Why is the quality of everything so shit?

[Notcontent]

So tired of this. For example, recently bought sine flannel pyjamas from Hush. They arrived and looked lovely and cosy - great, these will last me for years, I thought... I look after my clothes - wash at low temperature, low spin and air dry. I have washed these 3 or 4 times and the fabric has become really rough and slightly bobbled - they look like I have washed and tumble dried them about 100 times.... Same with a jumper I bought in uniqlo.

This did not happen with clothes I bought 20 years ago. I know it’s the quality of the fabric. Grrr...

I am so sick of finding small holes appearing on the front of my tops, t-shorts, thin-material sweatshirts and jumpers. This never happened 5 years ago but now I can wear something once and then these holes appear. This also happens to other people I know and it can be any type of top from any different company. It is driving me mad!

Wishlhadanalogorithim

Don’t buy thin jersey. That’s the issue. It’s not strong at the best of times and is prone to holes. The thicker and heavier the better.

@XingMing thanks for the recc! I will check them out. I’d happily pay 80-100 for a good quality pair of size 20 black denim skinny or straight leg cropped ankle jeans. Where oh where can such an item be found ...

Sadly, @CallforHecate, I haven't been able to buy hard wearing stylish jeans at £80 for several years. Believe me, I have looked hard, and across the known universe.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow this happens with some tops made of thicker material too! It can be high end products as well as cheaper items.

I just think the quality of clothing is just not what it used to be,

If the holes appear on your midriff, it's likely to be because you have a granite work tops at home. I've seen it suggested online and it certainly matches with my own experience. We moved to our house 2010 and for the past decade I had to throw so many tops away because of this. We had our kitchen re-done in 2019 and the changed the granite to wood and sometime during last year I realised the problem seem to have vanished.

I still agree that the quality on most clothes is awful though.

Thank you for those who have business insider info for all the interesting information. Loved reading it all.

The Bamboo Clothing company mentioned by PP keeps sending me free pair of socks. I think I've had at least five pairs by now. Don't know how they have obtained my name and address as I always tick no for all the advertising boxes. That alone irritates me.

I keep getting the socks and discount code at every six months or so. The socks are nice at first but the heals wear through really quickly. As in in couple of months. Until few months later the new socks appear in the post. It's kinda odd

@Wishihadanalgorithm

I am so sick of finding small holes appearing on the front of my tops, t-shorts, thin-material sweatshirts and jumpers. This never happened 5 years ago but now I can wear something once and then these holes appear. This also happens to other people I know and it can be any type of top from any different company. It is driving me mad!

Can someone explain what this is? In all my t shirts I have had several tiny holes appear. Mainly in the stomach area but also in the sleeves. I don’t have granite worktops. I have had these t shirts years and suddenly they are ALL developing these holes! Often four holes close together.

I love my free Bamboo socks - my heels are always reinforced. Am I getting posher Ines than you?

Please do post the link to the bamboo clothing . I would love some free socks!

I now buy s/h jack wills and gant knitwear off ebay at a fraction of the price...and they look great after several years and also being used already...i still have some nice cotton shirts from primark which are about 5 years old before they cheapened the quality.

@TSBelliot Maybe you are They keep sending me the stripey ones and they do have thick heels but mine always have holes after few months of wear. Well it's great to receive free socks but as I'd never place an order with them, their marketing strategy need looking at.

@RedHotChiliChips I too have lots and lots of free socks from BAM, that arrive every few months.

My free socks also have really thick toes and heels, but the heels do wear out really really quickly.

Plus they take aaaages to dry (we hang everything to dry inside) - much longer than all my other socks,

So yes, it's a bit of a weird marketing strategy: keep sending free socks, to someone who's never shown any interest in buying anything - and isn't likely to start, given how quickly your socks wear out!

Esprit is good for t shirts. I just got a few 100% organic cotton ones for £12 each. They feel really nice on. And a jumper for £45, really good quality.

Moths? The holes I mean.

I haven’t seen anyone post a link to “ buy me once” so I thought I’d post it here. They feature a range of higher quality British manufacturers of clothing and homewares.

uk.buymeonce.com/

The best quality clothing I have in my wardrobe are from heritage brands that are probably not that exciting style wise but are really beautifully cut. I have cashmere sweaters from Jaeger for example that are over 15 years old. I have purchased tailored trousers and blazers and skirts from Jaeger, Hobbs, Daks, Paul Costello, Jean Muir from eBay and charity shops. The Daks blazer is classic navy and I pair it with trendier jeans to bring it more up to date. I have the most fantastic heavyweight Daks made kilt that I’ll pair with a graphic t shirt and boots of some kind.
I take care of my clothes though... I line dry whenever possible for example. The worse quality clothes I’ve found have been cheapo acrylic sweaters from H&M that look shit quickly, black jeans from Sainsbury’s that faded, 2x jersey trousers from Monki that both have holes in the same place. I have only my self to blame... I know that fast fashion is an environmental disaster and less appealing in the long run.

