Aibu to really dislike Primark?

[Nomoet]

Tbh i tend to steer away from these discussions with my friends as I'm very much in the minority and well if people want to do what they want to do and you're not going to change their mind then what's the point?

But I was having a chat with a friend this evening about Primark who loves it and it's made me feel so uncomfortable. I think the main reason I dislike it so much is because it's ultra cheap fashion and I just don't buy that you can get stuff made that cheaply without huge compromises on standards of how people are treated in factories - whether it's child labour or working hours and working conditions or pay.

And what makes me feel cross is how many people buy willy nilly stuff from there all the time just because they can just because it's cheap when really they could go without it or get it from somewhere else and it wouldn't hurt them or certainly not as much as the person making their clothes is being hurt by these practises.

Not caught up on thread yet as on way to work but would like to point out my Primark pants (4 for £2) are plain black cotton.

Not cheap nasty stuff that will irritate.

Same in marks and spencer or Sainsburys is a lot more when you are watching every penny!

Places like primark keep poor people poor they are not doing some sort of social justice

As a PP said, primark is a lottery, for every item that lasts okay another item from primark will fall apart, so really you need to double the tag price to get the real price, nit so afforfable now is it?

Yes if its all you can afford its all you can afford. But if you pay £5 for something thatll need to be replaced again in 12 weeks it really costs you £20 by the time youve replaced it 4 times a year!! So people who can pay £10 for sonething that lasts 2 years are actually paying 4 times less than the people who paid £5 in primark!

LOTS of cheap options are false economies that keep poor people poor (eg paying monthly rather than annually for some bills etc) and disposable fashion is another one of those false economy traps that costs people on budgets more in the long run.

Yes its complicated as the pricier brands are going downhill

But no, primark is not "good" for poor people. It may be the only shop in their price range, but everything should be "fit for purpose" regardless of price, and clothes that dont wash/wear arent

I've heard, but no personal experience, that Primark pay their staff well. Hope it is true because I think their staff work hard.

HariboIsMyCrack was it back in the 50s when your mum bought you a skirt almost to your ankles and you wore it till it was so short it was indecent? When I was at school, grammar school in the60s, the norm at my school was you had one skirt and it lasted 5 years. It wasn't washable so it got dry cleaned every term, in between you sponged marks off and pressed it every night, it was hard looking half decent.

The fact is noeffing is that most people mindlessly and needlessly buy clothes and Primark is one of the worst for facilitating it
They don't do delivery
They don't have an online shop.

You have to go to Primark and queue and get it all home.

I would argue that online stores that allow you to click, buy and have the item in your hands in a few hours encourage disposable fashion far more than Primark.

Places like primark keep poor people poor they are not doing some sort of social justice

They keep people poor? Of course they don't.
Poor people have always bought cheap clothing. There was never a golden age of nobel peasant folk saving their pennies for cashmere and finest tweed.
They bought what they could. They just bought a lot less.
Kids wore cheap, nasty clothes and shoes that didn't fit and were not fit for purpose.
Primark clothes are perfectly fine. Their kids jeans are indestructible the same as any other pair.

If you avoid too much embellishment and stick to natural fabrics you won't go wrong.
Their sneakers are not made any different from Vans or Converse. Canvas, rubber and glue. They are a 5th-10th of the price so where is all that profit going? Not to the people making them.

To the poster who said you can't get basics and classics there...you can. They do cotton twin set cardigans in plain colours, basic long and short sleeved teeshirts and vest tops.

Haribo I don't remember kids wearing uniform at the weekend but I do remember kids not being able to go to grammar school because of the cost of the uniform. At my school the summer dresses changed just before I started at the school. We all tried to buy the old ones second hand, if you had the old one you could wear it. The old ones were very 50s, tight waist with a flared skirt, 3/4 length sleeves. We thought we looked like 50s screen stars (a la Diana Dors) whereas the replacement was very little girly. It was a great incentive for recycling.

I am amazed at how much uniform my GC have, mainly for PE where we had an aertex shirt and a wraparound skirt. They have tracksuits, different kit for every activity and it is all badged with the school logo so costs a bomb. I can't see the need for it. The other big difference is they seem to have new bags every year, we had leather satchels that lasted right through school. They were expensive though.

Absolutely agree mrsDV
Poor kids in the past has to wear clothes and shoes not fit for purpose. They would have been horribly cold in winter, they would have had to wear shoes that no longer fitted etc etc etc.

For some items paying more might be more economical in the long run but the stuff you get in Primark is perfectly adequate . I have vests and jumpers from there that are still going strong after years of wear.

I can't see any difference in quality between them and shops like h&m, m&s, new look etc. The only difference is the mark up in price.

It's only those with enough money who can even consider making this into an issue. The rest of us do what we can.
How about complaining instead about the fact that are families in poverty because of government policies in this country who haven't got the option to buy organic cotton clothing because they are too poor?
At least the very poor can clothe their kids better than they would have been able to do even 50 years ago.

Poor people used to patch things up and fix them.

Nowadays a lot of things are designed in a way that isnt fixable.

We accept things not being made to last because "what do you expect at that price" but really we should not be accepting things made that arent fit for purpose at any price because it is wasteful, bad for the environment, and provides a false economy.

Lets not pretend that primark either makes the bulk of its profits from the poorest of the poor OR that they are standing between poor people going unshod!

