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.

Nearly all retailers used it for years, its been in loads of stuff, good thing is if you wash new clothes before you wear them it’s gone. Fabric furniture etc however was sat in your house happily coated in it.

I treat clothes and vegetables the same and wash them before I use them.

That's very interesting. Embalmed jeans!

Last October 14 year old Ds needed casual clothes as he’d outgrown everything.

I bought him two pairs of trousers & two t shirts from m & s & 1 pair of trousers & 1 t shirt from primark.

It’s now March & he’s outgrown them all. I really can’t justify paying m & s prices at the rate he is growing.

Last year I bought him trousers & t shirts from Peacocks. I had to return the trousers as the quality was so poor they felt awful, stiff & scratchy. The t shirts shrank & faded. In contrast the primark clothes felt nice & soft.

Primark basic t shirts and vest tops are brilliant. They don't shrink and wear incredibly well.
I am not fond of synthetics, but that is not unique to primark. You can go in top end shops and find hideous and overpriced garments made of nasty material.

Imo it’s the shoes that smell in Primark. One pair doesn’t on its own, but all of them together do. It gives me a headache if I spend too long around that bit but I have a really heightened sense of smell anyhow. The clothes don’t. Our Primark is on two floors there’s absolutely no smell whatsoever downstairs where it’s only clothes.

Do people really not understand that shops buy their fabric from the same places?
Do you imagine that M&S, COS, White Stuff etc have their own mills where well paid English people weave ethical fabrics whilst listening to Radio 4?

Buyers will go where the fabric is cheapest as long as it passes the tests that ALL shops insist on.

Primark fabrics come from the same place as the rest of the high street. Even if a shop wouldn't dream of using synthetics (unlikely) their cottons and silks will come from the same bank of manufacturers the budget shops use.
They won't pay more. They use their buying power to force the prices down.

Primark is an easy target for people who have no intention of stopping buying unnecessary clothing. If they loudly declare they aren't going to shop in Primark they think all their purchases from Boden, Hobbs and Arket won't count.

This insistence that Primark smells where other shops don't is very telling.
Why on earth would Primark smell more than all the other shops selling stacks of synthetic fabric?
It doesn't.

Shoe Zone smells because they are small shops full of new plastic and rubber shoes.

I was in Primark yesterday and it didn't smell.

YABU

The predominant whiff on this thread is that it reeks of snobbery.

I hope you dislike next and monsoon as much as well.

I’m glad it’s not just me! I hate the stores! I have only ever brought 3 tops there and all 3 had holes within 3 washes. People say they go there for the price but I would have been better off getting the tops at new look. Double the price but last 6 months longer

I'm also loving the apparent truth that Primark uses a special smelly cheap dye that no other manufacturer uses.
Why do people come out with so much drivel?

It is pure snobbery.

Do you imagine that M&S, COS, White Stuff etc have their own mills where well paid English people weave ethical fabrics whilst listening to Radio 4

fabulous!

Yep there's a lot of snobbery here....

Yes,Also Laughing at Do you imagine that M&S, COS, White Stuff etc have their own mills where well paid English people weave ethical fabrics whilst listening to Radio 4?

Now Zara, that's an overpriced shit-fest.
I haven't bought a single item from there that hasn't fallen apart after a few wears. A couple of items didn't even make it past the first wash.

Their clothes use the same materials as Primark. Sure the designs are different but the quality I would say is far worse. Places like Zara try to pretend their clothes are better made by charging hideous prices for poorly made clothes. At least primark sells it like it is and actually you get better deal with them.

Have read the full thread now and birdsgottafly is correct. If you actually research the bangladesh factory disaster naice middle class Benetton come out of it smelling far worse than primark. Yep.... this is out and out prejudice and snobbery.

This thread should go in classics.

I find it odd that people are complaining about the cheap, throwaway culture of places like Primark. Fashion is by it's very nature temporary, and therefore disposable.

I agree with you OP. charity shops /FB bundles / clothes swaps and hand me downs are all better alternatives for people on a tight budget.

On several occasions I have seen Primark clothing in charity shops priced at MORE than it would have cost new! I fail to see how that is better when you're on a budget.

And it doesn't smell in there.

I'm also loving the apparent truth that Primark uses a special smelly cheap dye that no other manufacturer uses.

Indeed. It's a stupid thought.

It's obviously the customers shopping there who stink.

Why on earth would Primark smell more than all the other shops selling stacks of synthetic fabric?

I don't know, although Honey gave a good explanation. All I do know is that it does.

If other people think it's the clientele, that's on them. All I know is that the place smells like burnt plastic every time I go in. It's so strong that I'm genuinely surprised that others can't smell it.

Embalmed furniture too. Doesn’t matter if you got your bed from John Lewis or Ikea either could be treated with it.

It is what it is. That’s why I founded sweeping statements without research, like the ops niggle me. As I said I work in manufacturing so I make my decisions on purchases based on where I’m prepared to draw the line; as does everyone else. And trust me some of the ethical darlings of the High Street are absolute bastards in reality and behind the scenes capitalism comes first.

Founded? find

No.charity shops & eBay aren’t better at all when you’re in a budget
In charity shop the sizing,design,will obvs be random.you get what happens to have been donated
Whereas in primark, lots of sizes, different designs.likely your reqd size will be there
Only challenge is how to remove the omnipotent smell of poor folk.its an olfactory nightmare

I loathe primark and only enter if a dc or ddil insists!