Why is everything such shit quality!?

[gigipom]

even higher end brands.

I spent £150 on a dress from Massimo Dutti, which was machine washable 30 degrees. I hand washed cool to be extra safe and it shrunk.

my dresses from COS, Sezane all feel a bit naff after a few wears and have pulls in them. Knitwear bobbles so fast.

I went for a look around some shops today and I couldn’t believe how shit the quality was of everything. Everything is mixed with a synthetic fabric, but still charging an extortionate amount.

that and just the general styles coming in for autumn are 🤮 (looking at you, Zara).

I noticed this one in the UK last year. So much synthetic stuff, and not particularly cheap. The kind of stuff I'd associate with C&A /BHS if they still existed. I'm thinking of clothes that would have been woollen in the past.
It's no better in Australia either.
I now shop for woollens at Woolovers - not styles to set the Thames on fire, but well made and in natural materials.

Lots of polyester being rebranded as recycled polyester so great for the planet just rubbish for our bodies

Capitalism, greed.

I have wasted so much money in the last year buying jumpers that bobble and can't be worn for work etc or anything apart from slobbing around at home after the first few wears and a wash

Does anyone have any recommendations for shops or materials to look out for as either good or bad?

This is why I buy most of my clothes in charity shops or on Vinted (which you can now sort by material as well). I try to buy pure cotton / wool / linen / viscose or silk.

The Country Collection; jumpers and cardigans are 100% wool and a choice of merino, lambs wool or Shetland. Not particularly fashionable but a good range of colours.
https://www.countrycollection.co.uk/products/6hf/merino-wool-short-cardigan

https://www.countrycollection.co.uk/products/509/lambswool-sweater-ladies

https://www.countrycollection.co.uk/products/022/shetland-sweater

They have lasted well.

I am a great believer in taking things back. If you have followed the washing instructions OP then take it back. I would like to believe that the more people who do this then shops/brands will get the message. The vast majority of my wardrobe is also second hand so I have silk and other good materials at Primark prices if not less.

I'm also gonna start taking things back. From now on I am filing all my receipts away and if something doesn't last a year, back it's going for a refund. I'm fed up of it too.

Seasalt are still good quality and usually cotton or wool fabrics.

Cost. Think how long it takes to make a dress. If I'm really trying it takes me two days of solid work to make it well. If the seamstress is paid even £1 an hour, that's £16. Add on cost of materials - £5 for a cheap poly-cotton or viscose fabric, makes £21.

Then add profit for the manufacturer, for the wholesaler, costs of shipping, import duty, retail costs and profit for the retailer, which probably quadruples it. that's £84. Then 20% tax on top, makes £100 for a cheap polycotton dress.

I've cut back radically on how many clothes I buy - but I've gone up the value range a lot. Things last longer. I just have to think more carefully what I buy.

I do wonder if the price point in Marks is set to reflect the quality of their knitwear - I bought a really lovely soft zip up hoody wore it twice all good, bought another I liked it so much feels lovely on, now notice that the original one is bobbling around the breast area after 4 wears, £30.

If it worsens I’ll take it back, no idea why but I think taking things back has almost gone out of fashion in itself, no idea why!

Uniqlo knitwear is good.

You can extend the life of your clothes with a bit of effort.

I no longer use bio-washing powder for clothes. I use non-bio for general and I hand-wash all my sweaters in soap or shampoo. I only buy wool or cotton sweaters and I dry them by rolling them in a towel and then laying them on slats in an airing cupboard.

And I alter things. I bought a pair of cotton viscose trousers in FatFace and they shrank in the wash so I took the hems down, and rehemmed with seam binding so I could carry on wearing them.

I bought a recycled fabric boyfriend cardigan from M&S. Wore it 4 times and washed according to instructions and it looked awful. It went totally out of shape. I took it back and was given a refund.

I think the only way is to return unsatisfactory items… perhaps then the message will get across that often recycled garments aren’t fit for purpose and end up in landfill.

