Holland Cooper: When Did Luxury Become Expensive Polyester?

You're paying for a brand. You're paying to 'show off' that you can afford to pay £100 for a £6 tshirt.

More fool you.

Quality is shite, it washes terribly. Started off a great brand in the early days and has entirely lost its way although I don’t suppose JHC cares as still raking it in

Viscose can be luxury, it's man made but out of natural material. Polyester however, nah

Started off a great brand in the early days and has entirely lost its way
Don't most companies (not just fashion) seem to have this depressing trajectory these days?

Sadly this is all too common.
I was in my local European city last week, so had a wander around the shops. The vast majority of clothing, at all price points, was Made in China. I estimated that at least 25% of materials were polyester, viscose or some other manufactured construct.
Slapping and Eco- this or a Recycled- that in front of the fabric is just blatant greenwashing! Recycled will still go back to landfill at some point, after it has been squeezed of all its profit potential.
As for the prices, let's just not go there at all. None of the garments was well-cut, well-made or well-finished and you can 100% forget about any kind of pattern matching.
If you absolutely scoured the rails there were one or two decent pieces made from 100% linen and in the sales, so excellent discounts, but only if these were something you were after in the first place.
This is the main reason why I switched to online shopping. At least you can investigate the materials etc. before committing to buy and can send items back again if they are not up to scratch.

i am so tired of clothes being crap fabric or “recycled” whatever the heck that actually means

the last item I bought that was pre shrunk/washed 100% cotton was buying my son an in and out T-shirt from the fast food place in California
i have not seen any other pre washed (and therefore pre shrunk) cotton items anywhere!

It's usually due to being bought up by corporations, which then maximise profits by cheapening before people notice and stop buying. A bit like Cadbury.

Holland Cooper is not true luxury and never has been. It’s over priced high street, branded to give the illusion of country lifestyle and taste but it’s really just another Reiss or Ted Baker with words like English Countryside and Heritage thrown in to fluff out synthetic fabrics and generic basics. You know it’s faux smoke and mirrors when the website describes the owner as Founder & Managing Director, no reputable luxury brand would ever say that on their homepage.

Ralph Lauren or Loro Piana is my advice if you want that look but with better materials and construction, quadruple HC prices though.

For many years I’ve always checked labels whatever the price, since I really don’t like polyester next to my skin.

I hear you. Until recently, you might have said that you’re paying for the design. But many cheaper chains have good designers on board now and the quality and material of the garments are no worse and often better.

I looked over my wardrobe recently and most worn items. I have lots from H&M going back a few years. Beautiful 100 per cent cotton cheesecloth ‘Mr Darcy- esk’ slightly balloon sleeved shirts, perfect fitting T-shirts both long and short sleeved ( last as long as
’with nothing underneath’ which I feel compelled to hand wash given the price point!), a couple of pure cotton summer dresses, boots form last year that are comfier and a nicer shape than my expensive leather ones. etc. Sure you have to be selective, but good stuff to be had!

I despair of the quality of eg Jigsaw, Mint velvet etc now.

A slight aside but the automatic assumption that Made In China = crap quality is just not true. There are certain materials, skills and techniques that can now only be provided by Chinese craftspeople because the rest of the world got lazy and let those things go.
Sure a lot of Temu shite comes from there but not everything is Temu shite!

I agree so many brands are doing this now.

£100+ - mainly polyester.

me+Em, hush, all sorts.

I actually don’t mind Made in China if the item looks and feels good, Chinese clothing industry has invested heavily into improving and standardising production. The clothes that I tend to discard or really have to examine are those from Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Indonesia because there is often a difference in quality standards and the materials.

I have had some lovely items in the past that were Made in China, but they were premium materials from well-established brands.
What I object to is the overpricing of inferior quality materials and poor finishing from so-called superior brands.
There is a wealth of difference in the quality, and longevity of my 1986 Barbour jacket, compared to the same item on offer today.

I have loved a number of things from Holland Cooper in the past. I remember buying from her when she was operating out of an old horsebox at Burghley 15+ years ago!

