Cos

[PyjamaFan]

I've been researching online to find some really good quality, mostly plain clothes to create a capsule wardrobe - once I can actually go shopping again!

I really like the look of Cos and I wondered what the quality is like. Do the clothes wash well and last?

Tia.

I have only had knitwear, but it washed and wore well.

There are lots of Cos fans on here, of which I am one. Many of my favourite - and oldest - clothes are from there. The website is generally accepted as weird, the styling can be off-putting for owners of traditionally female attributes like waists, bums etc but don't let that stop you.

The trousers are fantastic, knitwear washes well with minimal bobbling. T-shirts are brilliant as well, as are coats. Everything really.

Shipping is from Sweden via Hermes, takes 2-3 days usually. Customer service (UK-based) is excellent. They send a Hermes return label as standard but if you go online to the returns section of the website you can create a Royal Mail return label/QR code instead.

Love Cos. My experience is that once you figure out what works for you, they tend to do similar things each year. Their trousers are a perfect fit for me (I’m a hippy size 10) and I have many pairs, and I also have some lovely knitwear.

Things like the t-shirts/jersey tops don’t suit me, the necklines are just slightly too scooped, and I don’t tend to like their dresses.

I find delivery/returns fine.

Love their clothes and I’m a short size 16. It’s really worth going into the store (when we can!) as the website doesn’t do their clothes justice. I have some lovely work blouses, cashmere, dresses and earrings. Quality is really good. I’ve been living in their cashmere jumpers that are over 3 years old now, washing them in the delicates cycle and they are in excellent condition still.

I meant to say, the shops are lovely, well-merchandised, usually friendly staff. God I miss the shops.

I love CoS. Things that look like nothing on the hanger sort of transform themselves on your body. They are usually well made, decent fabrics, wash well - the oldest pieces in my wardrobe are either CoS or Toast. Website is a bit depressing and hard to use, but the shops are lovely. Never had a problem with returns.

The quality is excellent. I love Cos and some of my favourite clothes come from there. Excellent for long-sleeved tops and knitwear, and I got a lovely elegant sleeveless black dress with a tulip skirt from there a couple of years ago. Less than £100 but looked a lot more expensive.

However .. some of the very square-cut almost shapeless garments tend to drown me. They have a sort of Japanese vibe that you have to have a certain style to carry off. Like a really sharp hair cut which I don't have and wouldn't suit.

In normal times I would spend a good while trying on a wide range of their stuff and would almost always find something I really liked.

I'm dying to get back into a real life Cos shop, because as @ilovecherries says, you really have to try things on. And it's only irl that you can appreciate the quality of their fabrics and quite how interesting some of their colours are. None of that comes across so well on their website.

I'm a bit of a fan if you can't tell

Also would recommend buying secondhand Cos on eBay, also shows that their pieces keep well.

Cos also has its own resell site now, not sure how successful it is yet but might be a good place to look.

Oh my good I love cos. I am a SHOPPER anyway but my absolute favorite thing I have bought in recent years even, is a maxi boiled wool cocoon shaped dress. I will wear it til it falls apart end then I may even darn it. I wish I’d bought an extra as a spare. Love love love cos. Stylish, understated, quality, cool

Yes I miss the shops too.
In the meantime, I am told Cos ships from the Netherlands.
Has anyone in the UK bought from Cos since Brexit and can confirm if there are customs charges or not?
As I have my eye on some stuff but don't want to pay unexpected duty.

I also love Cos, buy 2 things in each sale. I am an 18 and love the shirt dresses and got some jersey trousers recently which are lovely and heavy and fit very well. The cotton is very crisp and I do rustle a bit in some of the shirts and dresses when I walk!! The quality is fab!

Thank you so much all of you, that all sounds really positive.

I've just bid on a couple of dresses on ebay, that's a really good suggestion.

I definitely want to visit a shop and try things on. Like most of us I'm not the same height and body shape as the models on their website!

My nearest shop is in the Birmingham bullring, so will plan a trip there when I can.

Another question, what is the sizing like? I'm usually a 12 but sizes can be annoyingly different. I'm asking before I bid too much on ebay!

Quality is excellent if compared to other high street retailers and just ok if you’re used to smaller online retailers at a similar price point.

Sizing is large.

It’s my absolute favourite and the very first place i want to visit when the shops open. Quality is excellent. I’ve ordered from the website since Christmas and there have been no extra taxes. Sizing can be a bit weird. I sometimes order two and return one. I do hope they open the changing rooms , you really do need to try things on and they were very strict about no trying last year.

I'm a COS fan too although like @highlandcoo says some of the stuff just looks odd on my frame so I do need to be picky with what I choose. Their basic t-shirts are great, such soft cotton that I use them as pyjama tops in the winter. My current winter coat is from COS and its oversized but still tailored-looking. The shops are great and sales good

You can usually tell by the shape if you need to size down, I often do, except in those basic t-shirts.

I’m 5.1 and a size 6 for tops. Would cos sizing fit or would it be too big/shapeless?

Sizing tends to be large, but depends on what it is. The dresses are my favourite. Lovely material.

Lovely fabrics which hang well on the right frame but my shoulders are too broad for almost all their stuff (size 8, slim but reasonably broad shouldered). I bought loads of pieces from them a few years ago which have sat in the wardrobe for the last few years unworn sadly. It's not a problem I have all the time so think they are generally narrow cut. Don't have an issue with H&M in the same way despite Cos being owned by them.

@PyjamaFan if you're a 12 you should go for a 38 in Cos as a rule, or an S or even XS in oversized styles. As PPs have said their stuff can come up large, though I mainly find that applies to tops more than trousers, say. (Though I am bigger on the bottom half so that may be why!)

So nice to see the Cos fanclub here!

Half of my wardrobe is Cos. I really like it but it tends to repeat the same styles and colours every year e.g navy and changes one colour per season. This season it looks like pistachio is the favoured colour which it also hghlighted two years ago.

I've been buying Cos for a long time and this year I'm bored by their clothes. They feel too 'safe' now although there was a time I thought they were different. They are good quality clothes that last but they are not clothes that will make you feel dressed up or any way sexy. I find that I am wearing Cos as everyday clothes but when I want to feel dressed up, I'm veering towards Anthropologie these days. That could be due to feeling my age though when clothes that seemed quirky in my thirties feel frumpy on my mid forties body.

I'm a size 12 and wear 38 trousers and size small on top. I also wore size small when I was a size 10 although the clothes probably hung better on me when I was a 10.

They have very good online sales so keep an eye out for them too.

I’m not really liking the colours they’ve chosen for the new collection, yellow and pistachio are not for me. I’m hoping they have a new drop of clothes next month in some different colours. I agree about it being a bit safe at the moment, but I’ve read many companies are leaning this way right now to appeal to a broad market and getting the money rolling in. I hope they survive this and don’t close any shops. It’s only by going in that you realise items which look so unappealing on the models turn out to be great in real life. I hope they put the sofa back in the Leeds store when it reopens, so dh can wait comfortably while I have a leisurely look around, can’t wait.

I love COS's winter collections, but I'm always a bit skeptical of their summer stuff. I do love that sort of tie-dye print they've got across several items at the moment, but I'd like it best in a skirt and I think you can only have trousers, a shirt, or a dress.