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?

5ft 2 is short imo . Certainly petite range

YANBU that Next is bobbins but YABU to think that 5'2" isn't quite short!

Yep sizing is complete rubbish. I've bought joggers from there and I had to try 3 sizes before I found the right fit.

I agree the quality has gone down the pan big time. These days I really only buy pyjamas and slippers, and then only in the sales.

YANBU but 'petite' is 5'3" and under everywhere.

Next stores are basically just parcel collection hubs for online shopping with some “shit I have a job interview tomorrow, my interview skirt doesn’t fit anymore and it’s already 6pm” clothes chucked in to fill the floor space.

All the ones near me are virtually empty when I walk past them and some have closed down. I would never shop there.

I agree. If I am not shopping online, sainsburys clothes are my go to (5ft 3) use to love Next.

25 years ago it was still producing a lot of decent quality stuff - now it’s just cheap ‘fast fashion’. But it’s the same with many brands sadly - people are too used to wear a few times & chuck mentality. I’m still wearing some stuff (mainly jeans & trousers) I wore in my teens and I’m 43 now! I have a Gap jumper I bought when I was 17 and it still looks good as new!! Just wouldn’t happen now - even the expensive stuff is poorer quality….looking at you Jigsaw etc!

@Gilly12345

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 class them as up their own arse because their price points suggest a higher quality item, yet they don't actually come good with that as many people here agree and the fact they refuse to offer any incentives like I mentioned. For most retailers you can have a google and find discount codes or you can get cash back. Next don't do anything like that, and they don't reduce items mid-season. It's either sale (with purposely brought in clothing) or nothing. It strikes me as arrogant.

I like Next homeware, buy quite a lot of it, also their jeans are good. My daughter bought a bed from there recently, excellent quality and the delivery and updates were really good.

They are doing very well as a business so are clearly getting a lot right including stocking other brands. But then I often see Uniqlo, Cos and Toast raved about on mumsnet and to me they could be banded together under shapeless frumps are us. People like different stuff.

Oh, Next has been awful since the late nineties, as a PP notes.

It had been posting losses since the early-mid nineties. It just wasn’t chiming with what people wanted any more, possibly because of the early nineties recession combined with its higher price point. Or maybe the clothes were such good quality they lasted too long, hence there weren’t enough repeat purchases from its customer base of people who were prepared to spend decent money on good, well-made clothes. Or maybe we all got entranced by Primark and thought that skirts should only cost £8 and that it was better to buy our Primark items instead of one Next item.

Anyway its share price plunged during the 1990s. So it went down the cheap route and that was it: goodbye great quality and design, hello polyester.

I go in every now and again with my mum, when I take her for a run out to a retail park. She is 89 and likes wandering around shops. I don’t know who is buying the clothes: they are all so apologetic-looking. Even the assistants don’t wear Next clothes. I admired one girl’s top and she told me that it wasn’t from Next and that she wouldn’t be seen dead in the clothes they sold!

The one Next fan I know is somebody whose clothing policy is ‘cheap, don’t draw attention to yourself, forgiving shapes’.

*FOUR Primark items instead of one Next item

@ThatsALotOfPassionfruit

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

[laugh] those dresses are pretty much all I picture when I image Next clothing. They are truly hideous square pieces of stiff, ugly fabric that don't even look good on their models, who I imagine are embarrassed to model them.

I could have written your post OP. I'm back at work after wfh for ages and needed a new pair of work trousers so bought a pair from Next at the weekend as they're one of the few places that do a petite length. They're horrible cheap shiny material and very unflattering. The worse thing is though - now I have cut the labels off and am actually wearing them so can't return them - when I sit down they rise up and are literally 10cms above my ankle. They look shit and I'm really pissed off.

@Magicpaintbrush

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

I agree with you btw.

Sadly I doubt they'd give two shits.

I still manage to find decent stuff in Next. I bought a lot of t shirts last year and I always buy my socks there as they are the best fit from any shop. I've also got a few nice dresses.

I love the fact they sell other brands online! My favourite jeans are from F&F but Tesco never have my size so I order them online from Next now.

5'2" sounds petite to me! I'm 5'9".

DD2 is 5'7" and usually needs tall in trousers.

I often find tall is not quite tall enough.

DD1 is 6' and has to buy trousers from brands that specialize in tall girls clothing.

@WitchWithoutChips

YANBU that Next is bobbins but YABU to think that 5'2" isn't quite short!

I should clarify, I know I am short. And really short, compared to a lot of people. But the petite ranges say they are designed for people 5ft3 and under. So I am 1 inch under. That's not THAT much, yet I still can't find any that come anywhere near close to being the correct length. If I was an inch taller they would still be too long.

You're completely right. Next is awful. Poor quality, dull designs in both homeware and clothes. I haven't shopped there for about 20 years.

I remember when you paid to have their hardback directory. We used to drive the hour to a big Next and queue up at something daft like 6am when their sale was on. You got an early invite if you were lucky. We came out with bags and bags of bargains for us and the kids.
Now I forget to look at the website and we don't even look online at their 'VIP' sales anymore. Don't recognise any of the sale stuff from the website anyhow.

Such a shame it really has gone wrong somewhere.

I agree. I bought a suit from them (jacket and trousers) when I realised my suits didn’t fit any more and I needed one urgently. Both are polyester and the suit trousers raise up at the ankle when you sit down. Also, I ended up having to get three jackets and three different sizes of trousers and keeping the ones that fitted the least badly. At least they don’t quibble over returns.

I’ve now bought a couple of next suits off eBay and they are both wool and the trousers fit much better.

George at Asda or tu sainsburys , 5’4 have stuff altered

I like the clothes and the delivery pass is amazing. But yeah agree on the terrible wood quality in their furniture. Still the nicest sofa designs, although our sofa has gone totally saggy after only 8 years.

Its cheap tat and their shoes aren't comfortable.

@dizzydizzydizzy

5'2" sounds petite to me! I'm 5'9".

DD2 is 5'7" and usually needs tall in trousers.

I often find tall is not quite tall enough.

DD1 is 6' and has to buy trousers from brands that specialize in tall girls clothing.

I’m 6’ - M&S now do an extra long 35” leg length in some trousers. Worth knowing!

Equally for OP - M&S ‘extra short’ length is 27” inside leg, which might be better for you.