I do think recently it's becoming a bit... Overdone and not brilliant as it was.

That said, I still have a few of my dresses from a few years ago, lovely heavy wool that's beautiful.

The price of energy and raw materials derived from oil have increased prices all over.
I have a viscose shirt that is soft and comfortable to wear. I also remember fabric that you could file your nails on. (Dacron?)

Holland Cooper has always been irredeemably naff.

I’m amazed that any adult wouldn’t automatically check fabric labels.

Stop using the term ‘old money’ as if it means something great. ‘Old money’ is often based on the historic profits of slavery. That’s how families come to be living in vast houses on thousands of acres. Time to cease tugging your forelock …

I'm so glad someone has started a thread about this brand, as I am intrigued!

I grew up in the countryside and until about 15 years ago, I used to go to Badminton, Burghley, Cheltenham etc. Many people wore smart country clothes, but I never ever saw anyone striding around in long circular tweed skirts and fitted jackets (as shown in Holland Cooper ads). Is that actually a thing now - or is it just an Instagram thing)?

As far as I am aware, most of the truly wealthy are still buying their outdoor country gear from Purdey, Schöffel, Cordings, Barbour etc. That's obviously after they've worn their old items until they are threadbare and falling apart!!!!

Can we acknowledge that a lot of exploitation did not take place outside these shores?

We may not have had slavery, but the lives of ordinary working people were dire. They were cannon fodder, working in cotton mills as soon as they were old enough to stand up and walk, working on farms until they couldn’t move. It’s extremely harmful to think that after the Industrial Revolution, people in this country, as a majority, were leading anything but a hand to mouth existence. There’s a wealth of information to support this.

People laugh at Mrs Bennett in pride and prejudice but she knew that her daughters would be destitute unless they could get a husband. Conversely, men relied on patronage and it was a scrabble for existence. The Napoleonic wars provided a massive amount of employment. Remember that Arthur Wellesley had to leave Eton because his family had no money and his mother said that he was only “fit for powder”. Otherwise, they had nothing.

Those who had money then, largely still have it now. The rest of us don’t..

Its why I prefer in person shopping rather than online because you can get a much better sense for the quality and weight of the fabric. Ive been so shocked by the quality of some upper end high street chains. Most of it goes in marketing. I was looking at net a porter last night for some inspiration and they must have huge marketing budgets as they had something featuring Cindy Crawford. And thats not even the brand its the merchant so high costs are being passed along all the way through the chain.

DH has one of those T shirts from In-N-Out, it’s still going strong after 9 years! They’re such good quality- a rare thing now.

@HoppityBun I would always include the Industrial Revolution as another instance of slavery.

My point was that the majority of the type of people the OP referenced - those with inherited wealth from previous centuries - do not have clean hands and should not be regarded as the arbiters of elite dressing.

Yes, we spend a lot of time in China and the mid range and high end stuff is fantastic quality. Purcotton, for example. I can’t wait for these sort of brands to go global and I’ve no doubt they will. But it will spell the end for these shoddy overpriced “British” non-labels full of shite from Cambodia.

I bought a pair of jeans from HC as I wanted a slightly flared, rather than book-cut, design that wasn't completely loose on the thigh. Paid a fortune as a treat after loosing weight, but the seam on one thigh is skewed as it’s clearly been poorly cut. Took a few wears to realise it wasn’t my body at fault and for it to annoy me so utterly than I can’t now wear them. Similarly, I was treated to some gorgeous jumpers from Reiss, thinking they would be more resistant to bobbling due to the high wool/cashmere content (and this being cited by the chap on Sewing Bee as an indicator of quality that should mean it lasts)… but no, they bobble just as readily as the ones I buy from TU and next.

Yes, I feel a bit conned.

I used to love fat face - it's not high end but you used to get lovely knitwear, and paid more for wool. Now the fabric looks like polyester wool that has been ironed or something. It's a very strange texture. They look like Primark - not knocking Primark. But if I'm going to spend £70 not £17 I want to see the difference!
I do quite like viscose in certain clothes. It hangs and feels nice and seems to be a good eco option.