Haribo I don't remember kids wearing uniform at the weekend but I do remember kids not being able to go to grammar school because of the cost of the uniform

There were times I had to wear my uniform at weekends. I went to Grammar school and I was only one of two children who didn't have a full uniform on the first day.
My parents couldn't afford the gaberdine coat or school hat for me. It was bloody embarrassing on my first day turning up in a stupid blue coat when everyone else bar one had the official maroon coat on.
As for Primark, I've never found anything that doesn't look cheap and nasty and it does bother me that the working conditions and pay of the people making the clothes may be awful but I also know that families here struggle to afford clothes.

Gottagetmoving, I never had the gaberdine coat, I just used to wear a blazer and get told off for not having my coat. Eventually they decided to insist I get a coat. My father had just died and I cried and said my mum couldn't afford it, she would have killed me if she heard me, they left me alone after that.

Not my proudest moment but those gaberdine coats were so expensive and hideous.

How about complaining instead about the fact that are families in poverty because of government policies in this country who haven't got the option to buy organic cotton clothing because they are too poor? A law to insist on reasonably priced school uniform would be good as well. Why do you need every item of clothing to have the school logo? The only reason I can see is that you have to buy from the official supplier who charges a bomb. Do schools get a kickback from the supplier?

I'm not a fan of Primark, mainly because I don't feel their clothes are aimed at my age and style. It's great for teenagers and fast moving trends, but I prefer clothes which are a bit better made and will last me longer than a couple of washes nowadays. I don't have many clothes, but I buy stuff that is more timeless than trendy.

I can go to other shops & buy cheaper, & much better quality stuff in the sales. Although I've tried Primark, but the belt I got for £1 (I'm going back a few years now) fell apart within a week, & the jumper got holes under the arms within 6 months. I've bought similar from Asda George, not only was it cheaper, but it lasted a lot longer too. I was only saying to my BIL how crap it was a few months back, he said he bought all his stuff from there & I must admit he always looks really well turned out. There's definitely a place for it, but it's just not for me.

I remember, when my niece was little, buying loads of stuff in Primark. It didn't matter much if it didn't last long as she was growing so fast. It's great value in that sense.

peacheachpearplum
I never got a blazer all through school. I got the gaberdine after a few months, and yes, it was pretty horrible.
I don't think adults really understood how we felt about being the kid who didn't have! My mother didn't know why it upset me!

Sorry but all of the things I have bought from primark have lasted years. Clothes are so expensive these days and if you need something and have a small budget then primark is the place to go. Even if you have the money then primark is still a good place for a bargain! Everyone's saying that asda and Tesco are really good but they're actually quite expensive.

I don't understand why some people are so snobby about buying clothing from somewhere that has good prices. People are so judgemental these days

It's not just clothes shops that are profiteering from poor working conditions either here or abroad.

Until zero hours contracts are outlawed I think most businesses who employ people on that basis are exploiting their staff.

Even Virgin media have their fitting teams classed as self employed who only get paid per job! A poor guy came to my house last week but couldn't do the job because he didn't have the right tool. He was cross because he won't get paid!!! I was furious for him.

Unfortunately with lot of businesses of any type the person carrying the risk is the small employee not the company.

If you compare a t shirt in primark say £5 to a nike r shirt £25 I suspect the person In the shop selling it and the person who made it got paid about the same. The only difference is that one company takes a bigger slice out because of their brand name.

Well I love primarni and my washing machine isn't a bag of shit so their clothing lasts me and the rest of the family perfectly fine. I'm wearing a top now that I bought about 8 years ago. I went to a friend's wedding literally head to toe in the stuff and loved people's shocked reaction when they asked where my outfit was from. Sure I got a few poo-tache faces from the Tangoed Mango wearers but only because they clearly can't polish a turd and carry it off quite like I can :)

Who's the fool? Me in my £30 entire outfit or them in their £300 one that they got on tick and are still probably paying off 5 years later? Bearing in mind all shops are as bad as each other morally as they are ALL in it to make money.

This thread is why things will probably never change. Too many people unwilling to admit it is what it is and I stead jumping on the it's all I can afford so that's ok.

Until zero hours contracts are outlawed I think most businesses who employ people on that basis are exploiting their staff.

Shows you do not know much about zero hour contracts if your still on this meme.

They make up a tiny tiny percentage of the workforce, exclusivity has been made illegal, also by all reports done by various different bodies, the vast majority of those who are on them are more than happy with the current arrangement, the number that are not happy and looking for another job as a percentage is less than those on normal salaried roles.

If your going to try and make blanket statements about feel good policies, you could maybe do with a bit more background reading.

Gottagetmoving I knew a boy at school who was really sporty, he was never allowed to be on a team as he didn't have the proper kit. When he got a job the first thing he did was buy a PE kit for his younger brothers. I thought it was sad and lovely at the same time.

It does hurt kids.

Nomoet if it is all that people can afford then it IS okay, what do you expect people to do when they don't have much money? They have no other choice but to shop there, even if they know that there's a possible sweat shop going on. What current evidence do you have that proves primark is still doing this anyway? I don't think you understand that people don't always have a flexible choice when it comes to buying clothes. No one seems to be that concerned about primark and how they source their clothes at the moment anyway. If you're that concerned about it why don't you actually go and do something about it instead of making people feel bad for buying clothes from there?