RANT-Where have all the natural fabric made clothes gone !!!

[bawabod]

Right on the basis of a few recent threads regarding quality of clothing and the amount of awful polyester viscose and other man made fabrics, lets discuss who is good at supplying clothes made with natural fabrics I am not adverse to cotton with a bit of elastane or is it lycra, god knows it can keep the blobby parts in check, but I am thoroughly fed-up with the amount of clothes lined in polyester and suchlike or made with it. It brings me out in a cold sweat, am old enough to remember crimplene trousers as a child but consider myself a trendy fortyish lady now. So I will start with who I think is good at such clothes Fat Face, Gap some East stuff and welcome ideas of other places to shop.

Good cotton basics from gap, uniqlo and h&m

I was looking on the warehouse website and saw some lovely tops, but they were all polyester.

Great - glad thread started about this

I buy nearly all my clothes in sales but GAP, Fat Face and White Stuff are usually my shops of choice. I buy mostly basics and always check the fabrics now after buying a few t shirts that turned out not to be 100% cotton after all

Watching with interest for other retailers not trying to pull the wool over our eyes (as it were ) charging silly prices for cheap fabrics.

I think the dreaded Next do cotton basics. I have turned into my mother on this issue though - always checking the labels and tutting at cheap dyes.

I've never spotted anything non-polyester in Zara but assume it must do something nice as people rave about it so much

It's VERY annoying isn't it - I sometimes wonder whether retailers are expecting us not to notice! Fair enough, if you want very cheap clothes there's a risk they might be polyester, but there are more and more jumpers and dresses costing £40+, which is ridiculous.

Agree Uniqlo, Gap and H&M are good (though the latter two often have plenty of polyester rubbish alongside the wool and cotton). I recently bought a load of basics from H&M in cotton and viscose and am so impressed with the quality for the price.

Boden, Hush, Me & Em etc have plenty of great fabrics.

Btw...I've said this before but...Viscose is a nice fabric made of natural materials (wood cellulose) and not in any way similar to polyester. So don't despair if the label says viscose!

Viscose may be "natural" but it creases and bobbles badly, so might be better in a blend rather than being the sole fibre used.

I add Banana Republic, Massimo Dutti and Cos to your list of places where you can find natural fibres.

Primark and H&M are great for cotton vests and tees.

No idea. I'd pay more for premium fabrics.

A few years ago Gap etc did nice silk tops (poor silk worms??) and a lot was cotton etc - now manmade heaven.

Sainsburys fairtrade cotton basics are really nice, very soft. Otherwise, sadly most plus size clothing is polyester tents

Hobbs used to be good for this but has gone downhill (see my other thread). Jigsaw still pretty good.

If you have a Ralph Lauren outlet store near you(eg Cheshire Oaks), their T shirts are made from excellent heavy cotton. They wash and wash without losing their shape or shrinking.

Seasalt is good for cotton jersey too.

White Stuff used to be good - I have some lovely silk mix skirts from about 5 years ago - but the quality has gone downhill recently. The fabrics are now very thin and shapeless.

Toast has great fabrics, but you have to choose pieces carefully to avoid looking like a heroin addicted exchange student on a Scandinavian llama farm.

Roar!

I just wish people would stop putting 10% wool in perfectly nice cotton or acrylic jumpers and adding £10 to the price.

I'm allergic to lambs wool, if the jumper was cheaper I might risk low wool mixes, but not for £40-50

Cos have silks, cottons & merino wool knits.

Boden, Uniqlo, Cos all good for cottons

Viscose has millions of horrid chemicals added to it, and it is the weakest of all the fibres. It makes me sweaty, and I'm allergic to it. It is we one to polyester in my list of evil fibres. I teach Textile science and it is classed as a man made fibre (well regenerated is the correct term ) but is still classified as man made. And the stuff they add to it is vile..

I too am sick of the polyester hell on the High Street. I've given up on most of them. fat face and White stuff manage, so the rest should be able to do it. Unfortunately I don't like the styling of those 2 brands, but if they can do natural fibres so should the likes of Zara and others.

What gets me is the shocking price places charge for what is essentially a piece of plastic.

J Crew has some lovely natural fabrics. Only in the sales (plus % discount) makes it financially viable.

Yes, J Crew are not bad. You pay for it though!

I was just scrolling through a fancy clobber website from which I have been known to buy stuff in the past. Get this:

McQ (Alexander McQueen diffusion line) jacket. The style is lovely. £250 in the sale, reduced from £500. Fabric composition: polyester, acrylic and a derisory amount of wool (< 10%).

T by Alexander Wang jersey dress. Nice styling, but basically a long t shirt. Fabric: polyester. Price: £200. Surely you can churn out a bit of cotton jersey for 200 quid!!!

Helmet Lang cardigan. £125, reduced from £200. Fabric: 70% acrylic.

Surely, surely, they are having a laugh?

No they are not having a laugh. I have been told my sales assistants in Reiss that their polyester is lovely quality, thank you.

I smiled and edged away.

Told by not told my.

Marking place. Wrap London, Celtic & Co, Seasalt lots of natural fibres.

Sometimes there are reasons for using am made fibres though. That Alexander wang one, did it have a print on it?

The Alexander McQueen one I would like to see. Was it a tailored type structured jacket?

I would actually welcome a fashion buyer coming on here and explaining the merits of these man made fibre items. Am I missing something or is it just stealth cost cutting??

Cross post!

But presumably such structured tailoring has and is done with natural fibres? If men's suits can be beautifully cut and tailored, using wool, why can't women's clothes?

I could do that. I used to be a designer, and have to know how all the fibres behave. Post me pictures and I will judge accordingly