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.

I went to my large Marksies' yesterday and SOME of their stuff was ok. They are trying to appeal to too many people at once, imo. Who cares about bloody ranges? No-one. Let's just have CLOTHES please, in decent colours, made of decent fabric, no frills, and practical lengths that cover one's bum. Bras with no filling, and packs that don't contain a white one. Shoes that are leather, stylish and practical. Nice deep totes. Cotton knickers. Hidden support vests. Easy, peasy stuff.

Drop the hideous flowery polyester and fluffy dressing gowns.

And finally-if you are trying to appeal to a middle aged market PLEASE make your jackets with more room in the arms. I'd buy heaps of jackets if I could get one that fitted on the body as well as the arms.

I was on one of their 'research panels' for a new style of blouse. I sent loads of photos, and detailed feedback, explaining why blouses for DD+ sizes probably weren't best served by flimsy bows on the too-tight cap sleeves.

Did I ever hear anything back? No.

Did the exact same blouse appear in M&S that summer? Yes.

went today, did buy some trousers but no linen trousers in size 12 regular. went to BHS instead, linen mix pair for work £16, no worse than M&S at £30

I'm not sure why I've decided to waste more of my life commenting on M&S clothing, as I spent an age doing so about a year ago, and that's time I'll never get back.
Has anything changed since then... S*D ALL!!

So, M&S. Listen up...

Longer (much longer) tops
Cut the embellishments. On everything.
Learn which sizes and lengths run out first, and order double the number. I don't want to be looking at a rack of clothes that run from an 8 (short) to a 22(long) with nothing in between.
Start to produce classics in good fabrics that we'll still be wearing in 10 years time... (Here's looking at you, Jaeger).

It's hardly rocket science, is it?

Another morning the loss of the secret support vests (bravissimo's ones are padded & often too hot for bed).
The colours & styles of the cashmere always puts me off, plus (especially when shopping with 2 kids I tow, I don't want to tour the store to find stuff! I want to find what I want easily with related things/choice of styles right there!

Suits that have a longer jacket. Think Dana Scully type suits.
Longer blouses that are cotton not itchy weird fabrics.
That chocolate Yule log from years ago with the chocolate and Grand Marnier ganache icing.

Years ago, M&S used to sell comfy cotton knickers to coordinate with their bras as well as the fancy lingerie French knicker/thong type. Was genius, so they dropped it, obvs .

Otherwise: good quailty fabrics. No embellishment. Sleeves. Recognition that some women are over 5'5". And bigger than an E cup.

I want M&S to bring back their Plus range.

They used to have a little bit of the store for a range of sizes 16-26 which were all well designed and made for larger women. Apparently they stopped it as us big women don't want to be "ghettoised" but believe me I would sooner have to shop under a spotlight than hunt through a three storey shop looking for the minority of items that go up to my size only to find they are designed for a size 12 so the cut is all wrong.

As for the bras, I find the Asda t-shirt bra at under a tenner is almost identical to M&S ones far dearer

Stick to plain basics in cotton, linen, silk, wool, cashmere etc

Stop vanity sizing the hips in trousers, after buying trousers there for years they are suddenly jodhpur shaped on my apple frame

I don't really rate the food either, apart from the hot x buns and the ginger yoghurt which are delicious.
I was amazed that their massive store in Birmingham didn't have a maternity range and only one extremely frumpy nursing bra in white or black.
They have some lovely, good quality baby clothes but only a tiny selection.
If they sorted out the basics as suggested on here and had a bigger children's range they could be a one-stop shop for many families.

"Stop vanity sizing the hips in trousers, after buying trousers there for years they are suddenly jodhpur shaped on my apple frame"

Thank goodness they now make trousers for us pear shapes. Unlike all the skirts and dresses which are only cut for apple shapes.

I love it. Much better than River Islabd who only seem to offer low quality polyester items. Spent a happy 2hrs in M&S yesterday with my mum. Good fabrics, patterns on tshirts and jeans I know will fit me perfectly without trying them on. But yy to a large 'basics' section and wider range of leather flats. Love their footwear.

We're wasting our time.
M&S aren't interested in what we say.

I also get so annoyed that there are never any sizes in store. I am only looking for 10s and 12s but find it so hard. Never mind the 'we can order it for you.' I bloody want to buy it in store

My final comment to M and S

LISTEN TO YOUR TARGET MARKET

Long length trousers. I am sick of ankle skimming trousers, or trousers only being stocked in short and medium lengths.

Longer tops.

In short! if you are a taller person, M&S is currently pointless!

Basically there should be different M and S stores focussing on different ages/ collections. Fuck off with your Per una and classics...women in their fifties want style!
They're trying to be all things to all people.
And failing.

Yep, you can have something that's too long taken up but not the reverse.

For me, I want decent quality fabrics. Cotton or silk tops, model underwear, leather shoes. No to polyester/polyurethane.

I want tops which land on my hip, not mid navel.

I want consistency of sizing - I have 3 pairs of jeggings. Two are a size 8, the other a size 12. The 8s feel bigger.

For my DDs I want to get school uniform in all major school colours. So often, I find a suitable skirt or cardigan in grey or black but it's not available in navy. I want stuff for skinnier kids. My DD3 is 15 and wears age 11 shirts. The best fitting skirt around the waist was age 9. As you can imagine, her knickers were on display. She might be up for that, I am not.

Similarly, the teen underwear, and especially bras, are too babyish. They want bright colours, they want funky patterns. Not pastels and bows.