get bored of them really quickly so there's no need for me to pay £40 if I can get virtually the same thing for £15. But if I didn't look in cheaper shops then I wouldn't know there was an alternative.

I think places like Warehouse, the quality really is better - a lot of their dresses are silk or a thick better quality material, but in some other shops like Topshop some of the clothing has material which is just as flimsy as you'd get in Primark.

I think it depends on your attitude to clothing. I like wearing the latest trends but I don't have a lot of money and I go for variety over having to wear the same item in ten different ways because I paid a lot for that one item and I then can't afford anything else. I like to be able to have a lot of choice when it comes to clothes so I buy cheaper but I buy more of them, whereas other people will use their money to buy one or two items from a more expensive store. Some things I will pay more for, like jeans, coats and shoes, but for everything else I personally don't think it's worth it.
Reply 29
Dorothy Perkins is expensive for their excuse for clothing. Seriously it's all a pile of garbage, badly made, awful fabrics. I avoid that place like the plague.

I can never find anything in Topshop unless I go to a bigger store and then it's only shoes and accessories. They're not a good as they used to be. They must have a **** crazy buyer.

River Island.. never really find anything there either. It's a one off. Got some nices boots and a top.

Try Miss Selfridge? They're Topshop's sister and everything's a bit cheaper. I prefer the clothes.
And Republic are pretty cheap too. I love ASOS. La Redoute is great too but their website is a mission so order the catalogue.

About the jeans, I only buy Denim labels like Killah, G-Star Raw, Freeman T Porter and I only wash them once or twice in their lifetime (a year or so and then they start to fray everywhere). Try that.
River island isn't that expensive in my opinion. Or burton, Topshop etc..
Reply 31
Bellissima
I'm not hard for money or a chapskate.. but these highstreet shops being so expensive really annoys me, especially when it probably only cost them £1 or something to make half the clothes... I mean Topsop has stuff going for £100+... and it's a HIGH STREET shop! Not even designer (which I also think is a rip off unless you get sales/discounted)..

I seriously doubt Topshop/River Island etc have better quality clothes than places like New Look (they haven't in my experience, I have a top from river island where the elastic is forever coming out and jeans that faded from Topshop after two washes which NEVER happened from any other cheaper clothing)..

Is it just because they can and people still go for it?

It's like Jane Norman clothes, expensive, some look really noce, but they are made from tacky material and not greatly made.

anyway, are you ok with topshop prices, am i alone here?


It's not that expensive :s-smilie:

But I hate TopShop with a passion. About 5 years ago they were awesome, a lot of their quality has slipped now.

Reiss & Zara FTW (although the same can be said about Zara)
Reply 32
I cant stand some of the topman t shirts and that, urrrrgh *chunder*


Only thing i get from there is jeans and maybe a pair of shoes!
Reply 33
I didn't think that DP was too expensive. :x I agree with you though, unless you find something you absolutely fall in love with (I saw a tea dress for £60 in Monsoon and just HAD to buy it, but that rarely happens to me), it's not worth splashing out.
sometimes Topshop can be reasonable. i got a really nice leather jacket for £50 the other day. but yes, sometimes the prices are inflated beyond what the item is actually worth, and as someone has already pointed out- the Kate Moss line is a joke- wildly overpriced and looks like something from the mid 90s (and not in a hip retro way).
I agree with you about Topshop because it's one of the most popular shops among young girls/women and I don't like to pay vast amounts of money to go around wearing something that 100s of other girls will be wearing. I don't think the prices at Dorothy Perkins are too bad, and I'm not a massive fan of River Island clothes anyway, but I love their bags and shoes...i sometimes find that some of their clothes look a bit tacky, and along with the expensive price tag...not worth it!
I prefer shops like Warehouse and Oasis which are quite expensive but I love the clothes there so I'm prepared to pay more money, and the quality of the products is also very high in my experience.
Reply 36
Dr. Frank-N-Furter
Because it's fashion, darling.


*Pictures Dr. Frank bursting into song*

TinFish
But I hate TopShop with a passion. About 5 years ago they were awesome, a lot of their quality has slipped now.


So true, I remember TopShop used to be alot cheaper and the clothes were SO much better quality. Furthermore, alot of the clothes in there now are just ******* ugly!

ASOS all the way, they have a great selection of outside brands and their own brand is great, they have totally revamped the own brand in terms of quality in comparison to a couple of years ago. I rarely shop anywhere else now.
Reply 38
Sithius
*Pictures Dr. Frank bursting into song*



A GIRL'S JUST AS HAWT AS THE SHOES SHE CHOOOSEEEESSSS
Yeah, you are not alone.

I'd never ever buy clothes from Newlook, I think their quality is absolutely rubbish. As for their shoes, they look good but are so uncomfortable.

Topshop, river island and Jane Norman are overpriced. Jane Norman stuff reminds me of lycra stuff you get at the market. River Island jeans are really good but too exp.

I much prefer boutiques and some designers such as ralph lauren (they are way cheaper in the states).

Primark is cheap but I haven't been there for over a year. I went to Matalan earlier this year and got good quality vest tops, unfortunately I had bought vest tops from Next the week before and the quality was really bad.

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