The fashion industry is under the cosh to improve its eco friendly and supply chain anti-slavery credentials which it has done to some extent by innovating on the fabrics and manufacturing processes it used. So you'll see fabrics with strange new names in companies like White Stuff and Sea Salt as higher end high street brands.

Trouble is, those innovations aren't tried and tested in the same way as fabrics that have been around for decades. Modern fabrics may look and feel nice Eg jersey material which doesn't need ironing, but not particularly long lasting. Things seem to go out of shape more easily.

Wool and cotton seemed to go out of favour over the years due to increase in veganism and also, with cotton, the inhumane working conditions people have to endure. Something has to give.

Manufacturers mass producing fashion are cutting corners. All the lovely detail (contrasting stitching, nice button hole detail, textured embroidery on shirts) is expensive. Since COVID I've notice a massive dip in those finer details and reduction in quality and texture of clothes.

the most serious problem is that manmade fabrics eg out of plastic bottle are an eco-disaster. Massive consignments of fabric waste are shipped to developing countries where they cannot be composted, they don't decompose or rot down due to having high plastic content, it's tragic.

I have decided to stop buying clothes because of this. I will only buy something if I absolutely have to. Fashion used to be my passion, but everything is bad quality now. Even if you go up in price. So, I am making do with what I have. Thankfully I had a few years where I bought a lot of clothes, most of them classic, so I still have a lot of choice for a while. I just accessorise to make it all look pulled together. If you want sweatpants, you are in seventh heaven at the moment.

I wonder if this is it now, or will there be a change to better quality clothes.

I am an awkward shape too. Just over 5 foot one, large of nork, skinny of waist, fat bum and big thighed. It was always hard to buy clothes but now add in the shite quality, nigh on impossible.

I wanted to buy a dress earlier in the summer. Saw two styles in a sale in Oasis. They used to be okay ish in physical stores if you picked carefully, but now online only. Had to buy two different sizes so 4 dresses arrived - £210 outlay. Shite quality, returned. Had to wait three weeks for refund. Waste of time, effort and money.

I’ve had a couple of winter tops from Roman. Perfect for me as they are tunic length and have pockets. But why oh why are they made from sweaty material when Roman, I believe, is aimed at women of a certain age who want cotton/natural clothing.

Two new fabrics are

Global Organic Textile Standards (GOTS) - I just bought a jersey cotton dress from Sea Salt, it feels nice, not cheap 😱so will have to see if it keeps its shape after washing. It's meant to be an ethically sound manufacturing process.

Eco Vero is the other fabric from White Stuff which is a micro jersey feel, a lot more synthetic feeling than cotton jersey.

Menswear is still more likely to use natural fabrics like wool, eg at M and S and Cos. Starting to agree with my teen who will only wear secondhand because'new is poor quality'.

Bobbling. cashmere in particular can bobble irrespective of its quality. There are long and short fibres, the short fibres bobble. Remove bobbles, continue to wear and wash a few times and the bobbling stops.

Agreed though, quality is impossible to find. I buy mainly vintage. I recently bought a dress in the sale from monsoon and its very pretty but very poor quality.

I haven’t done this for a long time but I checked out a charity shop the other day and picked up a silk Massimo Dutti dress for £28

I know some might not be keen but going to sites where there’s re sell could be a good way round it

I often buy knitwear from the men’s section. Far more likely to be cotton or wool for the same price as synthetic in the women’s.

I’ve taken back a number of dresses in the past year that shrunk on the first wash. I don’t know why brands keep using Lenzing Ecovero Viscose when they know it shrinks.

I agree. Not just shit quality but super basic styles that will be cheap and easy to construct, and fabric with non-directional prints that don’t need pattern matching - hence the number of cheapy ditsy floral prints around. All to save time and fabric during the manufacturing process.

I agree with Vinted and have also taught myself to make clothes (which I appreciate isn’t an option for everyone!)

Is there a criteria or stuff you can quote if you want to return something that has shrunk or gone awry after a few washes. And is there a time limit?