M&S - it's over

[Floisme]

I've been known to defend M&S on here but if this is their attitude they can fuck right off.

www.theguardian.com/business/2017/nov/05/not-just-for-over-55s-ms-chairman-says-chain-needs-younger-clothing

Because of course the over 55s just loved The Pink Dress. And all that yellow. We can't get enough of it.

No, Mr Norman, you haven't been 'buying too much for the over 55 customer'. What you've been buying, is too much shite.

I'm on a roll now!!.. those poor models ..

Maybe I should offer to model it for them. I am their demographic, whether they like it or not

i've never had yellow trousers though.

Yes she does like butter I know where I'm going tomorrow lunchtime..

strangely that skirt has lots of good reviews , so maybe its the photo then..

Actually to be fair (if I really must) I think those pleated skirts look quite nice, although they do my arse no favours whatsoever. Just not in yellow, thank you.

I’m 52 and agree with the ageism and bad stock choice comments -I’ve participated in these threads before. I wish they would listen. I have bought 2 items from the clothing this year, for the first time in ages - a plain black velvet jacket and a plain black wool coat. Both are fairly good quality, cut plainly, with no gimmicks. However, these were 2 gems in a sea of tat. It’s all such a waste when it could so easily be so much better.

The quality has gone down the toilet.
I got holes in knickers that weren't 6 months old.
Previously my M&S knickers lasted beyond a decade.
And all that microfibre sh1te in their knickers.
It's like scented pantry liners.
STUPID.
What's wrong with 100% cotton for everyday?

I do think that many people in this country will not pay a premium for decent fabrics though. Time after time on these threads posters seem to think clothes are over priced if they stray above Primark levels very far. If they do, they expect wool or a good quality cotton. This, simply, is not possible.

M and S has made the mistake of going cheap to compete with Next and the lower end of the High Street. The Best of British has gone and there are few high quality fabrics in their offerings because the price point would be too high. It would be at Hobbs levels and I have a feeling the average M and S shopper won’t pay this at M and S. Everyone wants a value price point and good fabrics and design won’t be this in the eyes of the average shopper.

The added problem is that you see the same clothes everywhere. I once saw a camel coat I owned from M and S on four other women at Windsor races! The good basics end up being very common.

I think M and S are really going to have to sort out their market but it won’t be a few people who are willing to pay a “premium” for better fabrics. Jaeger have tried that and struggled. They have to appeal to a very wide spectrum of folk or they will have to close stores. It is a big dilemma as to how you get a wider variety of people buying from M and S. It seems that in trying to do this, it appeals to no-one.

I am 50
Last time I went into M&S I was at the state of what they were trying to flog me.
Hideous fabrics
Nauseating prints and colours
Baffling styles.
Everything had a cut out, frill, ruffle or all three.

I literally laughed out loud as I was walking around looking at the stuff.

Why the hell would you make those velvet trousers in that hideous shade of yellow?
Velvet trousers are great.
SO many colours to chose from.
But yellow?

The socks are rubbish too.
I do buy the men’s jumpers though, for me.

I agree with a lot of that Bubbles I remember M&S announcing they were moving their manufacturing overseas. They clearly didn't want to because 'Made in Britain' was a big part of their DNA but they felt they had no choice.

I also think that a lot of us - and I include myself here - have completely lost touch with how much it really costs to produce well made clothes in decent fabrics. Plus wage stagnation and housing costs mean a lot of people genuinely cannot afford to pay more than they already do. What happened to Jaegar is not a good omen. So M&S do have a real problem. But that makes it all the more bonkers for them firstly to piss off their 50+ customers with such gobsmacking arrogance and then to go chasing the very demographic that always has one of the lowest disposable incomes of all.

Winser London was started by the woman who looked after the m&s buying when it was still good. The fabrics and styles fit what many of you are looking for I think. I just found the sizing very large.