Years ago when we used to have a Dewhirst clothing factory near where I worked, they would once in a while have a sale in the factory.

Dont know if they made clothing for anyone else, but all the sale clothes were M&S, we would all go along, it was a scrum of women of all shapes and sizes stripping off trying on clothes coming away with armful's of bargains, I still have a couple of things after what 25+ years, even the St Micheal labels have not faded, only thing was we all nearly had identikit work clothes!

I also have some of my DH DAKS shirts, sadly too small for him, but also sadly fit me, I wear them under jumpers (more of his cast offs) still fantastic quality.

I have never bought clothes off ebay or charity shops, I am just frugal with years old clothes that I adapt a little.

But this thread has also made me sad at the fact we have lost so many independent shops that provided some great clothing and service.

Redhot - my dm has now got so many free bamboo socks she’s started giving them away. It doesn’t seem a great marketing strategy- she has never bought any and has no need now!

Thanks for the Buy Me Once link Divebar.

I mentioned this way upthread but I've been thinking about how linen, silk and cashmere were the height of luxury when I was growing up. No-body I knew could afford them. (We weren't poor.) I've got a few 1950s/60s linen jackets and they're still fabulous and going strong - they crease but don't sag. Likewise vintage silk shirts - soft and heavy. I was in my 20s before I even saw real cashmere and, when I did, I was disappointed because I'd expected gossamer and it felt a bit rough. I didn't know it was supposed to soften with wear and with age.

Now linen is almost interchangeable with cotton and we wince (well I do) when we see a 3-figure price on silk or cashmere, and they're all sold in supermarkets.

I have a bit of a vintage cashmere habit on Ebay. I've never paid more than £40 for a plain jumper or cardigan,up to around £65 for an intarsia or printed one. The quality is far higher than new cashmere. Wearing a vintage jumper feels like being cuddled by a cloud.
My recent purchases from Brora have been fine, their sillk libert print blouses and jersey dresses are lovely and are well marked down in the sales. I like some Toast too but the itesm are so large I can't wear the dresses, the midi styles just drag along the ground as I'm 5'3".
I'm moving towards the authentic Scottish brands and sometimes Plumo. I get very attached to my clothes and like them to last 5 years or so at least.

I have Ballantyne cashmere which is at least 40 years old. Used to buy it from Portobello Market when I lived in London. The quality is the best I've ever seen and the colours are beautiful. The closest I've come to that quality is Ryan Roche and only ever in the sales as it's so expensive.

I remember linen being hugely expensive in my teen years. It was usually irish linen & quite heavy weight. I can also remember being amazed to see affordable linen skirts at La Redoute a bit later on - tried one & it was totally different fabric quality - flimsy & just crumpled the moment you put the skirt on.
I made my own clothes in my teens & did get to learn a bit about fabric quality variations & garment construction which has been very useful when buying clothes. I stopped dressmaking as clothes got so cheap, but the drop in quality means that it is now worthwhile starting again or using local dressmakers or Etsy. I am looking forward to the Sewing Bee starting next week & there are some interesting interviews with Patrick Grant (one of the judges) now where he talks about fashion ethics & the huge amount of greenwashing going on.

J Crew's slim fit linen shirts made from Irish linen ( Baird McNutt) are beautiful quality and reasonably priced. I've had mine for years.

I bet you’d be unpleasantly surprised if you bought the same thing from J Crew now. Their quality has been dropping for the last few years. They filed for bankruptcy in the states a year or two ago but you could tell that things were going wrong before then.

They introduced a sub brand, J Crew Mercantile, which was just polyester misery. Still ambitiously priced. The sweaters got thinner. Their shoes were always fantastic and priced accordingly, which I didn’t mind because it was Ferragamo quality for less than £300, but even they aren’t as good any more. Such a shame.

I haven't shopped at J Crew for a couple of years. Their cashmere is now poor quality. I've 10 year old slim fit cashmere jumpers which still look great.
The newer ones not so much. Also, their tshirts are really bad.