Dear M & S, this is I want.

[Bombinate]

I want to spend with you but your offerings are so sore. You can still do your trendy flash in the pan shit, but you would make lots of money if you did:
Cotton round neck cardies in all the colours.
Cotton thick leggings in all the colours
Cotton jersey dresses in different styles in all the colours
Comfortable leather ballet pumps in all the colours
Matching vest and knicker sets in funky patterns
Big boob support nighties and pyjama vest tops.
Go back to having good quality opaque, cotton mix and wool mix tights, I have tights from you that are 5 years old, but this years only lasted 3 washes
I'm your core market, I have money and could be shopping with you for fifty more years.

Interesting. I wouldn't want a single one of those things.

I want:
Plain bras, plain knickers, basic long sleeved t shirts.
Interesting, well made clothes that will last.

I have a felted wool skirt from the original Autograph collection by Sonja Nuttall that is now 15 years old and is still as good as new. It was expensive at the time but, boy, has it earned its keep.

I wouldn't want any of those either.

I would like basic cotton shirts
Bras above an H cup
Calf length dresses with sleeves and not high necked
Basic cashmere

Good quality fabrics with limited use of polyester and viscose.

No unescessary sparkles and studs

I want plain t-shirt bras in all the colours. Or at least light grey.

I want their Cardigans to stop shrinking so badly in the wash!
I love the style of them, but have to throw them out long before I'm ready due to shrinkage.
Started buying them 2 sizes bigger to accommodate it, they still shrink down to a teeny size.

I would like a nice selection of Black Trousers. (The are too fashion focused on these at the moment I think...)

I want less pattern and funky buttons on your stuff
Normal bras not so many padded ones
Silky tee-shirts with a bit of stretch in a variety of colours
Better boys clothing - look at boden for ideas
Better quality - I had to bring a top of DSs back after two weeks as it was all bobbly, I have boden ones that are on their fourth child and are still in great condition

And bring back your multi fruit and flake cereal without nuts please.

I would like

A good basic knitwear range like Uniqlo, using merino, cotton and cashmere, cut modernly and using good colours. And they must be long in the body!

But I do love M and S and think they get an unfair rap on here, hard to be all things to all people as this thread has already shown.

I had a job interview in January and needed decent straight leg black trousers and a sharp looking cotton shirt. Could I find either? Could I eck as like! Dreadful ugly crimpoliney trousers or swingy bootlegs, cheap polyester and viscous shirts in ugly colours ( mint green etc)

I agree coasting they are trying to appeal to a huge range of people which makes it harder.

I think they need to do less in each range but do each range better, so there is Per Una, Per Una Speziale, Indigo, Classics, Autograph and then the rest of their stuff. The Per Una in my local M&S is huge, right at the door and 70% of it is dreadful. The Autograph is one rail and a lot of it looks great. I really liked the Indigo range when it started off but the designer who likes tarting things up seems to have been let loose on it recently and it's terrible now.

I want long length trousers.

I want someone to show me how the Best of British collection is supposed to work on normal people. Because I very much want to like it, but can't see a single item I (40, size 12, 5'7", living outside of London) I'd buy. Mannish brogues, jumpsuits and formalwear joggers aren't doing it for me.

I also want no unnecessary sparkles and studs. I want plain silk t shirts in nice colours, not lime or dayglo orange.

Remember the Autograph early collections - loved them, bought loads of them including some gorgeous midnight blue trousers and matching top that I wore for my 30 and still mourn that 2 kids later I got to big for them....sigh...

PJ's with cami tops and shorts
Good quality trousers - black, navy and grey - flattering cut and not cheap nylon
I agree cotton dresses in plain colours, and actually matching ranges so you can pick and mix across Tees, shorts, shirts, cardis in similar tones or colours as you wish
And absolutely better boys clothes - the last few years have been awful - so much merchandising and branding.

Tights, yes, though. The biggest disappointment for me over the past few years has been the gradual encrappening of M&S's once bombproof hosiery.

yakari I think that's a classic M&S problem though: the first couple of seasons of a new line are directed by a proper designer, and are amazing. I have a pair of lounge pants from the first Per Una range (!!) and despite being old and worn, they still hang perfectly. I also have two beautiful print wraps from the first Portfolio (shortlived 45+ range), despite being about 30 at the time; two Autograph jackets and a Autograph Weekend dress.

Then it all goes downhill.

I could forgive M&S anything if they just got back to their old consistency. All sizes the same across all ranges. All bra cups identical. The current vast stock range means so many different suppliers that nothing is consistent.

Dear M&S - I would like bras that have straps you can shorten more so you don't have to chuck them out after a month because they are so stretched and give no support

Dear M&S Food - I would like cooked chicken slices WITHOUT SUGAR. I am trying to eat healthily - lean protein blah blah - but it is extremely irritating to see that there is sugar (why???!) in the contents.

What are "all the colours"?

There are so many possible colours (millions?), some of them very unpleasant indeed.

Oh - I also want children's clothes that aren't really tacky. For instance, how about some plain checked or stripy PJs rather than the ghastly nylon ones covered in superheros or icky princesses

Strappy nighties in cotton. Like you used to sell. Or silk, or a mix of natural fibres.

Not that viscose stuff and not polyester.

I know they look slinky on the display. I don't care about that, they are sweaty to wear.

Bras not thick with an inch of wadding. Urg.

Why don't they just forget clothes and expand the food and homeware lines?

Trousers without stupidly placed pockets.

I would like a less garish colours and less sparkles/unnessasary embellishments.

A return of your lightweight cotton long sleeve tops which were great for layering.

More longer trousers for us tall'uns.

Less emphasis on padded/fashion bras and concentrate on well fitting, simpler designs that give great shape and support.

Plain, straight skirts that come just below the knee, not ginormous A-line in thick, scratchy material decorated with random ruffles/fringes/frayed bits and which are so long and heavy that you can only wear them with boots. And they still look odd anyway, because they''re too long and too short at the same time, what my DM calls "drabbly".

Plain bras, t-shirt bras in pretty colours with matching plain pants.

Plain v-neck jumpers and t-shirts that are not so low-cut that they show my cleavage.

Plain scoop-necked tops that don't cling to every lump and bump.

Stylish summer dresses with a short sleeve.

No more "granny" prints, even my DM who is 85 thinks they are too ageing for her

The random ruffles etc on Per Una are baffling. Sometimes I see clothing and think that it would have been great if they'd stopped before the final embellishment stage. As if they had a great design and then sat round the table thinking 'you know what would make that perfect? A ruffle and a big floppy corsage'

And stop with the polyester in everything! I know cotton prices are high - I would pay decent prices for well-made clothes in natural fibres.