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.

It's not Primark = slave labour vs other high street shops = fair working conditions, is it?
What about supermarkets even?

Primark is great for some things, less great for others. Even if they don't stock maternity wear in most stores, you can still buy larger sizes for next to nothing.

The main attraction of Primark is that either it's in stock right there, or it's not.

Our market in our local city is on a week day, so not practical for anyone with a job. I'm not sure if it's cheaper than Primark and I'd be surprised if the clothes were made more ethically?

Are there any cheap shops that have ethically made shops you can recommend op?

I have noticed that Primark is the in shop for teens, especially the girls, I would rather that, than them wanting the latest designer trainer at £90 or a designer shirt at £70. I think teens are becoming more budget aware, which is good.

m.primark.com/en/our-ethics

YABU. Primark take the well-being of their workers exceptionally seriously, particularly after the 2013 tragedy. Other high st companies, eg Matalan do not, and acted frankly disgracefully (www.google.co.uk/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/business/2014/jul/30/matalan-donates-rana-plaza-victims-trust-fund).

But because Primark is a ‘symbol’ of fast fashion, they get the criticism - that makes very little sense and is unfair. You’re on an ill-informed bandwagon op.

I am not sure Boden is that great, in term of workers welfare

www.abc.net.au/news/2016-04-20/australian-fashion-report3a-how-do-your-favourite-retailers-ra/7342040

Of course Primark encourages people to buy buy buy - so do all shops, kinda how the whole thing works...? Do you object to supermarkets with their special offers and buy-one-get-one-free deals on the same grounds? What about Poundland? Fair enough if you object to consumerism as a whole but I'm baffled as to why you have picked on Primark specifically. As others have said, if it's not snobbery, what is it?

I’m not all that fond of Primark clothes...the fabrics and tailoring tend to be on the shoddy side and they always seem to shrink dreadfully even washed on low temperatures and dried outside. I have bought the odd item for the kids there...I don’t think I’ve ever actually bought anything for myself...I’m a dumpy woman and cheap fabrics and poor tailoring aren’t flattering to me at all. I’d rather three decent quality items that hang and fit well than ten cheapos that don’t.

As for the ethics, I think we’d be kidding ourselves to imagine Primark are the main perpetrators of using sweatshop labour...they all do. Price is absolutely no guarantee of good ethics.

Yeh so I don't buy many clothes and I honestly don't get the whole buying thing all the time so maybe that's part of it. And I don't shop in Boden. In fact never heard of it until Mumsnet!

Whilst I accept that there are people shopping there because they have to - although I'm not sure it's always as black and white as people claim because what did we do before Primark - my main issue is how many people shop there because it just encourages consumerism and disposable culture. It's not a reason that's trotted out miao it's an important one.

Just read from pp that they have a good management training scheme which tbf I would support.

Oh yes and it’s TOTALLY class snobbery too. How crass to buy more than one artfully designed piece a season! Oh no, I MY clothes to be QUALITY.

Mine are a mix, as are most peoples’. Find something else to virtue signal about FGS.

I treated myself to item of clothing from Armani in the sale, when it arrived, the fabric was awful, and the fit badly, I looked in the label, Made in China. For that price, I would expect it to be made in Italy or Western Europe. Of course I returned it, and got my money back, designer does not mean good quality. I decided a few years ago to treat my ds to some Boden trousers, well after a month the knees had massive holes in them, he did not do anything any other boy would do. I soon switched to supermarket or H&M trousers, never happened to me with them. His school trousers from ASDA which he wears everyday and cost £4 each, never had a hole in them ever, he grew out of them, and I had to pass them onto charity.

Thing that I am genuinely baffled by is how do you launch the class snobbery thing when if you met me in the street you would probably think I was of a much lower class. It just doesn't wash with me. Like the only people allowed to have these views or sensitivities have to be middle class.

Only their socks are a good fit on me. Everything else makes me look like a bag of shite.

I used to buy a big paper bag every so often for my cat to play in it. 5p well spent.

nerrsnerr charity shops. Its says it all when its cheaper to shop at primark than in a charity shop.
newyearnewme
I grew up in a poor working class part of the country, in the poorest part of town, but my parents worked - low paid jobs. The difference between us and the kids growing up in council homes, with parents on the dole was very marked, I felt quite well off in comparison even though I wasn't. So not sure where you get the idea that benefits where plentiful in the past and better that working salaries ?
There is definitely a sense of entitlement to cheap food and clothing that was not around when I grew up and I also think some peoples idea of being flat broke is very different to mine, when I have been flat broke I've not had £2.00 to buy a set of desperately needed knickers.
The acceptance of the status quo and unwillingness to challenge it because you like having cheap clothes is honestly quite depressing.
Perhaps if people where willing to pay more products, we could bring production back to this country (Not in UKIP way) creating more jobs, so there are less people dependant on cheap clothing supply.

