To think that clothes are such poor quality now?

[Pythone]

(And other products too, really!)

I saw this tweet which summed it up: twitter.com/lingerie_addict/status/1494349028296900613?s=24

I've been thinking this for months - the difference between newer things and things I bought pre about 2017 is so stark. E.g. a nightdress from John Lewis which looked nice on the website, but then in real life the material is so thin and is only printed on one side, so the other side is just white with the design sort of showing through. Everything from mid-level shops seems to feel like the "cheapest of the cheap" from a decade or two ago, sometimes even like a fancy dress costume level. Thin fabric, weak construction, terrible finishing, strong chemical smells when you open the bag, and looking bad after a few washes. I bought a dressing gown from M&S and the pockets are just coming away at the sides even without being used.

In the mid-2000s I'd buy cheap things, often as part of a costume for a party or for a one-off outfit, and they'd just end up as part of my regular wardrobe for years. These days it's hard to imagine anything lasting that long, never mind things that weren't really expensive to start with.

Has anyone else noticed this?

How do people find Baukjen for quality - I have often dithered with trying that. Have just ordered a sweatshirt in the sale via John Lewis to try.

If they are good, I might bite the bullet and pay out to replace some of my very knackered tops there.

Definitely poorer quality these days.

I have a sweatshirt made by Fruit of the Loom that must be 25 years old. I wear it for riding so it gets dirty and needs washing every time it's worn. Never needs ironing and there is not one bobble on it.

Three years ago we needed some new sweatshirts for a charity I volunteer for. I suggested Fruit of the Loom as my other one had lasted so well. Really wish I had kept my mouth shut. They have gone out of shape, have bobbled and look like screwed up rags when they come out of the washing machine. Awful things.

I remember FotL as being indestructible too, @DoraSpenlow - someone bought my husband some as work shirts for Christmas, and they are dire quality, falling apart on first wash.

YANBU. Around 2011 I bought a jumper in M&S for £50. Quite a lot at the time but it was thick, long enough to cover my bum, mainly made of wool and was a nice fairisle type pattern. M&S certainly don't sell anything of that quality now. I expect something similar would be at least £125, maybe more.

I bought my Ds two school jumpers from M&S. I know school jumpers get a low of wear but it's shocking how quickly they faded. He's grown out of them and I often ebay stuff but I'd be embarrassed to sell them on.

*a lot

I buy the majority of my clothes from eBay as I like certain brands and I cannot afford them new. I am quite particular about the designs l like and go for new or nearly new. The quality of superior too.

I think the rot set in before 2011.

Around 2005/6

It's to do with the fact that retailers won't raise prices to the customer.

Yes when I worked in fashion it was decided it was better to keep price points competitive so quality had to reduce

This. As with many things inflation of costs and materials has been hidden by huge reductions in quality.

@OfstedOffred

It's to do with the fact that retailers won't raise prices to the customer.

Yes when I worked in fashion it was decided it was better to keep price points competitive so quality had to reduce

This. As with many things inflation of costs and materials has been hidden by huge reductions in quality.

Indeed. And then, it doesn't show up in the inflation statistics. I think if a like-for-like comparison for products based on equivalent quality was remotely feasible, the inflation figures for the last two decades would look vastly different. As you say, not just on clothes: food, hotels and travel (looking at you airlines and train operators!), electronics and household appliances, furniture...

Totally agree Hoot but I would guess it has been ever thus.

If I can get decent material I’m going to get my last two holey t shirts made up by a seamstress. The cut of them is brilliant.

Agree clothing is less resilient now. I find I am hand washing more and more because I think using a washing machine on a normal cycle would destroy a lot of modern clothing. I do use the machine to rinse and spin afterwards so they are not waterlogged.

Maybe that’s why clothes seem to be in holes after a few months.

We are currently living in copenhagen and whilst here I have bought amazing quality coats and boots for far less than I would have paid in UK— I have an Arctic conditions padded hooded winter coat that would easily have been £175 in UK— here £90 - a pair of superb thick soled necker lace up boots £85 in Denmark- £130 in UK - H has done the same. Very little of this stuff is made in China either, the boots were German, the coat Swedish . Have come to the conclusion that UK seems to be sent the cheap leftovers , even a lot of designer stuff in UK is poor quality . My H buys some really good quality stuff on odd work trips to USA every few years.

Agreed. I buy original vintage when I can and the quality is amazing.
I tend to buy from seasalt for natural fabrics. The cotton tops last.

@Crikeyalmighty

We are currently living in copenhagen and whilst here I have bought amazing quality coats and boots for far less than I would have paid in UK— I have an Arctic conditions padded hooded winter coat that would easily have been £175 in UK— here £90 - a pair of superb thick soled necker lace up boots £85 in Denmark- £130 in UK - H has done the same. Very little of this stuff is made in China either, the boots were German, the coat Swedish . Have come to the conclusion that UK seems to be sent the cheap leftovers , even a lot of designer stuff in UK is poor quality . My H buys some really good quality stuff on odd work trips to USA every few years.

Yep, many of the things in my wardrobe were bought on work trips many years back, before I changed jobs to be primarily UK based to raise my children.

If people in the UK stopped buying such crap then the shops would stock better stuff. The answer used to be ordering in from the EU but Brexit has made that less viable (smaller companies won't export anymore, it's too much hassle and expense, and with larger ones you have to pay ££££ more than before).

UK consumers need to leave the laughable quality products on the shelves unsold, and it would changes very fast.

But they won't. There's little appreciation of quality here and now with the inflationary environment even those who'd rather buy better quality that will last longer mostly can't afford to. I expect it to get worse in the short term rather than better, except through niche and expensive suppliers.

Or maybe people will start learning to make their own clothes again?

Experiment for you: go on eBay and search “men’s wool jumper” - 100s of quality 100% fibres for pennies.

Do the same for “women’s wool jumper” and it appears either 1) women don’t know what wool is or 2) they’re having a fucking laugh.

“Wool blend” is code for 2% wool, 56% acrylic, 42% Tesco carrier bag. And it costs £££.

I agree, and I really resent paying good money for something that’s barely primark quality - although saying that even primark clothing used to be better quality.

I don’t want nightie thin, see through polyester clothing. I cannot tell you how many work tops I have rejected because you can practically see what I had for breakfast through them.

@CuckooClocked

Or maybe people will start learning to make their own clothes again?

I think some of that is happening but buying material often isnt cheap - and there is a learning curve where there will be waste.

I'm trying to repair where I can however it's much easier to repair something that was well made to begin with. It's not hard to re-sew a bit of seam but there's not a lot you can do with something that's getting full of holes because the fabric was crap from the start

You can darn holes in fabric (you tube has many examples to learn from ) and in past was very common to do - though apparently it should be done before the actual hole stage.

DH has a jacket he's made a feature of this though I've mange on one of my very full summer cotton skirts so it's not really visible - though it's definitely a skill I need to practise with.

However it's easier with better fabric again.

There's also patches - again can be made a feature as that's not going to possible to hide.