Where did you shop...but don't now?

[fairisleknit]

Could be due to rising prices or crap choices these days. I'll go first -

Boden (increased price)
Baukjen increased prices)
H&M (too fast fashion)

Most places to be fair.

Next - liked it in the 90s when it was good quality

Boden - frumpy now

Oasis and warehouse for most of my 20s- are no longer any good

Hobbs- expensive polyester and frumptastic

River Island as a teen but the quality dived

Bay trading and new look in my teens

Tammy girl aged 11 to 14, happy days!

Dash for tracksuits when I was a kid

United colours of benetton for sweatshirts and bags in my teens

Principals for work wear but it shut

Wallis, also for work but then it got too frumpy.

Phase eight - too much polyester and overpriced for quality

You are all my people!

I feel completely at sea shops wise these days as I always come away empty handed form my all my old haunts

I used to find Zara great for work stuff as it was smart but quirky enough to look fun and have some colour but now they either have an endless sale with the same stuff draped everywhere in piles or just cheap sweatshirts and coats and the same trousers they have been selling for ever. i mourn the loss of Zara as it was five years ago.

River Island is just fluorescent spangly lacey polyester

Whistles has totally lost its way and yet more expensive than ever.

Mango again really poor quality. Same as H&M

Gap shops all closed down. Ditto banana republic.

Ive always hated Next, Boden, white stuff, Hobbs, sea salt, phase eight as being so painfully middle aged ‘fun fabrics and nipped in at the waist’ cuts.

I so wish I knew where to shop. I see some nice stuff via insta but non U.K. shops so returns a nightmare.

Any suggestions?
I did discover Free People and love their stuff but no shop near me to try stuff on and it’s really quite pricey for casual wear.

Reiss - quality was bad yet prices are through the roof. All made in China or India so no reason for the price tag.

Boohoo - terrible quality and avoiding fast fashion (or trying to).

I'm still shopping at H&M and Cos, but only just.

Used to shop at Gap, Uniqlo, Top Shop.

I loathe clothes shopping. Recently found a few bits in M&S, jeans and vests.

Jigsaw and White Stuff for replacing cotton/wool with crap fabrics like lyocell that only last one season before being stretched to twice the size. A big “I’m recycled and eco-friendly” label doesn’t conceal cost-cutting cheap fabrics, I’m afraid. And I see the men’s department still gets plenty of high quality cotton 😐

Hobbs, bought a cashmere jumper with a moth hole in the sleeve, refused to exchange it.

Never have I spent another penny with them and I've spent thousands before this incident.

What @MotherOfFireBreathers said.
why pay £££ for anything new in the shops, when Vinted is literally like the biggest and best department store in the world?
i work in fashion, so know how massive retail mark ups are. There’s no point paying full price for anything, ever.

Im very tall and used to shop at Long Tall Sally. They were only good for basics but they aren't even good for those now. M&S - not a lot there now either.
Monsoon used to be my favourite shop but they have become to homogeneous.

New Look and H&M - post-kid I just couldn’t get away with thin or clingy fabric.

River Island - post-kid my body shape changed and their clothes didn’t fit me anymore.

Debenhams - I will miss forever!

Any shop selling new stuff - now it's just charity shops and depop for me, can't justify the prices for new unfortunately.

Boden - since Brexit far too expensive and their styling is very strange these days

Long Tall Sally - it was always hit & miss but the fabric quality now is appalling

Debenhams - I'm still upset that they have gone

I used to like River Island but it's gone a bit too fashion student when I last looked.
New look - I hadn't been in for about 10 years until early this year and as soon as I did I realised why, it's just awful now. Like a polyester jumble sale.
H and M used to be my staple for t-shirts but they are shit now and the sizes are all over the place.
I used to dress really smart for work in Hobbs, Wallis, Ted Baker etc not anymore, it's so casual even the big managers often wear jeans now.
Apart from anything else I buy much nicer but less items these days. I know my style so don't really follow fashion.

Someone mentioned the late lamented C&A...They are still trading in Europe and I always grab things when I go to see family in Spain. They are still good, and far from expensive.

Agree with so many of these, quality down, price up.

I'm still peeved Jesire went bust ten years ago. Everything I bought from there still looks as good as new and still stylish. The quality was excellent and it was mid priced. Same with a Max Mara wool dress I splashed out on 15 years ago, I can bring it out time and again and feel great in it. I suppose I'm going back to buying fewer clothes but paying more. But can't bring myself to spend more than £50 on jeans because, well, denim is denim. Just bought a wool coat from Zara that is pretty nice quality but everything else I returned as it was made of recycled plastic or something, static central.

Oasis ( 90%) of my clothes use to come from there .. loved the shops .. it gone to shit now only online

Same here, Boden. Prices went up and quality & fit reduced.

Me too.

Jaeger, especially for coats.
Fatface just rubbish now. I miss Snob. And we had a Fenwicks locally, I loved it in the sale.

I've gone back to M & S for jeans, a few Cos things, otherwise it's Vinted.

Completely agree with pp that NEXT is like a market stall , I said to my sister if these blouses were on a market stall at 25% of the price we would turn our noses up !

I used to find next such an easy shop, especially for work items. You could go in, pick 5 things and have a work wardrobe for the year and it would all look suitable and they used to have the nice catalogue pages so you could essentially pick an outfit off the page. I'm time short and tired so this worked so well. Now I go on the website and you type in 'dress' and get 7 million results to trawl through.

I used to shop at Debenhams (RIP), Next (which has gone a bit old lady), and M&S (which has moved away from nice cotton and wool fabrics and is selling polyester). I still shop at H&M but only the plain basics and only because I can’t afford Arket. I shop at Uniqlo sometimes too.

Interesting.
Debenhams RIP.

I have had terrible trouble buying any clothes for the last 2 years. Can't find anything I like.

I really miss Gap, but from years ago. The joy of being able to get decent jeans, sweatshirts and chinos!

East used to have some lovely stuff - not only clothes, but earrings and scarves.

I went through a brief Boden period a few years ago, and as a result am still being sent their catalogue. Haven't seen anything I want to buy for a couple of years.

Between 2000-2015 the majority of my clothes were purchased from Boden, but they have lost their way recently - bizarre styling, cheap material and reduced quality. I still buy some boden pieces but they are BNWT items off eBay. The older stuff was excellent quality.

I’ve gone back to M&S this year as they have had some nice pieces this season. Will only buy cotton, wool or cashmere. I absolutely refuse to buy polyester.

JL basics are ok. Hush is very hit or miss. Aspiga only seems to cater for women over 5ft8! Nice sandals though.

I still miss the Oasis of the late 90s, the shops were lovely to go in, beautifully curated and good quality. They had less choice but because everything was presented well there were always things you wanted to buy. In fact it’s the 90s and early 00s quality of most shops I miss, Reiss, Jigsaw, French Connection, Top Shop. I still have a full length cotton skirt from French Connection from 1997 that I wear every year on holiday, it’s two layers and beautifully finished and was £50 at the time so expensive. You just don’t get the quality on the high street today.