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 hate acrylic jumpers. So many jumpers bobble now as well

Oh gosh I miss old Next!
It looks like New look on a bad day now.
I too had a beautiful suit from Next, wool mix dark grey pinstripe which I wore with a teal blouse like the model in the directory.
I bought so many of Dd1s clothes from there.
What I really miss is the sales back then! They'd send you a sale list and you'd look through your directory and tick off what you wanted and then ring at 6am on sale day and press redial until you got through. I've still memorised my account number. You'd be able to get the lot and super quick!

I used to love the Next in Bristol with the coffee shop.

DD1 one used to kiss the pictures of Linda Evangelista in the directory when she was about 1 and say "mummy" 😂

I started my first office job in 2007 and there is even a big difference in the suit I bought for my first interview back then compared to the quality now. I wish I still fitted in it :(

&Floisme - great name - couldnt agree more, especially about the downgrading of lesser town/city shops in favour of flagship stores.

I really think the time has come to sober up, step away from fast fashion and invest in quality basics and classics - in the sale preferably.

Ive definitely lost my love for fashion.

@TDMN suitable shops for hourglasses:

Hobbs
Karen Millen
Ted Baker
Boden
Mint Velvet (ignore the sloppy tops though)
Reiss
British Brazilian
Pepperberry

I’d add Phase Eight, not considered v fashionable but good for nice dresses. Always go in at the waist and don’t expect to be filled by much in the way of boobage

Sorry I misread! Phase eight is good for pear shapes with a waist, in my experience

Yes! I had a cotton top from Next from when I was in uni that still looked like new until recently.

The only thing that seems anyway close to that quality and weight of cotton is a couple of t-shirts I found in Tesco of all places. It's their sustainable cotton range but finding them in the store is like finding a needle in a haystack and they haven't had any this year that I've spotted. I would love to find a shop that sells quality cotton tops.

I was quite young and broke when I had teen DD and I remember my grandad gave me some money to buy her clothes when she was about 2 - I splashed out in Next, and my goodness they were lovely. Thick, soft material, lovely colours and patterns. Returned the next year and it was utter tat

I also bought her a winter coat at Woolworths before it closed and the quality was the equivalent of today's Boden in my opinion. Tartan duffle it was. I now have toddler DD2 and a bit more cash so it's interesting to compare.

I absolutely agree that the price or brand no longer means a thing in terms of quality. I've had some fab basics from Primark that are indescribable, and utter crap from shops where I've paid more.

The other issue I have is that there's about fifteen to twenty years where you're too old for a lot of the clubwear clothes that places like River Island sell, but too young for a lot of other shops that make you look quite dowdy and mumsy before your time, yet there's nothing that really caters for the "I have children and responsibilities and want to be taken seriously, but I'm also young and enjoy going to gigs, so I don't want to look like a retired history teacher circa 1995, and also I'm willing to save up for a decent item of clothing but I'm a bit short of ready cash" demographic

(just me then? No?)

Not just you ReallySpicyCurry I hear you loud and clear. Clothes shops should be all over this type of thread, for research.

No, not just you, as unfortunately there seems to be a popular view on here that, upon reaching a certain age, (never entirely clear what it is but always at least a decade in the future) women cease to care about worldly vanities and embrace the dowdiness.

Here is a newsflash: There is no late life high street Nirvana. Many of us still enjoy getting dressed and are still seeking the holy grail of modern, well made, flattering clothes. We are just as frustrated at the options on offer as the rest of you.

Because the high st you refer to wouldn’t exist selling equivalent cost items- that £40 denim jacket would be £100 at least now on same inflation basis
Or more specifically- it does exist or did- but people don’t want to spend that because perception is that it should be ‘less’
I have a pair of jeans from sainos. 5 years old. Still fine. I also have a pair of diesel jeans from 17 years ago (wedding hence remembering ) which are fine but for is horrible and dated... but the fuel ones were £130 and no better than the £20 ones ...

Yes, I bought a lot from Oasis then off they went.

Whistles seems promising in some things, but is still not quite what I'm looking for.

I wonder if part of the problem is that there's now quite a big difference in lifestyle from age 20 up - I mean there always was to an extent, but you see a lot of people wearing what I'd think of as teen fashion until well into their twenties and early thirties - and why shouldn't they when they are still living at home because it's an expensive area, travelling and partying - but then again others will be married with kids by then and don't quite fancy cold shoulder tops and thigh boots for the school run.

I compare it to an older relative of mine who I thought was the epitome of fashion when I was a teen - she was a punk until she was 21, then bought everything out of Bay Trading and Benetton for the next decade, and all her friends seemed to do the same!

That was meant to be "difference in lifestyle from late twenties up"

I found my 1991 Next Directory while having a lot clear out. Behold the chintz!!