Retailers you used to frequent or really like but now hardly buy from

[PoodlesRUs]

For me it's Amazon, Etsy, Next and Fat Face. Amazon and Etsy are filled with so much poor quality crap, stuff that bends or breaks after a few uses or electrical items without certifications and cosmetic and cleaning products without labels. I'm never sure if I'm buying 10 year old stock of a well-known brand, a fake or the real deal. Their pricing and "discounts" are wild too and so rarely are they as they appear. When it comes to Etsy it is swimming with mass-produced crap being resold by small businesses. Or should that be "small businesses". Handmade must be one of the most frequent mislabellings on that site. It's a shame because it used to have interesting products

Next is often way down my list of places to check when I'm searching for something as their prices have increased whilst their quality has dropped. They always had somewhat inconsistent sizing but now it's even worse. Boden and Fat Face are no longer high on my list of places to shop for the same reasons.

Which places have you moved on from?

Yes I walk past it in my way to work
It's got a habitat and argos at the back
I've never found an item of clothing that goes above a size 22 and believe me,I've looked
It could be I've walked into a tesco but thought the bright orange sign above the door that says sainsburys meant it was a sainsburys or that store just doesn't do the larger sizes but a bigger store does (ours isn't massive)
I will make a point of double checking next time I walk past

I used to love French Connection. Their trousers used to fit me so perfectly. There was also something of quality about them. I’d quite happily use some of my student loan to buy a pair of £70 trousers! And this was the late 90s! They seem to have faded into obscurity now.

John Lewis - they were always my go to because even though they might be a bit more ££ their customer service was excellent. I also loved their stores and staff. They are now on par with other retailers and therefore price comes more into it and they generally aren’t cheaper and don’t price match.

I had to use their CS last year and it was terrible.

Trusty old M&S, last went in there to get an outfit for my dad's funeral but it was all cheap and nasty fabrics at very inflated prices. Having said that I am still a bit of a sucker for their overpriced food hall.

Next is another one, although like a PP I get too many lovely vintage Next items off Vinted.

I went to Next when they first opened, and they were considered quite high end-y. For a chain store.
I suppose it's just that our tastes change as we get older, but I went into Next 10 to 15 years ago and it was just cheap, nasty stuff I wouldn't be seen dead in.

Next for me - it's weird because it has so much stuff, yet anything I actually want is invariable out of stock in my size!
Amazon also, due to the £35 you have to spend to get free delivery. I used to buy load of little bits and pieces, none of it essential and now I largely cba to put them in my basket and wait until I have enough to get no delivery fee. Shows how much pointless crap I was buying, I suppose. I often see nice looking clothes but I'm wary of quality.

Most high street shops now seem to be very expensive for clothes which look like rags after a few washes.

Another vote for Monsoon! I loved their pre pandemic items but the fabrics and styles have got worse while the prices have gone higher. I got an email from them a while ago asking for feedback as I hadn't bought anything in a while.

Have you seen https://communityclothing.co.uk/? I'm inspired now to order some basics from them.
Hebtroco another one and Frahm? Bringing those skills back in the UK and employment also is so good to see... And the stuff is great by all accounts and will last 🙂

John Lewis. Tried to buy a washing machine recently. Dimensions on website were wrong so it didn’t fit when it arrived. The hours I spent on the phone trying to
get it picked up and refunded!! Some of the rudest, most inadequate customer service I have ever experienced. Never again! Bought from AO instead - fantastic!

Next. I used to work there years ago when it was positioned somewhere between M&S and Jaeger. Great quality and fabrics, all the shoes and bags were leather and gorgeous. Now it’s just Primark with notions - absolute tat.

What an interesting thread & I mean than sincerely not sarcastically. Boots & Next are 2 I rarely buy from now as it is overpriced. H & M as the quality is bad. Ikea as well as I find their customer service is rubbish

White Stuff has gone so frumpy imo. I used to like Oliver Bonas and Monsoon but haven’t bought anything from them for ages. I agree about next, it feels no better quality than Primark or Matalan anymore. I miss Debenhams and BHS. I have some BHS bits that are still going strong after 20 years.

John Lewis.

