When did M&S clothing get bad?

[DisappointedDolly]

Just ordered over £200 of ‘autumny’ clothing from M&S website.

Crikey, the styling & quality is crap! I’m sooo disappointed with about 90% of it!

Ive ordered 2 black thermal vests… despite being XL ( I’m not, but I wanted to tuck them in) they are skimpy, thin and barely tuck in, straps are really thin as well, I wouldn’t describe them as XL at all. I’d be surprised if they last the winter. My original one from M&S is around 19 years old… & still good.☹️

A dk brown long sleeve top - the best thing! Lovely fit, long enough in the body, good strong colour. Come in lots of colours so will be getting some more.🙂

A mid brown 2in1 top.. hells bells… it’s tiny! Weirdly wide at the shoulders, far too short in the body, just horrible. Thing is, made properly to fit a human, it would be great.☹️

A cotton sweatshirt, with some sort of tie-neck 🤷‍♀️ hmmm… really thick material, but again, short in the body. I’ve washed it and shook it out but I’ve a feeling it’ll be ruching up when dry. ☹️ £36!

Is this how it is now with M&S, I’ve always thought highly of them, but I’ve had better stuff off Amazon!
Even their knickers are thinner than ever, and barely last 12 months.

Im just really disappointed. Anyone else find this with them?

I ordered the full briefs nd they have changed 😭

Just remembered I also wanted to buy a nightie recently. They don’t do cotton ones anymore, only cotton modal blend.

I’ve always found M&S tops on the shorter side. I have had some really good quality items from there but you do have to pay attention to the fabrics.

Last year I bought loads and was really happy. Wanted to top up with a few things this year and can’t find anything even remotely worth buying. Saving me money though!

Work trousers only. Haven’t bought anything else decent from M&S in 20 years!

Hasn't ALL clothing gone to shit nowadays? Long gone are the days when I wandered around shops wistful for more ££ to buy the clothes in them.

Agree @DisappointedDolly The underwear is not such good quality anymore either... Made shoddily compared to how they used to be 15+ years ago.

I bought from them last in late 2025, never again. I use Sainsburys now. (Tu.)

Sadly got no Sainsbury’s here either, although I can get food delivered.

I need to move to somewhere more urban asap! 😄

Oh noooooooooo. No Sainbury's! Have you got any main (large) store at all near you? (Tesco, Asda, Morrisons?) Their clothes/underwear are OK too.

We used to buy most of our clothes from M&S in the 80s and 90s.

In the 80s and 90s I'd go into M&S at the start of each season and metaphorically spend hundreds of £££. Now I go in and they're doing well out of me if I've bought some pants. I spent half an hour looking for 34B bras the other week in their large lingerie department local to me and I think I found the only two they stocked.

Got a fairly big Tescos but it tends to be 3/4 full of baby clothes. I do get pjs from there so I might browse the bits and bobs.

As an outsider but frequent visitor to the UK I've always been a bit perplexed by M&S's popularity. Whenever I go in there it's shite. The fabric and cut isn't good enough to tick the 'quality classics' box and the attempts at fast fashion are no better than much cheaper options.

In all the years I've wandered through the place looking for an excuse to buy something I can only rate 1 Autograph brand merino jumper and a multipack of period underwear.

About 1999.
I think they are getting better, but you have to see the good bits in reality and snap them.up because they disappear.

Their jeans are great
Some of their tops/knitwear are great
Occasionally there is a nice dress
Their bras/knickers are good for the price.
Their nightwear had gone to hell in a handcart.

Happy to pay more for better quality.

Wasn't 1999 around the time the women's department was wall to wall black and all the skirts ankle length? it was like walking into a shop for trainee nuns clothes and everyone was saying WTF, M&S.

Edited for meaning

I don't know but so much of it is not good these days. I went in recently looking for a pair of black work trousers. M&S used to be good at basics like that. It was a big M&S too and the selection was dreadful. A lot of it was not even the nice polyester, but the kind of low end loose weave shiny polyester. Even the ones that were in their Autograph range, which I think is supposed to be higher end, were awful. I tried a few pairs on in desperation and I have no idea whose body they were designed for, but definitely not mine. I'm a really average size 10 and not one pair of trousers fit me properly. Either too big around the waist or too short or too long in the crotch or just generally really odd shaped.

Went across the road to H&M and found loads of options, most of which were better quality and less expensive. I ended up with a dilemma as to which ones to get!

Well I have just bought a pair of incredibly comfy loafers, two 100% merino wool jumpers for £36 each, some useful moss green straight leg cords, and a camel crew neck relaxed jumper that's mostly acrylic but has 8% wool for £22 which is lovely and soft (and machine washable) which I'm wearing today layered over a white collared shirt and have had compliments on from the youngs in my team.

Yes there's plenty of dross but I find that in every shop I go into at the moment, unfortunately.

I actually like the tops/jumpers that are longer in the sleeves and shorter in the body. As that shape works for my body shape. But I can’t wear any of their trousers as they all seem to be high waisted, which means they practically touch the band of my bra. Even the occasional mid-rise pair have their waistband in completely the wrong place for me. And the sizing has gone mad - you have to try the same item multiple times in 2 or 3 sizes to find the one that actually fits! I’m very careful about checking the fabric composition. I’m not tolerating any of this air yarn nonsense - it feels horrible (and I can’t imagine it washes well either).

I bought the gorgeous brown carrot leg trousers and the olive green fluffy knit cardigan that are everywhere and they are beautiful. I don't go in-store though I bought online

I don’t know if I’m shopping in a different universe to yoh all but I think it’s just fabulous at the moment. They’ve totally revived themselves to be so much more fashionable. The barrel jeans, fabulous boots, current handbags are too many for me to choose. I want literally every jacket. I can actually take or leave their underwear but I have a major out of town store near me and it’s fantastic

I don’t know, I think they are cheap compared to John Lewis and other mid range high street shops. About 15 years ago, I used to buy knickers like the ones linked below in M&S. The price is more or less the same now as it was 15 years ago, but the quality has nosedived. They are now paper thin and contain polyester, whereas they used to be much thicker and 100% cotton. I wish they had just raised the price with inflation and kept the quality the same. As it is, I now buy my knickers elsewhere, and pay £8 more for a similar style, but much better quality.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/5-pack-cotton-lycra-lace-midi-knickers/p/clp60437473?color=BLACK&_gl=11xw5fq6_upMQ.._gs*MQ..&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw__Qh6KolwMVh5RQBh36HgZIEAAYASAAEgJ-g_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&gbraid=0AAAAAD7g6bTVWshqhve7rsyoKjckptdmd#intid=pid_pg1pip48g4r7c3

Aren't they meant to be "cool" now? Last I looked at their website it was all Jaeger and others anyway, not M&S, just a portal for all other clothes shops.

I have just got back from food shopping in my local M&S. Spurred on by this thread, I had a wander around the clothes section.
I still see what I would term 'old lady' fashions...especially in the dresses and some of the flouncy shawl-sleeved blouses.
There was not a thing in there that took my fancy....apart from some barrel-leg black denim jeans studded with rhinstones. They were definitely not old lady, sadly too young for me now, though.