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...

Needing, not redingote, though it was an oddly fitting AC for a clothes thread.

@justawoman

I remember buying my first Hobbs suit around 20 years ago for a job interview. It was wool crepe and cut beautifully. It was expensive but just within my range as a young professional. I’ve recently been trying to find something similar and while they do have one suitable wool blend trouser suit the cut doesn’t work for me so all I can find is suiting in polyester or other man-made fibres. One suit does look good on me but I’m dithering about whether to keep it as it’s polyester/viscose yet still costs nearly £300.

Exactly the same here. About 25 years ago I bought a work suit from Hobbs. It cost about £150 which felt like a fortune in those days. I wore it to death for about fifteen years because it always looked perfect and it was a timeless style. Only stopped wearing it when I was no longer size 8. Went to look at replacements recently and there was absolutely nothing equivalent. Cheap fabrics and the finish is terrible - no seam allowances, pockets made of really frail lining fabric that tears immediately. Just rubbish quality.

I bought a fleece a couple of months ago - it was only from Tesco so not expensive but was so soft and fluffy and such a lovely colour. Felt gorgeous to wear.
Within one wash it was distinctly less nice, within two washes much less nice and within three washes I had to relegate it to dog-walking / gardening attire because it's gone so bobbly.
I know it wouldn't last that long so have been careful and always washed in in a net bag, but this is ridiculous and makes me very angry from an environmental standpoint.

I share the frustration with poor quality items from what are supposed to be higher-end brands. Clothes shopping is such a source of frustration.

I’ve found this website helpful:

uk.buymeonce.com/collections/buy-for-life-womenswear

I wonder if it’s partly to do with washing too. The spin cycles on washing machines are getting faster and faster, and many people use driers rather than line dry.
I see it too with electronic goods. Washing machines, dish washers, even laptops. I had to get a new laptop recently and the quality compared to my old one is much inferior for the same laptop which I had had for six years.
I think everyone needs to write to the CEO of these companies and complain. If your clothes fall to pieces , return them for a refund and keep complaining. I took back a pair of jeans to M and S which just fell apart after less than six months and got a full refund. I hadn’t even worn them very often.

I agree - the main problem is that unless you can afford to go really high end, there's often no difference in quality to be seen. I've thought for a few years now that the best value for money comes from the supermarkets.
I do second the poster who mentioned kettlewell - I have several Breton stripe tops from them which are such lovely quality. Their vest tops are also fabulous.
But otherwise, I sew most of my own clothes now. I definitely don't save any money, but can wear good quality fabrics. Just as an example, I've sewn a 3/4 sleeve, boat neck cotton jersey top this weekend - the fabric was €23, plus I needed to buy 2 new reels of thread which was €5 (although have loads of thread left to use in another project) and then there's the theoretical cost of my time. But, it's such beautifully soft fabric.

Am I the only one here who quite likes viscose dresses (or viscose blends)? I hate ironing so while linen and cotton are great for tops, dresses always look creased. Viscose drapes nicely too. We also have some pesky moths, so leaving natural fibre clothes hanging and unused for longer than few weeks always carries a risk. And packing them away for winter always means a huge round of ironing...

Saying that, there is still a huge amount of difference in the quality of tailoring and design and finish... I'd expect the price to reflect the cheaper material too.

@Pigtailsandall It’s expensive viscose I object to. It’s cheap to produce so it drives me mad when retailers charge you as if it’s silk.

Some lovely websites been mentioned on here, thank you. One problem I have with just about all the ethical/natural fibres/long lasting stuff from those sites is that it always seems to be pretty casual and/or alternative. Great for hanging round at home in. But what I really need right now (I know I’m unusual in this in 2021!) is some new smart workwear. Where’s the equivalent of the old Hobbs or Whistles, offering mid-priced smart dresses and suits in decent fibres, made to last?

I bought some denim jeggings from Uniqlo about two years ago which I seem to wear continually so I thought I would get another pair as they had started to look tatty.

The new pair went bobbly after one wash. One! Now when I am trying to work out which pair is which, I have to remember that the tatty ones are the new ones.

[quote Rainallnight]@Pigtailsandall It’s expensive viscose I object to. It’s cheap to produce so it drives me mad when retailers charge you as if it’s silk.[/quote]
I agree. Viscose and polyester is scratchy and makes me sweat. I hate it.

@Iamthewombat

Thanks to the poster upthread who mentioned Community Clothing. I just looked at their website. Lovely stuff.

I was going to mention them as well - me and DH have had a few basics from Community Clothing and they are terrific quality. Not the very cheapest, but definitely reasonable and long lasting.

