high-street

There’s nothing like finding a really expensive-looking piece of clothing and discovering it’s actually affordable, is there? As editors, we do a lot of scrolling for research for our Who What Wear articles, and we’re used to seeing beautiful outfits from influencers and fashion people. But so often, they’re made up of high-end designer pieces that most of us would probably have to spend a long time saving up for. We’re all for investing in quality over quantity, but when we do come across a chic, timeless outfit that turns out to be from the high street, you can imagine our excitement.   In fact, we Who What Wear editors actually have a dedicated Slack channel to discuss the best high street pieces we see, either on influencers or on ...

It’s no secret that us Who What Wear editors love to find great value buys on the high street. If you shop wisely, and look out for good quality, classic pieces, you can really uncover some expensive-looking gems that will work in your wardrobe for a long time. Yes, it might make sense to invest more in things like a luxury leather bag, cashmere knit or hard-wearing boots to ensure their longevity. But there are some key staples I, personally, always turn to the high street for. Things like denim, shirting, and—what we’re here to talk about today—coats.  Honestly, I’ve found some of my favourite, most-complimented and longest-lasting coats on the high street, and I know for a fact my fellow editors feel the same. But it’s not just us, this year I’ve seen so many influencers wearing hi...

At Who What Wear, we firmly believe that every item you buy should be viewed as an investment. It should be something that you love and that excites you, that you return to time and again because of the joy it brings. We also firmly believe that that statement doesn’t just apply to designer pieces. Thanks to the high street, there are plenty of elevated (and affordable) staples out there that are worthy of a place in your wardrobe.  There are some hight-street brands that continue to impress us season after season—& Other Stories, COS and Zara, to name a few—and each serve a different purpose. Zara is all about the trend-led pieces mixed with sleek, tailored separates as well as an ample offering of great coats, shoes and earrings. COS is my go-to for when I ne...

When it comes to discovering this season’s It products, at Who What Wear we all agree that Instagram is a great source of inspo. Whether it’s that Mango shearling jacket (our sources tell us it’s coming back in stock soon, FYI) or the Arket striped jumper, there’s no shortage of cult items to be found. Something that doesn’t happen all too often, however, is when these popular pieces all end up being from the same brand. Luckily for us high-street lovers, this is exactly what’s happening right now thanks to one of our favourite brands, H&M. The new-season offerings are some of the best we’ve seen from the high-street hero, and we’re not the only mega fans. Some of our stylish friends have already been shopping, and wearing, the ...

I like to approach the frenzy of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales with a calm and steady mind, preparing ahead of time with a list of what I actually need and then doing my due diligence to filter through everything before (panic) committing to a decision. So far over the Cyber Weekend we’ve seen a heap of high street stores offer their discounts (I have to admit, COS’s sale offering is particularly strong), designer e-commerce sites such as MATCHESFASHION and Net-A-Porter share their reductions and countless beauty brands such as Look Fantastic and Charlotte Tilbury have deals on cult-adored items that are worth buying any day of the year, full-price too! I’m following a less-is-more kind of sales strategy, so when one is fa...

Winter can be really hard to dress for. Your first priority is usually warmth, and for me personally, comfort comes a close second, with style often taking a back seat. Add in some dark, uninspiring mornings and my go-to outfits can easily just become a combination of the cosiest items I lay my hands on when I first open my wardrobe. I presume I’m not alone in this winter outfit rut, so after recently browsing through H&M’s impressive new-in section, I thought it might be helpful to assemble four ready-made, affordable (but still chic) H&M winter outfits to inspire us all.  Whether you’ve got festive events on the brain—from Christmas Day to parties in the run up—or your cosy weekend-wear is feeling like it needs a refresh, the f...

Do you remember where you were when H&M launched it’s first collaboration Versace? Or, to go back even further, Topshop’s experimental collaboration with Christopher Kane? I do, not least because I have always been fashion obsessed, but also as a high street devotee, it always makes my heart skip a beat whenever an affordable, accessible designer collection is announced. Uniqlo are no stranger to iconic collaborations, at any given time you can find pieces from the likes from Jil Sander, Mame Kurogouchi, Inès de La Fressange, and of course, JW Anderson. The well-considered, wearable collections are always executed in the way that only Uniqlo can, with deft precision and an incredible price point. So, you can imagine my delight when the first Marni X Uniqlo partner...

So what do I consider Zara’s most expensive-looking items? It differs with each drop. Now, I find myself drawn to its palette of neutrals—beiges, bright whites, earthy hues, and of course, the most expensive-looking shade of them all: black. Fabrications are also a key component in Zara’s more premium aesthetic. I think it creates the strongest broderie pieces—an embroidery technique that always looks high-end and a bit French—on the high street. You’ll notice that my edit is almost entirely devoid of prints. Although this wasn’t deliberate, I don’t think Zara’s 2022 print offering looks the most expensive. (Although it does make a statement.) So instead, I’ve embraced crochet and different weave techniques, which break up the streak of block colours below but don’t take away from the whol...

Suddenly, it feels like winter. Gone are the days when I could quickly nip out of the house without a jacket or a considerable amount of knitwear, and it’s time my puffer coat was taken out of storage to be put back into work. It’s not technically “winter” until December 21, but many of us in the team are eagerly counting down the days until it’s appropriate to wear our Arket beanies once more. My boot collection has been finally unboxed again, ready for action. The tights are on, the layers are piling up, and I’m 100% here for it all. And while I’m not one to endlessly buy new items every time a season rolls around, I do enjoy looking at new-in winter items—a lot. It takes a great deal of research to find the best coat or ...

Suddenly, it feels like winter. Gone are the days when I could quickly nip out of the house without a jacket or a considerable amount of knitwear, and it’s time my puffer coat was taken out of storage to be put back into work. It’s not technically “winter” until December 21, but many of us in the team are eagerly counting down the days until it’s appropriate to wear our Arket beanies once more. My boot collection has been finally unboxed again, ready for action. The tights are on, the layers are piling up, and I’m 100% here for it all. And while I’m not one to endlessly buy new items every time a season rolls around, I do enjoy looking at new-in winter items—a lot. It takes a great deal of research to find the best coat or ...

Black Friday has now become a week-, and in some cases even a month-long affair. It should come as no surprise, then, that some of the best Black Friday deals have already begun. The sales period can easily become overwhelming with offers coming at you from all angles. And so today I’m here to help you cut through the noise and focus in on the best high-street deals, with a calm head and a cool, considered approach. As always, we’re only here to talk about the crème de la crème. I’m a stylist and editor who has seen it all after a decade working in the industry, and so you could say I have pretty high standards. That doesn’t mean I don’t shop on the high street, though. You’ll know from my weekly column that I just tend to&n...

There are a lot of jumpers out there to choose from when shopping for your winter wardrobe this year, especially if you’re looking for knits on the high street. Some, however, are better than others, and there’s one particular knit that the whole Who What Wear team (and the fashion world in general) has been hoping would come back in stock for 2022. Arket’s cable-knit wool jumper first launched last year and sold out within just days of it landing online, probably thanks to the fact that an army of influential fashion people jumped on it so quickly and then proceeded to share it all over the internet.  We missed out last year, and since it’s such a timeless knit, it’s no surprise we’ve seen it worn repeatedly by the lucky people who managed to get their hands on one ev...