Mrs M&S

[Chippednailvarnishing]

Am I the only person who thinks the concept of Mrs M&S is bollocks and finds the whole idea crap?

[NameChanger22]

It seems like a really badly thought out idea to me. Are they trying to put people off? I will continue to shop there as I have done for years for meal deals, children's clothes, home wear and sale items. Some M&S clothes for women are quite nice, but overpriced, I never buy them.

[SirChenjin]

Shiny - yep, that's absolutely it. Not rocket science - and yet Mr Head of M&S continues to not have a fucking clue about his target audience.

But please - no Mary Portas. Her polyester offerings to womenkind are just as hideous.

[clearingaspaceforthecat]

Urgh....it is just horrible. Patronising, lacking in imagination and any appreciation for the diversity that exists among women.

Just all squashed together in a big frump-lump

[Onlyicanclean10]

Mary is good on store location and lay out etc but agree she's no style guru.

[MissOpheliaBalls]

If I was 'in' retail, the first person I would employ would be someone to 'trawl' the forums and find out what people really thought. Daily HateMail seem to do it most days, when they need a story, why wouldn't you if you wanted to target a market. I've just bought a few bits online, but the fandango that ensued and the money it's cost me on returns (I don't live in the UK), has put me right off doing it again. I never understand why the people at the top are always men when they're trying to sell clothes to women. When was the last time you trusted a man to pick out an outfit for you ?

[JasperDamerel]

What I want from M&S is really for them to sell the same sort of basics in decent fabrics that you can get in Uniqlo, only cut more for boobs and hips, plus a really good underwear section.

[lurkingfromhome]

Agree with everyone's points, but also I think their food is getting a bit more hit and miss too, which is a REAL worry. I've bought some things there lately that have been quite rank. Stock control also seems a bit iffy and the shelves are stocked with food that has a use-by date of the next day. No good for doing a week's shop.

[Oliversmumsarmy]

Mrs M&S might be in her 50s but wants to dress like a 30 year old not the M&S fashion departments take on 50+ fashion.
Which for the most part looks like what the old grannies used to wear while sitting on the deck chairs in Blackpool getting the sun and showing off their knee length knickers in the early 1960s.

Anyone else remember them or am I that old?

Another tip is to get rid of all the floral fabric. It makes anyone over a size 6 and 18 years old look frumpy.

[Oliversmumsarmy]

oh and I hate their food, their ready meals have a certain plasticky smell to them.

[museumum]

I WANT to like m&s. I don't do high fashion or on trend. I wear clothes for years. I want chinos, shirts, wool jumpers... the sort of classic, basic, British stuff m&s should be about.

[CrazyDuchess]

When I heard "Mrs. M&S" on the radio yesterday, I was cringing on the inside.

I was once "Miss M&S" when I was in my early 20s because i worked there and staff discount meant it was viable to shop there....... until they brought out Per Una

If they want people to shop there, they need to start with the basics -good trousers, work tops, jeans and casual tops - and price them correctly....

They have forgotten who their audience is - I am sure Mrs M&S would not be seen dead in those wide legged leather culottes in a weird puke colour and costing nearly £200 - there was a thread in style and beauty about it.

I will give them credit - their food is brilliant, and their tights!

[BeckywiththeGoodHare]

I'm genuinely dumbfounded that not one person on whatever focus group put the 'Mrs M&S' idea together piped up that it might exclude more people than it apparently includes. It can only mean that there wasn't one single woman on the panel, surely?

Mrs M&S is everyone's mum. Including my mum's. She is the woman no one actually wants to think they are. She wears Classic Collection slacks, and likes a Florentyna gift coffret for Christmas because it's 'not overpowering'. She thinks it's rather daring that M&S have got Twiggy on board to do jazzy sequin jackets for parties, and likes being able to buy men's underwear for Mr M&S (my Dad, also my mum's Dad) because you just look at the size on the box and it's usually fine. Mrs M&S will still be shopping in M&S when the nuclear tumbleweed is sweeping through the sarong aisle and wolves have colonised the lingerie section because it's just 'where you go for basics, isn't it, Marks's?'

THIS IS NOT THE SHOPPER DROID YOU ARE LOOKING FOR, M&S. You need to get everyone ELSE back in.

[cleaty]

I had never heard of Uniqlo, but googled it. Yes that looks like M&S of old. In fact I spotted on the first page two items that look almost the same as tops I had bought at M&S in the past.
The M&S survey option on their website is also terrible. It is a very lng questionnaire. i completed part of it, and it would not let me submit it partially completed, so I just closed it instead. Make it much much shorter, or let people submit partially completed surveys.

[thecatfromjapan]

I think the food has taken a plunge, too.

There are lots of ready-made meals now, with fewer high-quality basics. There is a sprinkling of esoteric/trendy ingredients. The ready-made meals are solid hitters, but rarely something that makes you excited. It often tastes a bit crap. Sandwiches are dull and often disappointing.

In the larger stores, the food can be better than Waitrose but I think the move is definitely towards the ready meals. I can see why: it must yield more profit per foot of retail space, and the trend towards labour-saving food shows no signs of reversing.

Perhaps this is the progress MrFood is envisioning with the clothes?

[Turbinaria]

I think this was the jacket the new CEO pulled out to show what Mrs M&S would favour. pink jacket I also think it's rank and looks terrible even on the model.

Sadly I think M&S will never recover their former glory because they don't listen to the consumer and their business model is firmly in the 1950 s together with "Mrs M&S". When I buy clothes I would have previously bought at M&S I now head to John Lewis,Jaegar, TKMaxx, Matalan, Uniqlo, h&m, Primark. DH has also stopped buying his clothes and underwear from them preferring JohnLewis and outdoor specialist shops. My dcs only M&S clothes are ones their granny buys for them I prefer supermarket brands as there not much difference in quality but half the price, h&m and John Lewis.

