Dear God M&S seriously now?

[Chocolateteabag]

I have £35 in gift vouchers to spend so thought I'd peruse the new stuff

What is this monstrosity??

If I'm a flamboyant type looking for a flamenco style dress to dance the night away in - why oh why would I want it in Khaki??

I put on the (£35) Alexa Chung V neck sweater I was seduced by, yesterday, to realise that it now only jst met my waistline.

Yet another M&S arment destined for a premature visit to the Age Concern shop.

I've had a whole 7 days wear out of it, including yesterday's constant tucking under my belt. A day of avoiding my armpits before I wash it again will make that 8 days. £4.40ish per wear

#25 on this page www.look.co.uk/fashion/archive-by-alexa-560881

My regular 'gym' jumper is a heavy knit cotton one I bought from M&S before I got married 30 years ago. It is washed and dried every couple of weeks and it is soft and gorgeous and had faded to a beautiful denim blue with no bobbling or holes. My 20 something daughter regularly nicks it and I have to steal it back. I think it cost about £16 which Wasnt cheap back then but not out of my league as a building society worker, but it probably now averages out at under 1p a wear.

I also have two pairs of M&S jersey pjs that DH bought for me 25 years ago when I gave birth to said DD a few weeks early and he had to dash into the nearest town and buy me emergency supplies. They are becoming a little thin in places with a couple of holes but they still look fresh and pretty.

I doubt very much that anything bought in M&S this year will still be wearable in 2047!

I donated some M&S 1989 velour stirrup pants and some 1992 brown plain cotton ones, this week. I still wear a 1993 sweatshirt from there! All St Michael. Only lost the stirrup pants because I've realised i really need lots of pockets and I'm actively decluttering!

My local m&s is a large out of town one and it's rammed full of sale stock at the moment. Hideous things that, even heavily discounted, aren't selling.

The reason for my recent visit was to return a cashmere cardigan that I'd bought without trying on it was supposed to be size 12 but was easily a size 16. I'm guessing the wrong label had been sewn in as the SA agreed it was huge - anyway I toddled off to find a replacement and couldn't find size 12 in any colour. I've had the same problem with other items on a number of occasions - plenty of size 20 but not a single size 12. Why?? The cashmere offering was also pretty meagre when compared to the forest of monstrosities.

I used to buy something most weeks for many years from the late 1960's but not any more. It's a shame that they just don't seem to listen to what their customers want. I keep hoping that John Lewis will take over the retail space that my local M&S presently occupy!

You would think that the buyers would KNOW which line is going to be popular (definitely not khaki frills ) And order MORE of them . I'm a size 10 ,vanity size, on line also in the stores they run out of my size ALL the time It's not surprising that we have to go to other shops.

That's another thing , vanity sizing, all the staff I've asked (including managers) deny that they stock them !!!!!!!!!!!! They just look at me blankly!

Oh, I love these threads, but it takes ages for the monstrosities to disappear from my ad banners. Hope DH doesn't think I'm dropping hints for my birthday

I admire the M&S design attitude of 'more material, all the time'. It's the only explanation for setting about designing a cold shoulder top and thinking, hmm, you know what this needs? a pussy bow neck tie!

Or maybe they've signed up to a covert EU Fabric Manufacturing directive that insists on three embellishments per garment to support the appliqued flower makers of Luxembourg. That is the only explanation for Per Una.

A turtleneck? Wear it with a turtleneck??! What the hell.....

If that khaki dress was available in Zara, it would be v v popular. It all comes down to shopper perception.

I think it would look LOVELY with a mustard poo colour turkeneck and thick american tan tights... gavomits a bit

Only the very tall and thin can get away with that many ruffles.

sighs its going to be ra-ra skirts next, isn't it?