We’ve also found Uniqlo and Muji generally good, and Arket children’s clothes have also proved very long lasting.

I wash on low and deliberately add a manual slower spin and I still have this issue :(

I have two Cyberjammies nightdresses and I think they’re decent quality for the price. Plus, cut in such a way you’re actually decent if you wear them round the house! No boobs falling out or flashing any bits to the postman!

I think synthetics are used not only for the price but because they hang well so look good from a distance on a hanger/model/mannequin. Was the case back in the 80s too (when I made lots of my own clothes & they were more robustly made as an amateur than most things in shops).

I have never been convinced that price guarantees quality (unless you are going for very top of the range). I used to know someone with a clothing business who said the top wholesale price for the highest quality item would be say £10 and then after that the price charged to customers would just depend on the label (so confirming the current scandal).

I think for most “good” brands the quality drops once they become more popular & start producing in bigger quantities. They get taken over & someone at the top only cares about the profit margin.

Dh & I have great quality clothing items bought 25 years ago in the US from brands before they got popular here - eg Banana Republic and Abercrombie. I remember dithering over a cardigan as it was a lot more than I would usually pay - but I have worn it heaps & it is still perfect.

This thread has been very helpful for recommendations for sites. It's so much harder now you can't go to a shop and get a sense of the quality of the material and the tailoring.

It's occurred to me that this is partly the reason that I have issues trying to have a small capsule type wardrobe- I keep trying to buy quality items but they become shapeless, baggy, or shrink, bobble. Then I struggle to get rid of them because I can't get my head around them becoming almost unwearable.

So I buy a replacement, and the same thing happens.

For example, I have four pairs of hareems. two from Hush, French connection, Mint Velvet. I can't wear any of them out of the house as they look awful after a few washes (and I'm not particularly fussy).

I need to get rid of all four pairs but I guess I know that whatever I replace them with will also end up looking rubbish very quickly.

Someone up thread mentioned Their Nibs pj's, I have 2 pairs awful to iron (even when damp) and the cut is quite bad ie one leg or arm slightly longer than the other or sizing slightly different, given they are made in India I am surprised at the price. I have a pair of my DH old St Michael M&S pj's from the 80's, still going, not faded or thin, fantastic, even my awful stitching of the fly has lasted this long!.

Bought a pair of wool mix Jigsaw trousers not so long ago, must of worn them around 5 hours in total, they are all bobbled, same time I ordered some silk shirts (at £110 each) absolutely disgraceful quality and finish, made in China, needless to say they went back. And I still have some Jigsaw items that are over 25 years old just a little worn now.

I also have found the cotton TU knickers are quite good, esp in the sale, but other items esp tops I really dont like the fabrics, but have noticed some of the jeans appear to be quite a good quality.

oh just remembered about Gap, bought loads of shirts the first time I went to the US, mix of womens and mens one a brushed cotton rest plain cotton 5 still going strong almost 30 years later.

I've had some lovely things from Primark that have lasted ages - pj bottoms that I've probably paid £10 for that are soft, kept their shape and colour. And that's the problem - where you buy is no longer any indicator of quality so you might as well shop in Primark!

@NiceGerbil

Not RTFT

the answer is capitalism.

I am pissed off with this too. Pretty much everything is just shit quality now.

I'm having a lot of trouble with bin bags at the mo.

I have been unable to find the good quality bin bags that I was using before the pandemic started.

@NewPlantsNeeded

oh just remembered about Gap, bought loads of shirts the first time I went to the US, mix of womens and mens one a brushed cotton rest plain cotton 5 still going strong almost 30 years later.

Gap quality is rubbish now. I was suspicious when they started doing 50% off sales a lot on their website, and sure enough, the quality is awful. Worse than Primark I would say. I remember the outlets used to be okay as it would be out of season stuff but the quality good, now it's all largely tat. Bu

I've recently found supermarkets upping their game in terms of quality - especially Morrisons. Well made garments, correctly sized, hang well and importantly wash well too. I hear Sainsburys Tu are good too. Can't confirm that as there isn't one near me, but generally there doesn't seem to be that divide anymore. Pay more still get rubbish. As previous poster said, may as well shop in Primark,

@DOINGOURBIT yes I've bought a couple of t shirts in Morrisons recently when doing grocery shopping.Nice thick cotton and seem to wash up better than many of my more expensive items.

I buy from Cos, Arket, Toast, Boden (you have to wade through quite a lot of hotchpotch to find the gold though), Wyse, Oliver Bonas, and find they're all ok. I always buy at sale prices though.

The rest of the high street is awful - Zara etc. Like a jumble sale of cheap ill fitting polyester.