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AIBU?

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Original poster

Next - sizing issues/quality gone downhill?

12 replies

sleaf · 09/03/2022 14:29

I used to buy a lot of my clothes from Next but these days I'm finding a lot of their things are simply made of cheap fabric, especially viscose and polyester. I'm also finding their sizing a bit erratic.

I've recently started buying things from Shein and their quality and sizing seems to be better than Next.

What has happened to Next?

OP posts:
InPraiseOfBacchus · 09/03/2022 14:45

YABU from buying from Shein - highly unethical company. I'm not lecturing you as I bought a joblot of stuff from there before I watched some fascinating videos about the fast fashion industry, and swore off it forever!

YANBU to think high street clothing quality has plummeted. Since the recession, brands have cared more and more about clinging to their profit margins and quality has suffered as a result.

I've said it before on another thread - but I've watched this decline in quality happen in front of my eyes when I worked in department stores in the 2000s/2010s. Even "fancy" brands quietly switched suppliers and started churning out thin, plasticky fabrics, badly fitted and constructed items, and shit details plastered all over everything to justify a high price tag.

Comparing my vintage clothes and shoes from 1990s "cheap" brands... modern high street clothes look like tacky fancy dress costumes next to them. It's almost like they're "pretend" clothes in some cases, not actual garments meant for grown ups to wear. It's insulting to buyers.

BrioNotBiro · 09/03/2022 15:10

When Next first came out in the mid 80s their clothes were fabulous quality for the money. Each season's coordinated, with matching shoes and bags. There was just one size of each out and with properly dressed displays.

It felt quite high end - I used to go to the South Molton St (?)branch, a rather posh street.

Now it's like a jumble sale and smells of plastic shoes.

Mercurial123 · 09/03/2022 15:15

Agree with pp YABVU shopping at Shein.

Next has been rubbish quality for years. In the early 90's it was the place to go for office wear. Quality was excellent and it was expensive.

earsup · 09/03/2022 15:20

Next has racks of tat....look at the junk they buy in from warehouses just for their sales....cant believe pople fall for that scam....all shapeless synthetic tat.

Foxyloxy1plus1 · 09/03/2022 15:27

Next has so many different brands in its website that it’s impossible to trawl through it all. M&S is going the same way. Next sizing has been odd too, during the last few years.

SweetNcrunchy · 09/03/2022 15:31

I used to buy their Lift Slim & Shape jeans which were perfect for me. Now the sizing has completely gone to pieces and theyve gone all small. A 14 is more like a 10!

drawingpad · 09/03/2022 15:36

I think it went downhill 15 - 20 years ago tbh. When my eldest was small I got all her basics in NEXT and when my youngest was born the quality of a basic T-shirt had dropped dramatically. So sometime between 2005/2010

Userg1234 · 09/03/2022 15:48

Next when they started were dreadful for men's clothing.... only went up to a size 40 inch chest! Then they realised it wasn't 1945 and really improved. The belt I wear every day has to be 25 years old and looks ok. Went in last month and it was like clothing for under 5s.... really nothing for a more mature bloke

IsDaveThere · 09/03/2022 16:02

I used to buy their Lift Slim & Shape jeans which were perfect for me. Now the sizing has completely gone to pieces and theyve gone all small. A 14 is more like a 10!

I'm glad you said that, I bought some the other week and was disgusted that I had to get a bigger size than last time. I knew I hadn't put that much weight on!

DobbyTheHouseElk · 09/03/2022 16:04

I bought 4 pairs of next shoes for work. Usual size 6. They were teeny. More like a size 4. All got sent back.

user1471517095 · 09/03/2022 16:07

I bought a pair of exercise leggings in a 14. They're great so I bought another pair, size 14 won't even pull up over my thighs. They're the same style but just a different colour.

JudgeRindersMinder · 09/03/2022 16:17

@drawingpad

I think it went downhill 15 - 20 years ago tbh. When my eldest was small I got all her basics in NEXT and when my youngest was born the quality of a basic T-shirt had dropped dramatically. So sometime between 2005/2010
Totally agree with this! My eldest (b1997) was dressed very well almost exclusively from Next sales, but as you say 15-20 years ago it all changed, . With their children’s clothes, the changed the age grouping and we’re selling the same clothes for 3 year old and 12 year old girls, amd the quality of fabrics etc had gone down the pan
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