Fashion Musings

So — I talk a lot about food in this blog, but I am also a people watcher — which is fun, especially considering how much I am out and about, which invariably includes a stop at a market or a gelato place, especially lately.

But I digress — what I have been seeing how many people I see wearing the same thing, all the time. In one day I saw the same Ann Taylor sweater on 4 people. Now I probably spend too much time on various fashion retailers’ websites, but setting aside my observational skills, I also have many friends complaining that whatever they buy they immediately see on someone else within days.

So, I wanted to mention the U.S. website of La Redoute. I have been remiss in mentioning it — but Corporette’s post on a pair of shoes there reminded me.

La Redoute is an 80-year old French institution. Initially a small catalog of wool clothing items in 1928, growing to an uber-catalog in the 1950s, it’s now become a powerhouse network of retail centers supporting a behemoth online business (both web-orders and catalog mail-orders).

La Redoute is also synonymous with inexpensive and relatively well-made clothes all over Europe — think somewhere around Target/Kohls/Old Navy in quality — namely inexpensive but won’t fall apart the first time you wash it either. It’s a good place to get some clothes that, chances are, you won’t see on someone else within a matter of days. As far as returns, there is a U.S. address to make things easier.