Fatface

I was first introduced to 'Fat Face' clothing about 4 years ago. It was not so well known then due to only a small number of shops but as more and more stores have opened it is getting more of a high street name (personally I preferred it before as there was less chance in seeing the same item on other people - a bit like Next!)

Anyway, for those of you out there who do not know much about Fat Face they sell 'lifestyle' clothing designed ...
...but of course you can wear the clothes slumped in front of the TV if you so wish!

A little bit of background on Fat Face -
1988, Meribel, French Alps, 2 ski bums, Jules & Tim. money's running short, design a few sweatshirts, sell from their rucksack, ski until Spring, head for the beach..... Fat Face is born (their words not mine)

The first store opened in Fulham, London when the business outgrew their rucksack ... more

I was first introduced to 'Fat Face' clothing about 4 years ago. It was not so well known then due to only a small number of shops but as more and more stores have opened it is getting more of a high street name (personally I preferred it before as there was less chance in seeing the same item on other people - a bit like Next!)

Anyway, for those of you out there who do not know much about Fat Face they sell 'lifestyle' clothing designed for active wear & outdoor - yes, this is true but of course you can wear the clothes slumped in front of the TV if you so wish!

A little bit of background on Fat Face -
1988, Meribel, French Alps, 2 ski bums, Jules & Tim. money's running short, design a few sweatshirts, sell from their rucksack, ski until Spring, head for the beach..... Fat Face is born (their words not mine)

The first store opened in Fulham, London when the business outgrew their rucksack I guess & the rest, as they say, is history!

There are three ways of buying Fat face clothing -
1. Shops
2. Website
3. catalogue

...Shops...
I like the shops, they make you feel hip & trendy (even though your not!) the music is good, the clothes are well laid out, lighting is good so you can actually see the garments (I hate dark & dingy shops) and they are quite good at mixing garments as to what goes with what (great for you colour blind people out there). I have also always found the assistants to be very helpful in finding sizes and giving advice (although one guy said my bum looked good in a certain pair of trousers and they were clearly much too tight!! - I did wonder then if he was on commission!).

...website...
Go to www.fatface.co.uk, the site is great for background info, events, offers etc as well as being able to buy the clothes on-line. I am not going to go into any detail as the opinion is based on offline and I want to concentrate on the catalogue.

...catalogue...
Once you have subscribed (free) then you get sent regular catalogues as the seasons change. They tend to be about the size of a magazine so easy to store.

The layout is very good, the main thing being good sized images so you can get a better feel from the photo as to what the garments look like. There are also small images of the other colours that the garments come in which show texture etc rather than just the colour which is useful.

The winter catalogues tend to concentrate on winter sports such as ski-ing, boarding etc and the summer more geared towards surfing. This is just an image though, you certainly don't have to be an extreme sports person to wear these clothes (or a sports person at all in fact!).

......so what kind of clothes do they do....

Mens - available in sizes S to XL (some XS & XXL) and in a range of sweatshirts, long sleeved tops, t shirts, jeans, cargo style pants, fleeces, hooded tops, jackets, trainers - it is a very casual range in trendy colours and designs. To give an idea of price there are long sleeved tops from £25 and cargo style trousers at £49.50.

Ladies - available in sizes 8 to 16 (some 18) and also tops in S to L. They have a great range of colours with intersting names such as candy, ice, grape, river to name a few. The range is similar to the mens with added skirts, again very casual, weekend type clothes - not something you would wear to the office! An idea of price is £25 for a long sleeved top and £39.50 for a fleece.

Childrens - the range is not as big as the adults but they have some great things. Sizes are 2-3, 4-5, 6-7 8-9& 10-11 - the 2-3 & 4-5 tend to be cheaper than the other sizes (and so they should be with less material!) An idea of price is £14.50/£16.50 for a long sleeved top, £24.50/£26.50 for trousers

Accessories - available for adults and some for kids there is a range of bags, shoes, jewellery, wallets gloves, scarves, hats (winter), socks - all again very casual, trendy designs.

The catalogue also includes two other sections -

1. Prints - create your own Fat Kit, they give a choice of 4 garments (sweatshirt £45, 2 long sleeved tops for men & ladies £27.50 & a T shirt £19.50) - the garments have a colour choice and then there is a choice of what you can have printed on the front or the back of the garment. In the Christamd catalogue that I have there is a choice of 12, all with a winter sports theme, they are actually really good, especially for people into ski-ing or boarding-

Some of the designs are as follows -

- A piste design and 'Better a bad day on the piste ..than a good day in the office'
- Betty Board clinic - the no1 cure for altitude addiction
- 24-7 - 'so much snow..so little time'
- a snowflake design and 'snow angel'
- a piste design and 'don't trust anyone..under 1850m'
- If God had intended man to fly..he'd have given him skis!

..........I think this gives you the idea

2. Team & corporate kit - this gives a choice of 7 garments that can be printed or embroidered with a design, logo etc of your choice. You have to call for prices as I guess it is dependant on design but the good thing is that they will do them for a minimum order of 5 garments, great for a group of people on a trip, event, holiday etc

To order it is very simple, you can fill a form in and send it by post (does anyone actually do this anymore?) by phone or on-line.

Unfortuantely there is a postage charge of £3.95 which is for standard delivery of 7 to 10 days, you can pay an extra £4.55 for next day delivery if you order before 12 noon (£8.50 in total seems a bit steep to me!).

Payment methods include - Switch, Mastercard/Access, Visa & Delta/Connect

You can also get the good delivered to another address which is useful if you are out at work all day as they require a signature on receipt.

Returns are free using a freepost label but they do ask you to get a receipt in case any go missing.

The order form also includes a useful measure chart for sizes and info on how to measure - you can also call for more details.

I have only had good experiences with deliveries (usually sooner than the 7 to 10 days quoted) and on the occassion where I had to return something there have been no problems.

I must also mention the sale catalogues, they have some real bargains - up to 50% off and they are very good at having stock available (I hate it when you go through catalogues picking out the bargains only to find out none are avilable!)I have only found on one occassion my size not available and they could then offer it in another colour for me as an alternative.

Fat Face also attend some events that are listed - such as the ski show, boat show etc. They also have warehouse sales - for anyone reading close to this opinion being posted there is one in the North on 15/16 Nov 2003- as yet the location is a secret so you will need to keep checking the website for further info - apparently they are very good though!

Finally the catalogue also lists the stores, including new and opening soon ones. There are now approx 70 stores in the UK and 4 in France. This also includes 3 outlet stores in Street, Bicester & Portsmouth - I have been to the Bicester one a few times, as with all outlet places it is sometimes better than others but the prices are good so well worth checking out.

And another finally, if you feel you are the type of person this company would like or in their words you would like to 'live, eat & work the fat face way' then you can call 023 9244 1141 or see their current vacancies on the website. The vacancies include store staff & fat base crew. They also have Fat Face Team Riders - they pay for you to wear their gear!, I suggest if you think you have what it takes you see the website for further info and how to apply.

I think that is about all, I have been very happy with the clothes & accessories I have had so far from Fat Face, they are very good quality & last for ages - I have a pair of cargo pants that I got over 3 years ago & they still look fine - the clothing is trendy but not in a way that dates so you do get some good wear out of them.

To get the catalogue you can apply on line, www.fatface.co.uk or call 0870 6000 090

I hope you have found this useful, please leave me a message if you need any further info.

Thanks for reading x

 

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