Years ago I had a house fire. Went into JL needing a cooker, fridge, freezer, washing machine, dishwasher and all the normal small electrical appliances. I asked the assistant (very politely) if there was any possibility of a small discount as I was buying so many items. The chinless wonder behind the counter looked at me with a sneer and says 'oh no Madam, we don't play those sort of games'.

I left and went to Comet, who gave me a huge discount and a few small appliances free.

I have given up on all of the high street shops except for Ba&sh, Arket and & Other Stories. I now buy good quality designer clothes second hand for the same price as any mid-range high street shop. Amazon I haven't used for over a year, but that is for other reasons, not quality so much.

Next, the clothes have become really frumpy and I can’t remember the last time I bought something in there

I might give a shout out to Uniqlo. Their trousers are a bit flat-arse for me, but some of their collaborations are interesting. I got some nice Ines de la Fressange bits. Thsnks to pp for the recommendations for uk retailers.
Community Clothing is a bit Handmaids Tale for dresses, but I could see myself buying trousers or a Mac from them.
It seems like such a holy grail to find nice shapes/ good fabrics. Like, Toast can be good quality but oh my lord it’s frumpy if you have any kind of boobs/ bum.
I still have some wool trousers from late 90s H&M, amazing quality cotton jackets from similar era TopShop. Just great fashion and really good construction. It’s almost like retailers go out of their way to sell ugly tat now.

On the rare occasions I go into stores like Fat Face and Next etc these days, I might see a top I like and think to myself: “I’ll look for something like that on Vinted.” Usually you can find something pretty similar, also from Fat Face and Next, for about £2.50.

Seasalt. Sticker on the shop window saying they stock up to size 24. Reality they only stock up to 20 in said shop (large store, major U.K. city). When challenged said there wasn’t space to stock the larger sizes but you could order and pay online to have larger sizes delivered in store and try them on there - pointless! Was totally put off by customer services brush off and haven’t shopped there since.

Boden - now awful quality and garish colours
Monsoon - too much polyester and too much supporting transwomen in changing rooms
Next own label can be too hit and miss to rely on
Marks & Spencer's the same and their bras are a nightmare to get right

Never had an issue with John Lewis, I buy nearly all our household stuff there

IMO the quality in almost all high street clothes shops has plummeted. The fabrics and the designs.
It's easier to say which shops are still good. Toast is still good for quality but obviously expensive and not everyone's cup of tea style wise. Jigsaw I still like and some things in Zara because you can get good jeans there for tall, slim women.

Everything else is very hit and miss.

I used to love Cos for basics but they massively upped their price point about 18 months ago with no obvious change in quality.

Fat face, Next etc all now seem to have the same quality as Primark.

Amazon was a big one for me not used it in years now.
I dont really use shops in town either.
I use temu.

With Urban Outfitters, its not only quality but the style - everything there seems to be some sort of a fancy dress, tiny lace tops, weird pants and shapeless tops made of strange fabrics, nothing you could wear unless you want to look like 90s throwback hippy homeless person! Before, I could buy stuff there and wear it to work - doubt anything they are selling now would be suitable for the office...

House of Fraser. The one in our town(and the two cities nearby) used to have lots of interesting stuff, and the sales were excellent. Once Mike Ashley got his paws on it, it’s just an outlet for all the brands he’s bought up. Half the high end cosmetics have gone and there’s no assistants anywhere.
Lush. I used to have a lingering affection from the Cosmetics to Go days and the kids liked a bath bomb in their stockings, DH loved their shampoo bars(and would still buy them now), DD loved snow Fairy 🤮, but the various stunts over the years(kissing booths, really),the high pressure selling, the costs(dear gods!) and their denial of biology and giving binders out to young women. Well, that’s that.

I used to like H&M for clothing for DD, but haven't shopped there now for about 6 years.

The only clothes I buy new are underwear - everything else is vinted.

I'm an Etsy seller (not mass produced tat - greetings cards I design, print and dispatch in-house) but I don't tend to buy from Etsy because of all the mass produced tat that is on there.

Mint Velvet for me. I used to buy loads there but not any more. Their knitwear in particular, I class as expensive, cheap
clothing. Stuff I bought ten years ago still looks good but stuff I have bought in the last two years looks poor. I expect to find some natural
fibres in a £100 jumper but not anymore.