To think Next are up their own arse

[Rawtinhail]

I swear Next used to be pretty well rated, decent quality. Now it's just a load of over priced, cheaply made tat.
I have to shop in the petite section, which is a joke because at 5"2 (not that short I don't think), I still struggle to find any jeans/trousers that aren't a good few inches too long still. But it's so hit and miss because even in identical styles the sizing is all over the place. I can fit in a size 14 in one colour and the size 18 is too tight in another colour but has a saggy crotch chucked in for good measure or a waist so high I could tuck it under my tits.
This is the same even with their exclusive brands. Bought two identical Lipsy dresses in different colours. One fit ok but a little loose around the bum. I couldn't even get the other over my head for fear of ripping the waistband.
Their own clothing is so often just frumpy crap in horrible fabric with some big tacky sparkly star shoved on the front to "jazz it up". The stuff that is actually nice is horrendously overpriced.
Then you get to the furniture. It's all MDF and oak veneer. AKA cheap tat. But it's not cheap, it's expensive. You could literally buy the same quality of furniture for half the price in Argos.
And there are never any discount codes available or cash back affiliations like Quidco. (other than their quarterly sales where they roll out the extra crap crap). Even John Lewis isn't so stuck up that they aren't willing to chuck out some cash back offers or release little discount codes.
Oh, and you can't review anything, you have to be invited to leave reviews!
I get this is first world problems but Next happens to the be only department type shop anywhere near where I live and I keep trying with them, but I'm hacked off that I can't find a single pair of trousers that fits my dumpy ass properly.
Is it just me? Am I just being to unrealistic about what to expect from a major retailer?

@TheKeatingFive

Where do people in their late 30s/early 40s buy clothes nowadays?

I'm not talking about the boden/joules crew, but if (like me) you used to buy a lot from Oasis/Warehouse, where do you buy from now?

Obviously Zara will come up, but I only occasionally get on with Zara. I like H&M but sometimes want something a bit less basic.

I have no idea where to shop these days either. I rediscovered Oasis about a year before it shut down, so that's gone too. I used to love Gap, then that went rubbish and the shops always looked like a jumble sale but at high prices. Esprit was good too, but I can never find it in any shops- I just had a look online and their stuff still looks quite decent and not too pricey so I might have to try a delivery from them next time I need new clothes.

I get quite a lot of stuff at Uniqlo- I just order a whole load online and send back what doesn't work for me. Their merino wool jumpers are lovely and they do decent jeans but I find their tops a bit too boxy.

Mostly I just wear the same stuff I've had for ages and I buy a few things second hand in charity shops or on local selling sites. I do get my jeans in Next though as they are cheap and fit me well, plus they come in in between sizes.

I’m now wondering what’s wrong with joules/boden/crew….

How do you mean?

Bizarrely, I really like Weird Fish. The quality is superb, often organic cotton, they wash really well and there's almost always a sale on, making them cheap as chips.

I've always thought of them as a teenage brand, but I've lived in their clothes for the past couple of years.

May not be your taste but they're an alternative to awful polyester tat for sure.

I totally agree. Next are expensive and no better quality than Primark. Sizing all over the place. I used to buy from the Next Tall range, but their L or XL trousers are totally hit and miss in length. I do like their next day delivery though, that is the only reason I still sometimes buy from them.

It's not that there's anything wrong with Boden/Joules, it's just that I don't really go for that style and this being MN I thought they might come up

I just had to return 4 things I bought in clearance online. 4 size 10s , 2 massive, 1 tight and the 4 th just so long I’ve no idea who it was made for as I’m 5ft 5 so distinctly average.

I'm in the process of shutting my account and paying the money back and never reopening.

YANBU for noting Next is poor quality tat. It had been since it went Nationwide in about 1989?

YABU for saying Next is up it's own backside. It's just another cheap shop although where I live it is always kept more tidily that H&M.

It's more at the price point of Top Shop than H&M but I think that's cheap and nasty too. Not sure really of Next's demographic. I don't like it as a middle aged woman; dd doesn't like as a 20 something although does rate their leggings/trousers as she's petite.

