I`d like to think that I am in M&S's target audience. I'm 50. Middle class. Good income. Home counties. Larger lady, (16-18) so cannot shop in fashionable shops, still need to buy clothes! And while I'm in there, will shop in homewards / food / men's. I currently have over £300 to spend in vouchers. I live 15 minutes from one of their flagship stores in wealthy part of the world. I have multiple kids from 19 to 3.
I wander around the store and see many ladies of a certain age looking at per una stuff....looking, searching,even pulling things off the rails before putting it back. Per una looks to me like cruise ship style. All a little tarty and mutton-like. Indigo used to be quite appealing to the aging hippy in me...now it just seems to be a statement on colour, rather than style. (Just because its called indigo, doesn't mean it should all be the colour of stonewashed denim). And limited seems to be trying to hard. The colour schemes..well tangerine might be in vogue, but most British women are "spring" colours, so why on earth are we looking at tangerine?? And we live in hot, central heated homes and offices, so polyester is a no-no!
The other thing that does my head in...bias cut. So some, somewhere decided it was flattering. So now we have hideous prints in cheap,synthetic fabric cut on the bias and, as others have said, cut short on the waist.
So another heck is their target woman? Short waisted, likes garish colour with frills and ruffles and alternates between umpa-lumpa cruiser and hippy boho chic? One would hope that m&s would want the broadest possible customer base, not small niche groups. If broad base (which is what I think MN is calling for) then focus on basics and a couple of trendy pieces.