So I thought the buzz was that M&S were supposed to have got their sartorial shit together with their new Collection?

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Really? These tights?

Really? Those leggings? Those shoes?

Ye gads

Think I'll get this

Yikes to all of it apart from the wet look leggings which I rather like.

Obviously, combined with hideous shoes and a tucked in t shirt they look horrific.

That skirt could be ok with opaques and biker boots or shoe boots, but with those tights, flats and a less than slim legged model - it's a disaster!

The snow leopard jumper & leopard print tunic are hilariously awful.

Oh me oh my. M&S need to seriously start sacking their stylist and photography teams. They can make the nicest thing (admittedly scarce) look frigging awful.

Good for a laugh mind!!

Oh my eyes!!!

The inspiration obviously came from those massive animal posters you could get on an 80s market.

We hear this every year and I'm fed up of it. My nearest M&S is full of the most boring clothes imaginable and seems to cater purely to over 70s.

Nothing there surprises me sadly! Though actually I think the skirt in the first link is OK - IF it was with opaque tights.

It is amazing how M&S do it ? they make millions of clothes every season yet hardly ever manage to come up with anything you would want. The only thing I get there that I really like are basic socks, wooly tights and occasionally pjs.

There was this funky owl dress last year which caused a stir and I thought I wanted one, but then you get up close and realise it's made of nasty polyester. They just don't seem to be able to grasp the concept of a well-designed, reasonable quality, roughly up-to-date item of clothing.

I've heard several times that they are going to revamp it all and have an amazing new collection but they never do.

The thing is that model will be incredibly slim - it's just that those kind of see-through black tights with a short skirt are destined to make anyone look like a packet of uncooked sausages. And if it makes the model look like that...

I'm sick of them. It surely shouldn't be hard for them to get it right (or at least more near to right).

They seem to have decided that plastic shoes are the way forward too.

Now that I've stopped laughing...I have to admit I do have the odd gem from M&S but its only if I've seen it in the shop and bought it (or then ordered online as thy rarely have any size 12 in the shop - separate argument!) I don't think I've ever ordered anything whilst browsing online as the photos are shocking an not inspiring in the slightest.

What gets me is that things I have bought or about to order, I always take a look at the reviews and most are posted by women aged 60+. I'm 41 !! So I'm clearly not their tarry demographic. Or I'm dressing like a pensioner!!

*target

Thought I would check out what tartan they had in - bad idea!

It actually annoys me, they have all this heritage good will, we all grew up going to M&S, it was a place where you got good quality stuff. It was a place you could buy basics. What happened?

They compete with Waitrose on their food section, could they not think to compete with John Lewis on clothes?

For another case in point, what about this cardigan - looks ok from the front, but what the fuck did they put that on the back for??? Why did anyone think that was a good idea?

Oh gawd. See that is M&S trying to do this - and going horribly off the rails. And even the Boden one is just Boden trying to go a bit McQueen or something. It's like M&S is trailing pathetically behind making a crappier-than-crap version of everything that becomes so bastardised it's just weird and wrong.

They could either do it better, or they could just do their own thing, like e.g White Stuff or whatever. Anything but the current mess.

That said, there are some nice things in the collection - but once the poor designer has managed to convince them that they shouldn't just design clothes to sit round a care home waiting to die in, they then have handed them over to someone with zero taste to style them for the photo shoots, once you see past what they've teamed some of the skirts/tops/dresses/knitwear with, you can see that actually they aren't that bad.

Unfortunately, far too many competitors manage to do better than "not that bad" and make an effort to make their clothes look good in photos, not making an effort to make them look more frumpy/90's-tastic...

Don't That cardigan has a giant skid mark up its back surely?

I love the leopard jumper, I would buy that if I could afford it.
I don't like the skirt in the first picture but really don't see the issue with the tights, personally I think opaque tights are the work of the devil, hideous things.

I don't think I am M and S demograph though I am only 30.

oops that was re dexter's tartan link.

That cardigan - gah! I knew it would be Per Una. Take a classic or basic design, make it in a dodgy cheapo mix fabric, then just when you thought it was possibly going to be just about OK, add some absolutely hideous superfluous detail. Every time!

See, who do they imagine wearing a faux leather jumper - and if they can't make it look good on the model on their website, they must understand anyone else will look crap in it? Surely they should try putting all their clothes on a model and taking a photo, do they look shit? Yes - then don't don't bother making it. If a 20-something model can't make something look at least presentable, then the average customer will look like a bag of spuds in it.

Good grief, the faux leather on that jumper is all dimpled, like that stuff they make fake calico printed bags from, only coated with plastic.

WTF are they on?

But, that said, where I live you see plenty of middle-aged overweight women who are appallingly dressed in this sort of stuff. So someone is buying it.

The problem is they do the press shows where everything looks lovely and all the edgier pieces are put front and centre. The journos rave, all marvellous.

Then it turns out that those edgier pieces are available in two stores for about a week. The rest of the stores get the same old utter, utter bilge. The problem is that they are too nervous to buy lots of stock of slightly riskier stuff. And the people making the decisions think they know what people want, even though they all wear black skinnies all year round.

It will happen next year and every year until the end of time.

You could wear the leopard jumper with this.

Omg to that skirt. You know what though, that actually offends my eyes much less than the leopard jumper because it is designed to be mad, cheap fashion for young uns. The snow leopard is cashmere so designed for women with lots of money and no sense.

Even Twiggy looks fat and frumpy in some of "her" collection if that is possible www.marksandspencer.com/Twiggy-Collection-Abstract-Print-Dress/dp/B0013MUW6G?ie=UTF8&ref=sr_1_1&nodeId=1647602031&sr=1-1&qid=1377705940&pf_rd_r=1Q7CK5JEZN53WMBZ23GH&pf_rd_m=A2BO0OYVBKIQJM&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_i=1647602031&pf_rd_p=321381387&pf_rd_s=related-items-3

Also lots of bodycon dresses which scream flabby woman who needs sucking in! dh bought me the owl dress last Christmas and it was a very peculiar cut, although lots of fabric wouldn't zip up and hang properly.

Months ago there was a rail in our local branch with examples of this new stuff and I saw a leopard coat that was gorgeous but can't see it online or in shop. Maybe they were things that didn't make teh final collection but there were a few nice things iirc. That panda skirt is They have gone nuts on the animal stuff when in reality it only looked good on skinny teenagers and they even stopped wearing it 2 yrs ago

The print on the leopard tunic sweater just draws attention to her bum and tum !