Remember when Next used to sell good quality clothes?

[peaceanddove]

I was browsing eBay and looking at vintage 90s Next & Laura Ashley clothes. On a whim I bought a cream, knitted cotton jumper with a roll neck, from Next. It's just arrived. OMG it is such good quality. It's really heavy but soft and just looks like a very good quality sweater. Love it.

Also, was thrilled to spot a candy floss pink, fluffy sweater from Laura Ashley circa 1995. Thrilled because DH bought me the said same sweater Xmas '95, and I loved it so much. Until I shrunk it Again, the quality is just amazing, so heavy, soft, seams properly finished.

It's made me so nostalgic for when the high street sold good quality clothes.

I had a nightshirt from Laura Ashley that I got in c. 1992/3 and wore every winter up until a couple of years ago when it finally ripped. It was the most amazing cotton sateen striped material that looked like it was new right up until the point it died on me.

You just don't get quality like that on the high street any more.

Next was aspirational! I had to wait for the sales to get decent work stuff. Now I’d rather go to hennes or new look!

I remember Next in the 80s was quite different from any other shop at their price point. They were selling a lifestyle.

I also remember the designer George Davies from next started George at Asda, first of the cool supermarket clothing lines.

I too remember when Next had good quality clothes, not all that badly made cheap thin fabric stuff that they have now. I still have a beautiful jacket that I bought there in the 90s. It was £100 which was/is a lot of money but it's timeless and excellent quality.

Yes. Hand finished hems, proper linings.

I got my first work suit from Next (like most people in the 80s probably!). I felt so smart.

Warehouse was also really good quality fabrics and finishing.

@Floisme

I remember Richard Shops too! I had a raincoat from there and wish I'd kept it.

What I have kept some velvet flared trousers from Next, bought early noughties. They're proper cotton velvet, thick and plush, not that dreadful shiny stuff that even Toast was selling last winter.

I also remember sewing factories jumping through all kinds of hoops to win a Marks & Soencer contract - it was a real feather in their cap. I can see the St Micheal label being as covetable as vintage Jaegar or Aquascutum in 10 or 20 years.

DM sewed for M&S for years. They were VERY exacting. I had some amazing M&S Italian wool suits from the factory shop back in the 90s for a fraction of the price.

Richard Shops was lovely. I got a dress for my very first date from there!
Again, good fabrics, stylish and well made. Next is like the rest of the shops now - awful cheap fabrics, dull designs, badly made. Such a shame.

My first work suit was next too- navy wool with an electric blue pinstripe. It was gorgeous! They even used to line trousers, which made them hang so much better. Nowhere seems to do that now

I have a pair of cropped jeans from Next that I've been wearing every summer for 17 years. They're still going strong.

I agree the quality of many Next items is now poor. However, I think their underwear and home goods, wallpaper etc is often good and their own brand perfume is lovely. I have had good jeans and the odd summer all cotton item in recent ears which has been fine.
I relay miss the Principles shops. The travesty range now bearing that name at Debenhams is in no way comparable. I still have a couple of beautiful silk tops and evening trousers from there back in the day which are still perfect.

@Artesia

My first work suit was next too- navy wool with an electric blue pinstripe. It was gorgeous! They even used to line trousers, which made them hang so much better. Nowhere seems to do that now

I think we had the same one!! Bought a blue stripy shirt to go with it, just as the model wore it in the directory!!

I remember Next opening - it was an eye opener. Lots of lovely well cut clothes. I always bought my work stuff in there, but only in the sales. Me and my late friend Lesley used to make a day of the Next sales ( when they didn't open at Silly o'clock). We'd start at the Charing Cross branch, then Maccky D's for breakfast, before going on to Regent Street and then finishing up in Oxford Street. Happy Days. I vividly remember having a dark brown trouser suit, and the matching skirt along with a toning blouse. All well made and lasted ages. Now I struggle to but anything in there. The last things I got were a pair of slippers and some Eau Nude perfume.

And Yes to Richard shops. Again well cut well priced clothes. Who remembers the advert?

"Richard Shops are filled with lots of pretty things, lots of lovely pretty things to wear..... "

I’ve been really disappointed with Next’s workwear in the last few years- it’s either synthetic and see through, OR looks tired after a couple of washes.

We lived near an M&S factory shop Best but you needed a card to buy anything there. A friend of a friend had one and she used to take orders!
The women who worked in those factories were incredibly fast and skilful.

I think Next has massively gone downhill in the past 15 years.

When Dd was born 13 years ago, I got given a big bag of hand-me-down baby clothes from a work colleague that her toddler had outgrown - mostly Next stuff. It was brilliant quality, I was totally converted. I saved up to buy some new stuff for Dd from Next and was bewildered at how thin and shapeless it all was, when the second-hand stuff looked like new.

I kept persevering, then eventually decided to stop wasting my money.

Not that Next is the only one - most clothes shops are the same. It's a huge shame - I'd rather pay twice as much and have something last.

I was just thinking the other day how nowhere seems to line trousers anymore, or put decent pockets in them. Do more expensive places like Hobbs do this or has everywhere given up?

The 90's were my teen years so it was more Topshop and Tammy Girl than Next for me, but my mum loved the Richards sale.

@NeedWineNow

“.. hey there pretty girl, make the world a prettier place,
Come treat ( ?) yourself, come buy your clothes at Richards shops”

I don’t know why I remember that!

I used to buy Next in the late 80s/early 90s when I could afford it - I felt quite sad when I last went in there a few weeks ago. So much shiny, thin fabric and polyester mix knits and sweatshirts which will immediately bobble. I really like some of their prints and just wish the quality was better.

I also used to work for Oasis in the early 90s and the quality was really good! Some of my clothes from there lasted for years.

@Nat6999 I’m not sure what you have seen, but my Next is just full of polyester and nylon rubbish. Last time I tried something on it was already coming apart at the seams. Also hate their work clothes now. They used to be well cut and long lasting. Now just cheap thin fabrics .

Used to love the proper Principles shops.

Principles was great. Also Warehouse. I'm being wistful now, thinking what great clothes shopping there was in the 80s/90s. I even shopped at Jane Norman before they started selling polyester boob tubes!

Wallis was good in the 80s too iirc? Excellent wool coats.

I still miss the wool tube skirt I had from Richard shops. Saw me through pregnancy without losing its shape. Was gutted when it eventually died.
I remember being really excited when my Next directory arrived, especially when I got my first proper job and could (just about) afford to order shoes from there

I have trousers from Hobbs and Jigsaw and they are not lined.

If you are buying vintage M&S and others, check the sizing.
1980s sizing was smaller.

I still have a markses sweatshirt from that era. Barely faded, no Pilling. Still quite pristine. Of course, it cost £20 in the sale. I'd say quality doesn't come cheaply but I've bought so many clothes at a higher price point, in recent times, that haven't washed well at all, despite small loads and gentle cycles.