Where do you find decent quality clothes nowadays?

[BabCNesbitt]

Fed up of wasting my bloody life spending afternoons browsing the shops and coming back empty-handed because everything is either sheer, drapey (both of which seem like ways for clothes manufacturers to save money), or polyester/viscose.

I know that if I were to poke around long enough, I'd probably come up with the odd gem, but are there any shops (high street or online) that are still consistently coming up with the goods and selling decent quality natural fibres?

[christinarossetti]

I've been wondering this as the likes of Jigsaw, Monsoon, Cos have deteriorated to quality/fabrics worse than H & M's was 10 years ago.

Gap and Uniqlo are respectable.

Fat Face, Seasalt, White Company have a lot of natural fabrics, but their prints aren't to everyone's taste.

[pinkfrocks]

Don't agree that Jigsaw is poor quality- been buying for around 20 years and seems the same to me. Prices are silly and only buy in sales though.
Boden is good quality and so is Hobbs though not my style.

[yazzy85]

I've had the same problem and now buy bits and pieces from Boden, Joules, White Stuff.

[Floisme]

I'm afraid I think poking around wherever you can is the best option as I don't know of anywhere that's consistently good quality.

At the moment, I'm shopping at H&M a lot; it's totally random but there are good quality gems if to be found - and at least their polyester is at polyester prices.

[BikeRunSki]

Toast, Howies, Fatface

[BabCNesbitt]

True that at least H&M charges the appropriate prices for 100% polyester items. I get outraged at being asked for upwards of £60 for blouses in synthetic crap.

It does seem like Boden, White Stuff etc seem to be the last hold-out for lots of natural fibres, but they're not really my taste. I'd just like to be able to find interesting styles in well-cut, reasonably thick and tailored natural fibres, and this seems to have vanished.

[Deeznutz]

Woolovers is worth a look. Toast and Autograph. Joules,Seasalt,Mistral,Boden, John Lewis kin and weekend also pretty good.
Brora does more than cashmere. EKO sense clothing good for lounge wear and unusual dresses.

Nomads has switched direction a bit and tend to use a lot of organic cotton.

[stripytees]

People Tree although their jersey tops are not so good. The woven cotton is very good, though.

[PennyPants]

I have a small selection from Hobbs mainly for work that have lasted and lasted. Haven't shopped in there for a while because it has lasted so well so didn't need to.
Also have Superdry and Joules, which seem well made compared to most.
I do like H and m for some bits, their cardies last ages, vests I replace after a year anyway, but other things can be hit and miss- 2 jumpers went out of shape and one got a hole in it after a couple of months.
Most of the high street is hit and miss, I do get stuff eventually but avoid primark.

[blodynmawr]

Mainly M&S Autograph and Boden for work stuff. White Company & Fat face for weekend clothes. Some Phase Eight dresses for work.
Some bits in Next and Monsoon if you have the patience to hunt through the polyester tat.
I have M&S and Boden cashmere cardigans that I wear regularly for work that have lasted years and have not bobbled. I have an M&S pair of leather boots that are 5 years old and look fine. Boden wool trousers and wrap dresses regularly worn for work also last me years.
I am a bit anal about careful washing and caring for clothes though and try to minimise them being wrecked in the washing machine as much as possible.

[FrugalFashionista]

COS, MiH and then more pricey places like The Outnet, Yoox, NAP, and Matches. I also find gems at H&M but you need to shop by handfeel there.

I never buy sheer or drapey stuff, I really don't like viscose.

[PetiteBateau]

I don't think fatface are good quality. I bought a jersey dress there, wore it then washed it according to the washing instructions. It came out several sizes smaller & was far too tight & short to wear. Load of crap!

I buy a lot of my clothes from charity shops

[Want2bSupermum]

Try Germany. While visiting family in Denmark this summer went south for the day and was shocked that I had a vast selection of clothing in natural fibers at reasonable prices. I spent about £500 and got 2 wool dress suits, 5 tshirts, 2 wool pencil skirts that fall just below the knee, 3pr of trousers and a pair of flats. I've also found Tiger (Swedish brand) to be excellent but tend to buy in sales online. In Germany I was shopping in department stores and I bought at full price.

[Floisme]

What brands did you buy in Germany Supermum?

[FrChewieLouie]

God, yes, I used to love Monsoon but it's all tatty tat now.

I'm a convert to Joules for casual, Phase Eight for dressy, and some bits and pieces from Boden in the sale. I wish there was more choice, though, as I don't always love the styles/patterns available in these shops.

[Superexcited]

If I want decent quality that fits well I usually end up making something myself.
Ireland's eye make fab knitwear though and I can't knit so that is my go to brand for nice jumpers.

[BikeRunSki]

Oh yes, Scandi brands -
Gudrun Sjoden
Noa Noa
Jackpot


Does anyone remember Racing Green?

[BikeRunSki]

Seasalt

[Alicekeach]

I had the same experience as Supermum when I went to Germany last year - it was great to go into department stores and find racks of clothes made in wool, cotton, silk etc rather than the disgusting viscose / polyester rags that our own shops sell.

Back in the UK, I get casual stuff from Seasalt as they still use cotton and wool for most of their stuff. I used to like White Stuff but it's gone right down hill over the last five years or so and is now all viscosey (I still have some old White Stuff things made out of silk-cotton mix fabric, so I know I'm not imagining it). For work, I still use Hobbs, but even they seem to have cut down on the proportion of their range that uses proper fabrics. You can still find wool suits but you have to look quite carefully.

[FrugalFashionista]

Scandi and German brands seem to be a bit more quality-oriented than most UK high street right now. I really rate Filippa K for basics. Esprit is a German chain I think, my mother likes Basler and my MIL Peter Hahn. I shop quite a lot in department stores during seasonal sales, have just been to a huge one in Stockholm and I found so many great things there. In the US, I love Nordstroms.

[MyFriendsCallMeOh]

Small designers on etsy. Get something no-one else is wearing, support small businesses, no sweatshops and well made clothes made of good fabrics.

[LimpidPools]

I'm in germany and don't really recognise the experience some of you have had. Most of the brands in the department stores and on the high street are available in the uk as well anyway. What I really notice in the department stores is that the clothes are either a sea of brown and grey, or some distinctly peculiar 'cheerful brights'.

[LimpidPools]

That said, maybe I'm just looking wrong. I'd love to here some specific german brand recommendations!

[LimpidPools]

*hear

[achieve6]

this thread is sad reading! I'm having the same problem.

I tend to get a lot of cotton stuff from M&S but lately I've had issues with it not wearing well. M&S were helpful but didn't have that much to say about it.

It doesn't seem to be the case that paying more will help either. I'm also amazed at how much is made of polyester even in more expensive shops. I guess they put the mark up on for the design and then hope that people won't care about the fabric?!