To the PP no i don't object to Poundland. I would have thought it would be quite obvious why? I shop in Poundland myself as do people I know. The difference is they don't tend to go in and buy 10 different shades of washing baskets use them for a month throw them away and come back for more.

Back in the day, we had the Market, or C&A, Tammy Girl etc that were reasonably priced or on the cheaper end, charity shops which were fairly priced with decent stuff in them, and there were some independent cheap fashion shops dotted along the high street back in the 80's and 90's.

I'm not what you would describe as poor or middle class, somewhere inbetween we live comfortably.

I love Primark, in fact I'm going today and I can't wait. I don't see it as 'disposable' - many, many of my clothes are from there and have lasted me a long time.

It afford families who don't have much money to clothe their kids in nice clothes - why begrudge that?

I hate to tell you but upper class shops are absolutely no better, they just mark their prices up. Neither are supermarkets, who not only exploit clothing houses but also food producers - overseas and in the UK.

Some of this came up as part of my social science module on my degree and those workhouses actually mean that families abroad can eat and clothe themselves too.

It's an interesting one but essentially, do what's right for you and don't judge others who have to shop there.

When Woolies was open, the kids clothes that they did, were fairly cheap, rather like the supermarket.

finderscrispy I do agree with your post. You're right it's the entitlement and reluctance to change that is so depressing. And the idea of what being flatbroke is. I haven't bothered going into the ins and outs of my life but i doubt most previous posters have been as broke as me.

But if there was the desire to change and people willing to spend more it would absolutely be the best thing to bring production back and pay people decent wages for making these clothes.

I grew up in north of Ireland and primark has been a staple here my entire life. We've had it for 30 years or more I'm sure and it's the reason many families can afford to clothe their kids.
I'm far from the poverty line but I use it for holiday clothes and baby / kids clothes. They grow out of them so fast why would you spend more?
We love it here it's literally part of our culture lol

I think it depends what shape you are because my sister can shop there and look amazing where I look like s bag of spuds!

For me I find the fit awful and it shrinks. Kids clothes tend to be tiny sizing so my dd doesn't fit kids clothes anymore because she is taller with hips.

Whenever I see people picking places like primark I often wonder how many of those are typing out messages on a smart phone for example. The fact is that it is very difficult and expensive to live very ethically. We live in a very consumerist society and most of us enjoy the luxuries of doing so. We have laws in Thai country that cover the working conditions of people here but realistically we have just shifted the problem somewhere else that doesn’t while getting to pay ourselves on the back saying we don’t shop in places like Primark while typing on iPhones.

I think primark are offering a service more than facilitating the cheap fashion, quick fashion has been around for years and it used to be that people used to get cheap clothes from the local market and they are hardly ethical and or knock off.

As others have said the Primark doc on BBC was rightly panned and they had to issue an apology, it has also been found out that many of the top fashion houses use the same sweatshops.

It is far more nuanced than Primark being the being the cause of throw away fashion it goes throughout the industry and is not money specific, even the "classics" come an go.

You then get into the whole ethical thing, it's not the case that those working in sweatshops to make the higher priced bands (and they are still sweat shops) are all clocking of at 5 with loads of holiday pay and free perks. Its all quite relative

I don't like the wastefulness which Primark encourages - buy something for a fiver, wear it once or twice, chuck it out, get something new. That is not a positive ethos for the planet.

Their stuff is cheap. Made cheaply, with cheap fabrics, by cheap workers in the developing world. Sure someone will be along shortly with an anecdote about how they bought a dress from Primark in 1995, have worn it every day since and it's still like new. However that's the exception not the rule.

I am a charity shop volunteer and we see a lot of Primark coming through - lots is not good enough to sell as it's faded, stretched or all bobbled, and if it is good about to sell we can only stick a maximum of about £4 on it because it's Primark. Even if it's a coat.

I've seen a LOT of second hand clothes since I've been volunteering, in my experience the higher end brands like Jaegar, Cos or Laura Ashley are in far better shape when they get to us than the cheap Primark, H&M or supermarket clothes. Also we see lots of stuff from defunct 90s brands like Principles or Richards Shops - still in great condition.

So yeah, not a Primark fan. I think I've bought socks and pyjamas in there and that's about it.

Thought experiment: Suppose Primark, or any other equivalent clothing shop, was a completely ethical business. Genuinely treated workers well, paid fair wages, etc. But still charged £1.80 for a T shirt and rotated its stock like a spinning top to encourage people to buy cheap clothes all the time.

How would we feel about it?

I bought Primark cotton knickers as a cheap and more comfortable alternative to paper ones post labour. I intended to dispose of them in a similar way. Reader, I still have some of them. DD will be 9 this year.

So....
Primark is no worse than many, many other retailers.
Some of their stuff is actually quite good.
People on budgets can buy clothes - one of life’s essentials - and have choices.