I used to like M&S but I'm not surprised they are struggling to sell womens clothes, WARNING MAY BE UPSETTING

[Behooven]

Says it all...

SlatternIsTrying - you'd think that the Sale of Goods act would apply - things have to be fit for purpose (which means clothes that can withstand being washed according to the manufacturers instructions.

Did you take any of them back? What did they say?

I bought a pair of jeans recently that I really loved. However, after the first wash (at 30c followed by a line dry), they shrank. either that or my legs got fatter and I got an inch taller. I meant to take them back, but I couldn't be bothered with not being believed about how I'd washed them.

just to clarify MY ROMA JEANS DO NOT HAVE SPARKLES.
they are functional, well cut and fairly basic.

well if the 5'9", size 8 model looks rubbish in it ........

Yes do you take any of them back? Slattern I'm going to include most of your post in my letter, it's brilliant. Do you mind?

Maybe M&S HOPE we 'can't be bothered to return stuff now. Var.

I find the stores pretty depressing-food and beauty ok and did manage to find a white cotton shirt I'd seen online but so much of the stuff is drab or odd it's difficult or impossible to find the good stuff (and the online service isn't always good-order doesn't turn up and then after chasing it all comes at once (or twice, as duplicated).
I am probably one of the older mums on this site and M and S still seems too old for me!

ppeatfruit , I don't mind at all.

It suited me to be able to go into Marks and do a 'mega shop' to get all my work stuff, casual and underwear in one place rather than go to different shops for different things. I can no longer do this and therefor anything that would make Marks realise who their customer is, would be appreciated.

In response to queries about whether I returned the items the answer is no. A combination of things - too busy, my mum crocheted up the neckline of the cardi for me, the trousers had been worn a more than a few times (although still 'young' IYKWIM). In one particular case I had owned a top for a year when a noticed the stitching had gone on the shoulder, but equally i knew that I had only worn that top 3 times (I have encyclopaedic memory for these things).

It is not a case of me being 'hard' on my clothes in terms of wear or washing. But even if I was, the fact than my much older Marks stuff is still fine shows their decline in standard in recent years.

And yes, I did check, some of my knickers are 20 years old but still going strong .

Thanks Slattern

That pyjama dress has no description of what its made of. Well I couldn't find one.

The style is interesting because I reckon that the 1940s are going to be the next BIG THING in fashion! I wouldn't wear it, it'd look better with a belt IMO!!

It's 100% viscose. Tempted?

Well I don't mind viscose because I THINK it's made from a wood base, so it's natural and it's not bad in the summer. I don't know what else is in viscose though .

It's interesting but a bit miserable with its khaki colour.

Yes to be fair I think viscose isn't bad at all, it doesn't go smelly and sweaty like polyester anyway, and it can be nice and drapey.

Just been in M&S this morning trying to spend vouchers, and had a look in the girls 5-12 section to see if it had improved at all. Sadly not, just seemed to be party dresses, t-shirts with glittery crap / trashy stuff on the front, jeggings and leggings. Also some strange 'lounge wear' in peach or grey with matching sparkly baseball caps

NO proper jeans, cords, multipacks of useful t-shirts, nice fleeces or cardigans, or dresses that weren't weirdly blousy / fussy / nylony.

Actually there was ONE nice plain 50s style dress that I would have bought if it had been in my size but it was still not everyday girls' wear.

Couldn't find any decent nightwear - if it was there it was obscured by reams of Frozen tat. No cotton nighties or pjs that I could see that weren't branded up to the hilt with plastic characters.

That's not new, though. My daughter's nearly 24 and I remember thinking the same thing about all the Disney character stuff when she was tiny.

I agree with a lot of what's been said on this thread but there is still some good stuff there if you look hard enough in one of the bigger stores. Our local M&S (Lewisham) isn't up to much but there's a much better, bigger store in Bromley. I got quite a lot of decent tops there last September before going on holiday. I've been wearing some of them through the winter with cardigans - all fine. A couple of weeks ago I got some blue desert boots I'm very pleased with and a pair of skinny jeans which have washed very well so far. Maybe I'm less picky than some of you!

