For some, shopping on the high street is second nature, forever sniffing out the designer dupes, the sell-out styles and the timeless pieces that will always be on-trend. For others, it’s hard to believe these pieces can be found in our core high street stores like H&M or Uniqlo. If you fall into the latter group, allow us to share with you the secret to shopping success from three women whose job it is to scour the high street for the purposes of styling famous faces and fashion shoots.

“Whenever I feel uninspired or a bit lost with my own style or my clients, I will always head to the high street stores,” shares celebrity stylist Ellis Ranson. “Pieces are laid out into trends and colours, and I find items that I might not necessarily have searched for. It just makes everything that little clearer,” Ranson added, and she certainly isn’t the only one to think this. How many times have you headed into a store to pick up a particular top, and then spotted a perfect pair of matching trousers and just-right shoes slotted below? Countless, I’m sure.

Make the most of physical stores

In stores, clever visual merchandising is someones job – or, more likely, a whole team of people’s job. Pieces are laid out perfectly to make it easy to shop and style items together (encouraging people to spend more money, of course). Lighting is used to draw your attention to different items and colour palettes are combined to create a more aesthetically pleasing environment. Zara does this incredibly well, making us incredibly envious of the outfits the mannequins wear, which sends us scurrying off through the shop to find them.

But while the high street may be brilliant at transforming runway trends into lower-priced looks and showing us a seemingly never-ending supply of different pieces, picking out the ones that you’ll actually wear and keep in your wardrobe for a very long time can be the more challenging part. After all, we all have a part to play when it comes to overconsumption and wearing something once is the biggest sign of a poor purchase.

Find out about fabrics

Fashion stylist Sarah-Rose Harrison looks to fabric compositions to find pieces that will last. “Avoid poly-blends that have a short life cycle; they wash poorly and release microplastics into the water. Opt instead for wool blends, organic cotton, linen and more natural fibres where you can, as they’ll wear so much better and you’ll reach for them season after season,” she shared. 

Lucy Reber, Stylist’s fashion director, stresses this point too, emphasising that “the most important thing to remember when high street shopping is fabrics. Looking for simple cuts in neutral hues that will slot in seamlessly with the rest of your outfits is essential.” Crisp white shirts, ribbed cotton vests and chic loose linen trousers, for example. “You can then elevate your look with designer or contemporary leather bags and sandals,” she adds, leaning towards the high-low look.

Most importantly, Harrison adds: “Take full advantage of seeing and feeling pieces in real life.” Try them on, see how they fit, and ultimately, how well they appear to be made – it’s one of the biggest benefits of local shops and will dramatically reduce any buyer’s remorse.

Remember the rule of five

Once you do find a fabulous piece, Ranson recommends you take time to think about the rule of five. Can you wear it in five different ways, for five different occasions? If the answer is no, step away. That bright pink pair of pumps may be incredibly pretty, but if they’ll only collect dust at the bottom of your wardrobe after one fabulous night on the town, it’s best not to touch them.

So, to shop the high street successfully, use the physical shops to steer you in the right direction – someone has designed those pieces to work perfectly together, so consider it your own personal styling steer. Look for quality fabrics over flimsy ones that will fade. And be firm on the rule of five – if it won’t slot straight into your wardrobe, it’s best to walk the other way. 

Images: Getty; courtesy of M&S and Zara