Which fashion companies make clothes that actually last?

[mollysmum82]

I made a decision a while back to stop buying cheap clothes on a whim and end up chucking them out (hence spending more money). So I started to stock my wardrobe with "better" labels in the hope of having quality, stylish clothing that washed well and lasted. However in the last few days a Debenhams Nine West pair of shoes have fallen apart, some M&S jeans have a hole in them, as does a Kettlewells and a Boden cardi. These were all bought just over 2 months ago. Have I just had bad luck? Or should I just go back to buying cheaper labels considering Ill be tossing them in 2 months anyway?

I have been meaning to do this as well. Bought 2 boden tops, feel like much better quality than usual high st stuff, but only time will tell!
I have a Gap wool trench coat coat which still looks like new after 3 winters of non stop wear, I also have a Primark cotton top which I've had for 10 years and an H & M jacket which is about to be chucked after 10 years, so I think it's the individual products you need to look at rather than the shop (annoyingly!)

With regard to shoes: more expensive ones can last a long time but you need to wear them alternate days, look after them (ie clean and polish them with proper polish so the leather does get wrecked when it rains), get them re-heeled and soled regularly by an old fashioned cobbler (not Mister Minnit). You generally need to be prepared to not wear the most fashionable shoes, too. I find Hobbs and Russell and Bromley shoes last well

Isabella Oliver (Bjauken) clothes always last. Bowden do quite well. Buy quality I think. In general the more you spend the longer the clothes last. Primark - need to throw out after one wash usually.

I have clothes from very high end designers, mid range Boden/white company and cheapo shops like Primark. Some have lasted years, some just one season it doesn't relate to the cost IMO.

Toast are good.

I generally work on the basis that cheap clothes will fall apart quickly (especially Primark, where they are falling apart on the rail half the time ), but I have a few exceptions - H&M jersey has always lasted me pretty well (although the length isn't always as generous as I'd like), and I rate New Look shoes for a cheap option, as long as you're not expecting them to (a) be leather or (b) last forever.

On the whole, though, I tend to stick to lesser known brands (which tend not to have given over entirely to profit over quality) or those with a really good reputation for quality. A few of my favourites are:

• LK Bennett for shoes - you need to get them re-soled, but they last forever
• H&M for t-shirts
• Brora for cashmere
• Toast for coats, nice trousers etc (really good quality)
• Hobbs for workwear

Oh, and of lesser known/more expensive brands:

• Inhabit for knitwear
• Vince for t-shirts
• Sandro

Hobbs - great if you can stuff in the sale, otherwise ££££.

I used to work in the rag trade ( sorta) and was shown by my very glam boss how to look at quality of individual garments rather than where they are from: I remember buying a lined wool skirt from Warehouse which lasted ages.

Look at what you are buying...

I totally agree about individual items One of the best items I have ever had is a Florence and Fred Black top.You cannot go wrong with Jigsaw and Hobbs

Definitely true about looking at individual items - it's really hard nowadays to say a brand is always good or bad quality, as they have stuff made in so many different places.

I think M&S quality can be quite patchy these days. I never buy their knitwear anymore as it goes baggy really quickly. On the other hand, I've got Karen Millen knitwear (bought in sale) still going strong after over 5 years.

Yes, another vote here for Hobbs

mmmm Hobbs..... Love their shift dresses.....

I have some Monsoon jumpers and cardigans etc that are still going strong three years later.

Agree about M and S being patchy quality wise.

I agree it's the individual item, barring maybe the very cheap stuff.

I've had woolens from Warehouse last years and good brand clothes such as Reiss look bad in a few weeks!

Another vote for Hobbs

Also I've had good success buying the more expensive items from cheaper brands. I bought a coat from new look that was really expensive by their standards but cheaper than most 'quality' brands. It had lasted really really well.

Worst quality for price IMO over the past few years has been French Connection. Oh and Bravissimo/Pepperberry

Brora - jersey dresses just wash and wear for years. Sainsburys clothes always last for me too. Next womens wear is rubbish, though my sons' shirts last well.

Yes look at Quality of the fabric and how its made. Fabric should be thick and stitching should be straight with a nice finish. You do not have to turn a garment inside out to check this or take into a changing room for inspection can be easily done while its on the rail by feeling the garment along with a few more along side it turn it so you can inspect the stitching one sides normally enough to see how good the machinist was. Sometime touch and feel is not needed to the trained eye by sight alone can be enough to spot same item different batch of materail used.

Sainsburys clothes are seemingly indestructible, I have some skirts of theirs that have washed and worn for years. My sister has a jersey top from New Look that is 19 years old

Think it comes down to the individual garment. I've had stuff shrink from whistles, jigsaw, boden hobbs etc...lots of knitwear from supposedly quality shops has gone bobbly, makes me weep to think of the money I have wasted.

It's funny how clothes can vary even within a brand - I bought a Paul Costelloe linen top about 8 years ago and it's still going strong. But a knitted jacket I bought from them 2 years ago is looking very tired. A Hobbs knitted coat looked saggy within one season, going against the experience of other MNers.

I agree with October1st re Florence & Fred - I've had one of their t-shirts for about 4 years and it's held its shape and colour really well. As for M&S, their standards are a mystery to me - I've had jeans that wear out in 3 months, but a coat (at £35) has lasted beautifully for 3 years.

It all looked good quality to me when I bought these things, and yet I couldn't have predicted how they would last. To be honest, I thought the more high fashion Karen Millen dress I bought 3 years ago would prove to be a bobbly sack within a year, but not at all, it's the best of the lot.

i have some Hush Puppies boots that are amazingly comfortable and quite stylish - they're 5 years old and still going strong.

It really is luck of the draw, I had a pair of Primark jeans I wore pretty much every day for two years, best £10 I ever spent! But two tops I bought there recently have only survived one wash before shrinking for no good reason.

The only shop I actively avoid now is Next, everything is overpriced, ill fitting, and shrinks after a 30oc wash (no tumble drying) ditto for the kids clothes.

I've bought dresses and trousers from Next that last for years and years.

And they aren't ridiculously overpriced either.

I have never had a problem with clothes from Next. They have always seemed well made to me. Actually I very rarely have problems with any of my clothes. The worst thing I have bought recently was a jumper from Boden that was so bobbly after one wear.