No I haven't given up on M&S yet completely!Gasp I think we're just trying to stop it from Primarking itself, and making sure it listens.

That sounds a bit big headed but it does seem to be ignoring helpful suggestions! From OPs.

Yes there is some stuff that's good - the men's stuff isnt bad at all, it's DH's default shop - nice plain cotton jumpers, casual trousers, work suits, t shirts. The polo shirts are nice but fade quickly despite not being especially cheap.

I rarely buy outerwear except leggings. I dont buy bras there as I dont do 'normal' bras (too uncomfortable) but the knickers are good.

It's just a shame as it's handy, so i would shop for clothes for me if i could find any i liked.

I'm not sure even their knickers are great these days.

Last couple of multipacks I've bought (seamless sides), many pairs have fallen to pieces fairly quickly.

I agree about the knickers Lovely The 2 latest packs of bikinis I bought before xmas don't seem to be 'smooth' enough for majority cotton\lycra. The elastic 'bites' a bit too. I might start buying them from Monoprix .

I find M&s very arrogant. Every time I have written to them with complaints and suggestions, eg the lighting in your changing rooms is awful, if you had better lighting like GAP I would buy more
The response is always the same, basically I am wrong and they are right.
Anything decent is never stocked in my size (14) or sells out in seconds.
Beauty has improved a lot and food is always good but the clothes....heads should roll.

Ive just bought the best sports bra I've ever had from m & s.
I had to go through a dire collection of outerwear though, to reach the department.
Also, the Rosie perfume is delicious, especially Nuit, and on offer.

I think they've always been a bit arrogant, I'm old enough to remember the days when they didn't have changing rooms because apparently their refunds and replacement service was so awesome people shouldn't mind not being able to try things on

And they were one of the last shops on earth to accept credit cards.

I bought some trousers there the other day, first purchase outside the food hall ever. They fit really nicely and are a good high waisted / wide leg that I'd struggled to find elsewhere. Just looked for them on their webpage and they look so shit I wouldn't have given them a second glance. They should be able to make their clothes look good in their own pictures surely? I will not be teaming them with a mum boot and polyester shirt unlike their stylist

Actually, I love them I wouldn't actually wear them as I am a short, dumpy, norky middle-aged woman. If I were younger, taller, longer of leg and flatter of nork, I so would.

However OP, YANBU as most of Marksie's stuff is beyond vile.

I am a middle aged woman with a good income and several children. I should be in their key demographic. I have just checked my wardrobe and my kids and confirm that none of us own anything from M&S except School uniform for the children . The only reason I buy their uniform there is that they do Extra long length in trousers and shirts.

I'm sure there are a few gems in ladies fashion, but life is to short to search for them. My kids wouldn't be seen dead in their children's wear .

GnomeWare - I remember that too. Wasn't it the late 80s before they introduced changing rooms?

The thing was that they were good at refunds. They had a no quibble policy. Yes, you had to take the item all the way back into town, but it wasn't so much a hardship because people went into town all the time then - fewer other things to do with leisure time - and "Markies" was one of the shops that you'd go into almost every time you went into town.

They were a bit slower than the others with credit card introduction too. I think it was the fees the merchant has to pay (3%?) that put them off, and i guess they felt that they were doing well enough without having to offer credit card payments.

However, with hindsight, these were both early signs that M&S was evolving into a slow moving dinosaur that would never keep up with newcomers like Next.

Var - yes late 80s early 90s i think. And when they did introduce credit cards i have a vague memory that at first it was only the M&S Credit Card that they would accept, and it had v high interest rates. Wonder if they still exist - i cut mine up!

I've been in the UK since late 94 -they certainly didn't take credit cards for several years after I arrived as I remember it well - "you don't what???".