Has clothing quality gone downhill or have I just had a run of bad luck?

[WardrobeDisaster]

I bought a whole pile of new clothes recently and most of them seem to have fallen apart within 2 wears:

• trousers have split across the knee
• hook and eye fastening fell off replacement trousers
• buttons fallen off other trousers
• tassel on shoes fell apart
• sole coming away on shoe
• seams have frayed and split on a dress

These aren't the most expensive end of high street, but decent quality brands - or so I thought (Clarks, Mint Velvet, Somerset by Alice Temperley etc). Admittedly my more expensive branded clothes seem to have held up so far.

Have I just been unlucky or is quality dropping generally? I'm so tired of mending or returning items.

Thank god for this thread - I went shopping at the weekend and was shocked at the prices charged for shitty man-made fibres. I went through all the concessions at John Lewis looking for a coat - I wanted a wool-blend, wanted to pay up to around £150. Oh, they had plenty of coats in the various sections and the names are ones I would have expected to find something with actual wool in especially at the prices they were charging - but nearly 200 quid for a thin man-made fibre thing that wouldn't keep anyone warm? No thank you. I'd rather shop at Matalan for something of similar quality but a third of the price.

Oh and yes to the poster who said that it's all shitty viscose and polyester dressed up as silk and chiffon. Don't get me started on the still-not-disappearing "trend" for three-quarter length sleeves. Sod that in winter- I want full sleeves, not have to to somewhere else and get "wrist warmers", I don't want to look like a tramp who has cobbled an outfit together from what I can get.

I'm starting to wonder whether a visit to the Edinburgh Woollen Mill is on the cards for me - is it the only place left where I can go for an item of clothing guaranteed to keep me warm enough in winter to not need the central heating at 25 degrees? Or do I go to Go Outdoors for some fleeces.

There MUST be high street fashion stores out there that can manage to offer fashionable clothes that are also practical in the sense that they are a natural fibre blend and also built to last??

Toast, although their style may not be your taste,

I have lots of Mini Boden from 9yrs ago and the quality is fabulous, the last purchases I made there were no better than Asda.
In fact I've been having much more luck with cheaper brands, Peacocks plain long sleeved Tees have been a great buy, a nice weight and wash well, whereas their Next counterparts have been shocking, one wash (I don't tumble) and they look like rags. I bought lovely quality vest tops in Sainsbury's in the Summer, which I'm wearing as underwear for winter and their jeans are the best at the moment. Also have just bought a cotton cardi from Primark which is nice.
The only slightly higher end thing I have which is good quality is a Kew sweater and that came from TKMaxx.
Gymwear, I've had success with Asda and they have unbelievably good underwired, unpadded bras for only £6 and in larger sizes too.
Oh and North Face is always good, but I don't think that's Style and Beauty fodder

Well I tried to go cloths shopping for my 8 year old ds yesterday- bloody hopeless! Everything is so thin,crappy materials that are not going to keep him warm in the winter. Why are decent boys joggers and thick hardwearing trousers so hard to find? Finally got one pair of joggers and one sweatshirt in Next and that was it! GAP would have been ok but their kids sizes are so bloody weird!

Grrrr... hate clothes shopping!

Curlyhairedassassin have you looked on the Jaeger outlet? Mainly wool coats, £150 would be about right if you look out for the discounts (which they have often).

definitely but it is across the board... got a jumper in whistles a couple of years ago a nice tan/caramel colour but it was man made rubbish and creased almost immediately. ebayed it.

Returning a dress to Hush this morning. Got it in their flash sale. The fabric was exactly the same as my DS's dressing up cloak for Hallowe'en, yucky horrible nylon that snags my poor hands when they get chapped during the winter!

Werkzallhourz...I have an M&S dress, St Michael label, upstairs circa 1992/3...It has facings and everything

Useful blog post here on how to assess the quality of clothing:
into-mind.com/blog/2014/05/01/how-to-assess-the-quality-of-garments-a-beginners-guide-part-i

Agree that many supposedly 'mid-range' brands are serial offenders when it comes to poor quality – White Company, Hush, Whistles. Anything made from polyester, nylon or acrylic will generally bobble badly.

