Why You Should Choose Comfort Over Fashion

I’m sure the topic of comfort vs fashion has been discussed many times, but as I get older and my personal needs have changed, it’s become more important again in my life and got me thinking.

Since I was little, I've preferred comfortable clothes over painful but fashionable clothes, except for a brief stint in my late teens and twenties when I was a die-hard Goth and I wore some seriously uncomfortable clothes and shoes to get the Look. These days, I spend a lot of time in soft knits and baggier clothes (mostly black, admittedly) and I love it when fashion trends towards oversized and baggy, or when soft knitwear is a Thing, because you get the best of both worlds.

Back in my teenage years, which was the 90’s, things trended towards being more fitted, and items like low rise jeans were in fashion. At the time I didn't have the required body shape to rock the hip height jeans and spaghetti strap tops that everyone was wearing. That's partly why I went Goth, because I didn't have to worry about being 'on trend' and could wear clothes that covered me up. Body confidence was not something seventeen year old me had!

Clothes like low rise jeans may have been on trend way back when, but my god were they ever uncomfortable. I hated them, and my friends admitted they weren't good to wear, which always made me wonder why they wore them in the first place. Anything that doesn’t allow for full unrestricted movement is uncomfortable in my book and I’d rather spend the day in comfort than worry about being on trend.

But a lot of clothes, even if they are not skin tight or structured, are still not comfortable to wear. Even basic t-shirts can be uncomfortable for various reasons, be it a bad cut or a scratchy fabric.

Fabrics make a huge difference to the comfort of clothes. Satin, mesh and some kinds of wool are not comfortable to wear against the skin unless they have a softer lining, and properly lined clothes tend to be expensive. You can often find me walking around a clothes shop giving the clothes a good feel both inside and out, because if I don’t like how it feels when I touch it, I won’t want it against my skin.

There is an anecdote my mum likes to tell of a shopping trip when I tried on a jumper and couldn't get it off quick enough whilst yelling 'oh my god, it's so itchy!'. This was despite the outside feeling super nice on the hanger, but the inside of that jumper was like jumping naked into a pit of hedgehogs, which honestly I would rather have done than worn that jumper for any length of time. It still baffles me to this day how something that was so very soft on the outside was downright prickly on the inside - what did you do to that wool? It wasn't a cheap jumper either, well over £100, and if I am spending that kind of money on a jumper, I want it to be cloud-like on my skin.

My views on comfort being the most important thing when it comes to clothes often get me major side eye from people who don't understand how a personal stylist can be so focused on comfort instead of fashion. To me, it's far more important that my clients are comfortable in what they wear rather than looking like they've just stepped off a catwalk. I always ask them 'is that comfortable?' when they try something on and get them to sit down and move around in the item. If they really like it but it's uncomfortable or restrictive, I'll suggest they try the next size up. That's why it's important not to worry about the number on the size label. Cut the label out if you can't stand that you bought a 16 instead of a 14, but I bet you felt a lot more comfortable in the 16, right?.

Fast fashion is the worst for scratchy fabrics and uncomfortable cuts. The more you are willing to spend, the better the fabrics. This doesn't always ring true, as evidenced by the jumper incident I described above. But why, if you’re on a budget and can only afford a £4.99 shirt, shouldn’t you also be comfortable? It's not right that people on lower budgets often have to deal with unlined clothes or itchy, cheap wool. Everyone deserves to be comfortable.

I will forever believe that comfort beats fashion every single time when buying clothes. Not style, because that’s something different. I would rather wear something a little out of fashion that is comfortable, than look super up to date but want to rip off my outfit because of a scratchy fabric.

What about you, readers? Where do you stand on comfort vs fashion? Let me know in the comments!