Their sizing is wild. I am a size 10, sometimes 12 and they had size 6 tops that absolutely drowned me. That's vanity sizing that's fooling no one and what do the genuinely tiny people do?

I'm short also at almost 5ft 2 and I used to buy all my trousers from Next as the petite length fitted me perfectly, then 3 - 4 years ago they changed it and now everything is 4 inches to long with such a high rise the crutch is down near my knees. Also as a lady of a certain age I want/need natural fibres rather than the boil in the bag polyester that they make everything out of.

I used to love their stuff back in the early nineties I had beautiful silk trousers and shirts from them, I brought lovely work wear suits and they were one retailer that sold 1/2 sizes in shoes and size 3 1/2 which is rare, so brought most of my shoes and boots there too, I still have a pair that I wear regularly that must be getting on for 15 years old, but now everything is just blah and so badly made now, I don't even bother to look.

It’s total Tat now and very over priced stuff. The womens clothes are pretty dire. The boys full of dinasours and cars (very unoriginal) and the girls horrible flowers and tacky, cheap looking items.

I worked for Next in the early 90s. We sold pure wool tailored wear - I had a fabulous jacket, trousers and skirt that I wore for years until I couldn’t fit in them. Now it is a sea of cheap fabric - recently I have only bought kids clothes but DS2 is out of that now.
But they’re not the only high street store to sell men’s office wear in decent fabrics while the womenswear is mostly cheap tat.

In the noughties next was where most of my clothes were from.

I haven't been in in a decade.

It seems very overpriced and not appealing.

I don't do discount codes/ cashback (how do I find out about theses?) So can't comment on that.

I only use next to buy clothes from other retailers. Often their sale has Boden and the White Company for half price, often bigger discounts than the main retalier.

Next is shit and has been going downhill since the late nineties.

I’m in my early forties. Most of my shopping is done via mail order from the US. The companies I use (and probably also the styles I choose) are both consistent and forgiving in their sizing.

I used to worry about getting crappy fabrics (I hate cheap fabrics with a vengeance) but the shops I go to seem to be consistent in their quality too. So far.

I recommend White House Black Market and Ann Taylor. Lee for jeans and casual trousers.

Also a petite shopper of Next range. Disappointing to hear. Last shopped in Next a few years ago in Edinburgh as Next UK shops sell their stock cheaper than in Next Ireland. Bought boot-legged jeans and two tops. Still have them as quality is good.

It definitely is shite now. Wildly priced too, one t-shirt £12, an almost identical one is then £28. No idea why.
Their tops are also way too short, admittedly I’m tall-ish (5.9) but with a short body but I have to buy their tall range jumpers and even they aren’t that long.

I personally like Next, I have bought good quality duvet sets, China, mugs, towels and have lots of their linen summer dresses, reasonably priced and good quality.

Because you don’t rate their clothes why does that make them “up their own arse”?

I'm also 5'2" and bought the most comfy pair of maternity joggers ever from next. However, I had to buy long length for them to reach my ankle properly. What's that about?? Usually standard length is more than long enough and for ankle length I need petite .

Was pretty happy with them yesterday though as they swapped a baby gift for me with no receipt as someone bought us an inappropriate size. They even gave a new receipt so we can return it if we want to.

Oh and wtf are all the shapeless, hideously patterned dresses about!

Maybe you should post a link to this thread on their fb page, OP.

I agree with you btw.

I tend to agree but I live in hope….last night I ordered 10 pairs of jeans in the hope that 1 will fit! Pray for me….

Petite range is for 5"3 and under I think....

I wonder who does shop there?
Quality and their choice of material is shocking.

I used to buy jeans in there, now dreadful.
Weird styles, colour combos. What is with those jumpers with the fake shirt bits hanging out everywhere?

@Carbiesdreamhouse

I hate this model of next and now m&s that sell a load of non next and non m&s clothes. You search 'dress' and are faced with 8,000 choices all from different makes. I just want a simple range of good quality items.

Could this be because Debenhams and a lot of the other high street retailers closed so these other brands needed a place to be able to sell their clothes and other items?