Ooh Winser London.. I'd never heard of them.. I like this

IfYouGoDownToTheWoodsToday I find that the mannekins are nowhere near the clothes they are modelling as well. It's so frustrating. Meadowhall M & S I'm looking at you.

How about this passion killer:
www.marksandspencer.com/modal-blend-long-sleeve-nightdress/p/p60121747?image=SD_02_T37_6824Q_Y0_X_EC_90&color=BLACK&prevPage=plp&pdpredirect

I'm sure I saw a Mumsnet thread where someone bought that "nightdress" for use as a dress.

Its true Flo but it takes a few large, well established retailers to make a stand and stop producing collection after collection of throw away fashion.
Its only been in the last decade that if you didn't buy an item of clothing one week it would be gone the next.
The turnover is ridiculous.
I really think the appetite for very cheap clothing that is here today and gone tomorrow is waning at last.

I won't lie, I have revelled in fast, cheap fashion. I have always loved clothes but couldn't afford them for most of my life. I also know the pain of not being able to afford a new winter coat for a child/teenager.

But its all gone too far and its time to pull it back in.
It doesn't have to go back to the old days of having to pay weekly for 'big' items like coats and school uniforms but there has to be a compromise between that and teeshirts for 50p

The trouble with most of the new 'slow fashion' is that it expensive and elitist.

I was thinking just this on Saturday. I need a new pair of winter-weight black trousers for work. I was in my local town centre so thought I'd try M&S.

No decent quality black trousers to be found. The only ones they had were cheap polyester (just like the ones I have from a supermarket, except four times the price) and - worst of all - NO POCKETS.

Can you email what you have written here to the CEO CountFosco?

I want to shop in CountFosco’s M&S please, not the stupid one we have here.

@Laska5772 strangely that skirt has lots of good reviews , so maybe its the photo then..

Should I admit I have that pleated yellow velvet midi skirt? I wore it to a Bonfire last night and two women complimented me on it. I was wearing it with a slouchy jumper, biker jacket, blanket scarf and ankle boots. It's gorgeously swishy, my DDs adore it but DH thinks it looks like curtains. I take his dislike of it as an indication of how trendy it is .

count its the photo then.. actually i have to go back to M&S tomorrow to pick up my red mini skirt order . I will look and report back (promise to grovel if I find I have been unfair!!)

Totally agree floisme. We have lost rack of what clothes ought to buy and expect to be able to buy complete outfits several times a month on the average wage.

I'm 48 and an M&S loyalist. I agree that this season is loads better than it has been for a while, and there is a lot of cheap stuff there. I bought a lovely plain cotton black v-neck jumper for £12 the other day - I'd been looking for one for a couple of years. It was in the school uniform section. But at £12 it doesn't look like Jigsaw and I wouldn't expect it to. I think our expectations are sky high these days.

I remember back when Per Una was really nice. I bought clothes there in the early 2000s that I absolutely loved. In particular a damson fool coloured moss stitch jumper that I wore for about six years until unfortunately I lost it. I'm an overweight apple which helps.

I have to assume that if we all got the chance to throw out what we didn't like from m&s there would be nothing left. I still find stuff I like there and nobody seems to mind rummaging at TK Max.

I wonder what would happen if one of them did make a stand MrsDV. It would be a brave thing to do when you see what's happened to the likes of Jaegar.

I'm beginning to feel like I'm part of a dying breed - the ones who remember slow fashion. I agree, it's easy to romanticise it. I bought mostly second hand until I was well into my 30s, despite being in a professional job, and I've written before about having to save up to buy an unremarkable jumper from John Lewis. Although in fact it is quite remarkable as I'm wearing it today, 30-odd years on cos it's one of my warmest jumpers. But I too was totally sucked into cheap fast fashion at first. Now I feel a bit like you do when you've eaten too many Haribos, vaguely queasy about it all and I've actually gone back to my youthful shopping habits and am trying to buy second hand wherever I can - out of choice.

But then if we all did that, I wouldn't get such great bargains