Greetings from another heatwave in the UK, my eyes are in a constant streaming state from a mix of hayfever, SPF and wafting a fan in my face at all times - I hope at the very least I develop incredibly muscly forearms. We have joined the British panic buying cliche of investing in a supersize paddling pool that will consume our entire garden and now awaiting the hosepipe ban to be announced as soon as we attempt to fill it. I’ve decided shirring is the worst type of clothing you can wear in the heat (but there’s so much of it everywhere?! I just want to scratch it off my body after five minutes) and I spend every evening past 7pm in my pants. I have also discovered our new home has very large windows (for which we’re yet to buy curtains) and a considerably smaller hallway and garden than our last so the chances of being spotted naked/topless crossing rooms by our neighbours is severely high. Yet I’ve still decided the reward is greater than the risk.
But I did find time to go shopping in Cos for you. Mainly for the air con - but it was BROKEN - which is why this post is a little shorter than I’d like.
This is a somewhat regular feature on how I shop UK High Street stores, I don’t need anymore clothes and don’t do ‘hauls’ but I do still enjoy shopping. But in real life and with a more critical eye.
I would probably say Cos is my favourite store for finding quality pieces, not too pricey, in decent fabrics that will last. Even more so than Arket.
I remember the Regent Street store opening in 2007, it felt different to most shops at the time, it was directional and was where you went if you didn’t want to dress like everyone else. My boss at the time was a self confessed ‘Marni freak’ but would happily alternate with head to toe Cos. I would head there for something to wear on location for work, when I needed to look presentable on set but it was also 30 degrees in NYC. Or when I travelled to Japan in 40 degrees with 80% humidity, it was THE place I headed for linen and light cotton that still looked smart.
And I don’t even need to mention my infamous Cos culottes.
But today the store feels like a High Street juggernaut, it’s prevalent in every major town and is consistently launching viral pieces (like that bobbly crossbody bag I rarely see anyone with anymore) which sell out fast. And I always see a correlation between brands’ virality and the time that they launch on affiliate platforms, which unfortunately makes me pessimistic.
The clothes still feel interesting in a sleek, minimal way and it’s one of the few shops I don’t feel too old in. There are tops with sleeves, less polyester and they seem to offer more practical clothes than most but I still mistake it for Arket or And Other Stories. In fact all the H&M group stores are quite interchangeable to me, don’t get me started on Monki/Weekday/Cheap Monday as my brain cannot distinguish.
I headed to the Kings Cross store, mainly because I’ve never seen anyone in there IOW it’d be easier to film. Coincidentally, this is the reason I’ve previously avoided visiting this site - it feels like a museum and I always get the impression they don’t actually want you to touch anything and ruin their meticulous displays.
The other reason I headed to Kings X is because it’s shaded and has nice public loos, the basis of most of my shopping trips.
Anyway, I hopped down there for 10am on Monday and turns out: it doesn’t open until a leisurely 11am! There were women eagerly outside with suitcases and a purpose. An event, or holiday, perhaps. Probably just passing time before their train/Eurostar.
Once open, the staff were polite enough but the store was quite hard to get excited by. It’s all quite sparse, with single pairs of shoes on concrete monuments like you should leave a hidden note with how much you’re willing to pay. There were glass corridors taking you to god knows where and I felt like I was in a workspace that happened to have clothes in.
I am often drawn to colour in Cos, mainly because everything else is a sea of black. I have noticed that most true Fashion people, especially in London (and not the ones you see online) wear almost exclusively black. They’re not rarely in butter yellow or powder blue or any of the hues I was looking at. And I always find that interesting, that those behind the scenes holding the real power of fashion and deciding what we wear, always aschew trends themselves.
But here’s a gorgeous butter yellow dress! I have absolutely nowhere to wear this sort of thing and bias cuts (or whatever diagonal cut this is) never, ever sit right on me. Same for drop waists (and there were plenty of those, too).
I do find that when Cos does do colour, those they favour are extremely difficult to wear for paler (and mostly red in the summer) skin tones. Ice cream pastels, dusty hues and lots of cornflower blue. I love but alas, they do not love me back.
The detail on this top though is where Cos excels. A simple black vest but with one gorgeous detail that makes it stand out - a little cape, if you will.
As I was browsing the distinctly small new in rail, I noticed customers bypassing me through the glass corridor - where were they going? I noticed a small sign suggesting a sale rail and was in quick pursuit. At the bottom of the stairs with even less air conditioning was an entire floor of sale! And it looked….nice? Not like a bargain bin of despair.
Yes it was typically less merchandised with rows and rows of clothes but they were in size order with plenty of availability and decent clothes left to buy! I’m traditionally not a sales shopper, I find it gives people the feeling they’re missing out and the need to grab a bargain when in fact, it’s just clothes that didn’t sell well. But here it didn’t feel like that, it was like being in Cos in Bicester - same clothes, just a bit cheaper.
There were tons of linen, elasticated waists and wide silhouettes so if you are after a few summer pieces, the sale section won’t make you feel like you’re compromising. They even had the suede bag recommended as an alternative to her Park tote from The Row.
What I look for in Cos:
Natural fabrics - their cotton tees are superb, their linen is great
Dresses and trousers in interesting shapes - tie details, wide silhouettes and shapes you can’t get elsewehere
Smart dresses or suiting for an event - I’d 100% wear a Cos suit to a wedding
Leather and suede accessories
What I avoid:
Anything with a slash neckline, some of their cotton poplin dresses can look a bit hospital gown
Silver jewellery - I have a friend who swears by it but personally, I would rather buy sterling silver from an independent brand
Anything too complicated, if I can’t understand how it ties in the fitting room, I never will.
Thankfully I wore the right shoes for my try on - chunky fisherman sandals are clearly very Cos coded. Sadly, the fitting room was where all my optimism lost its shine. The lighting was fine but the sleeve lengths were a bit off and the necklines odd.
The neck on this was rather wide (my posture didn’t help) and the sleeves went past my elbows, it was linen but felt heavy like it was dragging me.
This butter yellow dress was fine but fully lined which made it unecessarily fancy and a bit prim for me.
It’s worth noting I haven’t been able to find a lot of what I saw/tried in store online. Plus the shapes hit different in person, a lot of what I’d disregarded online had more appeal once I was up close and could touch the fabrics:
I tried this linen co ord, which exceeded my expectations but felt the top on its own had more potential. Here’s me whispering in the changing room with some garments:
Cos is rated ‘it’s a start’ on Good On You.
What’s your bugbear with Cos? The sizes? The ridiculously long trousers? Mine is the fact you get home and most of it is handwash/dry clean only. I actually forgot to check this time but thankfully this top can be machine washed.
Comments
Nothing yet. Say the first thing.
Sign in to join the conversation.