Also wonder whether people tumble dry their clothes and that might be one reason they don't last as long nowadays ? My (very chic) Spanish friend is appalled by the notion of tumble drying - she claims it's a well-known fact that it 'cooks' clothes and ruins them!

I don't tumble dry, nice - it's so hard on your clothes.

Thanks for the link aniceearlynight really useful!

The best quality items I've bought in the last few years have been from the U.S. when we were on holiday. Washed, tumble dried and ironed hundreds of times and still going strong!

The reason the link above is so useful is because I also find that you see a huge range of quality across individual shops. I'm no longer loyal to any brand or shop as like many on here I find supermarket clothes can in some cases be better quality than mid priced or designer make.

For me Carhartt all the way great brand!

I agree quality is going downhill. I gave up on H &M about 8 years ago when a top shrunk badly in the recommended wash, I bought the same one, same thing happened, sent it to h&m HQ and they lied- said they'd done fabric analysis and I hadn 't followed the care instructions. Boden also has gone downhill, and let's not even mention M&S. I remember a point in the early 90s when the cotton suddenly got a whole lot thinner, and everything seemed to be made in the Far East. I am willing to pay more for quality garments that last, and they are so hard to find.

I totally agree. missy I find vertbaudet to be good for hard wearing boys clothes and good value with a discount code too (there's ALWAYS a code available!). For me though I'm getting really fed up with returning things and having things shrink. I don't have much time to shop for clothes and spend more time retuning things

White Stuff has definitely gone downhill and I avoid their jersey dresses as they fade/mishape/shrink too often. Just bought some fat face stuff and I'm positive a blouse has shrunk (fantastic customer service though). Don't get me started on buying trousers - I'm 5'10" so hardly a giant, but buying trousers long enough is a nightmare these days. Lots of brands have discontinued their longer length. I also agree about the cold weather issue - I feel the cold and hate having a chilly muffin top

I might just start wearing onesies to work!

Misty Funnily enough, I've found the opposite is true regarding clothes length, I'm also 5'10" and remember the days of only being able to buy trousers/jeans from M&S and tops from LTS ( who are expensive and rank). Now I find even regular jeans often fit, though no problem getting long if I need them and tops are invariably fine. Even bought a dress the other day, usually they never fit properly. Swimsuits are however an issue!

I tend to buy from cheaper retailers, not sure if that makes a difference.

Things definately don't last now days.

I thought I would support some local clothing shops the other week; however after only washing the top twice I then find a massive hole in it.
I think the fashion changes so much, there isn't time to make anything quality any more.

Many of my clothes have lasted years. I tend to buy reasonably expensive items then resell on ebay when I've got bored of them so with resale value in mind I am a very careful wearer and washer. I hang everything up (including coats) as soon as I've taken it off, use proper hangers and regularly brush down coats/debobble knitwear. I wash most items in mesh washing bags and use baby shampoo (instead of laundry detergent) in a dispensing ball for knitwear and shirts. Hang things out carefully to dry with delicates or knitwear flat on towels on the floor. No tumble drying. Despite all this, I have bought two items in the past six months that have developed tiny holes: a Massimo Dutti shirt, which has a small worn hole near the left-hand side seam down close to the hem, and an APC cotton jacket, which has a tiny rubbed hole under one arm. These holes are not rips but worn, as if the fabric itself was poor quality. The Massimo Dutti shirt has been washed and ironed quite a bit, but the APC jacket only once. And it was not a cheap item. Luckily I bought it in a sale at less than half price otherwise I would have been even more upset. So yes, I do think quality has gone downhill. And I believe it's because of our appetite for fast fashion, which has caused a cycle of constant new trends and producers trying to cut any costs they can (ie decent fabric) and to make items as fast as possible (resulting in poor workmanship) to sell them as inexpensively as possible to mass retailers who pile them high and sell them cheap.

By the way, shampoo can be used for hand washing - often nicely scented and a good way to use up those little bottles you get in hotels.