I also think their reduction in profits is as result of their still loyal customer base of 70-80 year olds dying and they can't replace them with younger people.

I still have a few items of 20 year old M&S clothing I've held onto for sentimental reasons such as a Vivienne Westwood inspired bustier vest top which I can't fit into now but still enjoy looking at because the tailoring is so amazing

[LunaLoveg00d]

They definitely need to be more like Uniqlo. They need plain cotton shirts in two or three styles (fitted, looser, short sleeve) and in about 15 different colours. Same with roundneck lambswool jumpers, cardigans, linen trousers, work suits... Well executed, quality basics which you can then mix and match with a Primark chunky necklace or a more expensive jacket.

You should SEE some of the monstrosities which end up in our local Oxfam (new, not sold in store, didn't even sell in the sale so end up send to charity). Tangerine orange crimpolene skirts anyone?

[LunaLoveg00d]

I think this was the jacket the new CEO pulled out to show what Mrs M&S would favour. pink jacket I also think it's rank and looks terrible even on the model

It's awful. Linen never looks good for "smart" as it creases so badly. Stick some sleeves on that pale pink jacket and it's OK. Sleeveless, I know what to be looking out for in Oxfam come autumn. That and the leather culottes.

[Turbinaria]

Funnily enough that pink jacket would probably be something my 75year old dad would buy for me as a birthday present if he had been left to his own devices .
Agree the New CEO has no f clue about what middle aged women in 2016 would actually wear he still thinks "well my mum would have liked it when I was a boy".

[LunaLoveg00d]

Actually, the MN readers are exactly the M&S core demographic. Right age range, many of us needing both smart work clothes and more casual clothes, buying for kids, buying for older parents, buying for the home.

Perhaps the Chief Exec should hire a committee of 15 Mumsnetters to give their collection the once over?

[Onlyicanclean10]

Think they will go the same way as woolies and C&A. Trading on the past and ignoring the present.

My poor dh has absolutely no dress sense just like the CEO of M&S apparently.

Do they even listen to women. And I mean women not wet behind the ears style student kids?

Ffs mumsnet send him this thread for the sAke of the thousands of jobs at threat if this crap continues.

[Zaurak]

Utter idiots. There's a big gap on the high street for well cut, quality basics made from decent fabrics.
Instead they stock far too much viscose and polyester, frumpy cuts, weird accents (the poster above saying about weird added ruffles is spot on.) and there's so much of it! If I wanted to rummage I go to to maxx

They need to get the basics right, quality natural fabrics in classic cuts. That transcends age. I suspect their buyers are very young and think that fifty year olds couldn't possibly want to look stylish.

I wish there was a high street shop you could walk into and be sure of coming out with a few decent quality t shirts, knickers, bits for work, tights etc. And sort the chuffing stock levels out! There's always either tiny or huge and nothing in between.

[FlindersKeepers]

They have great jeans, this has to be said. And nightwear and tights.

If they could give Southern Germany a Simply Food store like the one in central Amsterdam - with order collection for clothes etc - I could single handedly save M&S on my own. Being in The Hague this week and knowing the joy of a ping dinner, it was bliss.
Because I don't have a store where I am, I bought lots of bacon, crumpets, greeting cards, tights, a nightie, a pair of flared jeans, a bottle of wine, sweeties, dinner (see wine).
That gives you a summary of what M&S does well.

Yes, definitely to 1990s stuff, early Autograph was brilliant too. Banana Republic has just changed all their trouser cuts for the worse, so there is a real gap in the market for women's office wear right now. A more ethical Uniqlo, yes. Get rid of Per Una, it is terrible and the section never has anyone in it.

And bring back dark navy lightweight wool suiting. Not Royal navy, not some indigo odd nonsense, navy!

But I'm not 50 nor am I wed.

[JapanNextYear]

There is some good stuff there, but the layout of the stores makes it almost impossible to find. I went into the Oxford Street branch last week, looking for a pair of nice work navy trousers. On line I'd seem Autograph linen blend and wool blend navy trousers. They didn't have them in stock, there was no one to ask, and I just couldn't find any bloody navy trousers anywhere else in store that weren't polyester or had elastic waistband.

There was nothing that attracted me in the store at all, bought some tights. Popped into H&M and the range of colours was brilliant - colours that really suit me - rather than say pink, lime, yellow and baby blue.

[SirChenjin]

Luna - I completely agree.

Mr Head of M&S - if you are doing the sensible thing and reading this (in between cutting the sleeves off pink jackets) then I am more than happy to be one of the 15. I'm 47, have a full time job, 2 teens, a 9 year old and a husband and elderly parents, so on paper I am Mrs M&S - only I'm absolutely not buying your clothes and haven't done for years. You should be biting hands off to get me on your advisory board.

[Hydroshield]

I'm mid 50s and from the mid 1980s to the late 1990s I bought nearly all of my clothes from M&S, except going out stuff and shoes. Quality for workwear, basics, underwear, hosiery was excellent. I saw upthread that a pp said for her the quality had gone in the early 90s, for me I think it was several years later than that.
I remember the rabid launch of Per Una. By this time I was in my late 30s. My friends and I quite liked the first collection. But it soon became all about polyester and frills and badly cut clothing.
When I go into the store now I see too much stuff, badly cut, poor fitting, cheap quality clothes.
So, a customer for 30 odd years, I still get my basic knickers from M&S but that's all in the clothing. I do like their food and cosmetics very much.