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 think you are living in the wrong century @CapaciousHag and yes it reads snotty as well as telling @playgroundwarrior that she is a bit of a knob for not knowing this. The past thread you linked to as well is a load of pretentious waffle which is disdainful about women in different walks of life. It's such a shame when Style and Beauty becomes like this.

Hey @CapaciousHag (feel bad calling you that haha) I grew up in the UK, yes! I’m still pretty clueless but slowly learning. My mother has always been insistent on natural fabrics and a savvy charity shopper and stylish woman generally so I don’t know why it took me so long to get savvy myself!

I had no idea about workmanship for years. It wouldn’t have occurred to me until quite recently to check seams or stitching or even that the pattern matched up on an expensive blazer! I’m still learning but my clothes definitely last longer now I’m paying more attention.

Ps not English but am from the UK!

I do sometimes wonder if the general disdain for craftsmanship in dressmaking here (England / MN) stems from a vague feeling that maintaining one’s wardrobe is a matter for seamstresses and ladies’ maids - not the lady of the house.

Riiiiight. Because everyone in the UK is/was a Downton Abbey-style toff? God, I do so hate it when my lady's maid hasn't ironed the valance in the top turret.

You don't sound snotty, you sound ignorant. Have a read of this or this and educate yourself about what life was like for most people in this country in the recent past.

@CapaciousHag would you have known to identify, say, an overlocking hem, as a teenager then and made smart purchases accordingly?

I agree. It drives me potty. I've stopped buying things now unless I know they're "high quality" and shop mainly from the Outnet etc. I used to spend probably £2K a year on clothes, since the pandemic I think I've probably averaged spending about £500 and just buying a couple of high quality things that will last for years and years.

I've never been seduced by labels and good artificial cloth will beat poor natural materials every time and is about the quality of the production and raw materials used, the length of the fibres, dyes used and I have vintage items that are made of fabrics I don't recognise, but are far superior to those I could purchase today. I always do a scrunch test on every piece of clothing I buy, so hold the fabric in my hand and scrunch and it is then about how it recovers and if I try at home, will sit in the item and not just try in front of a mirror. I check the seams, pattern matching (don't get me started on how awful that is, even on so called couture and very high end items) construction and even the notions, as sometimes a cheaper item is the same as a more expensive one, just with poorer notions (which you can change, so buttons, buckles) and perhaps lacking a lining (and given how poorly many are put in, I think I prefer items without and hanging properly, rather than one where the lining pulls up the back of a coat, for example - Boden talking about you here!). In my wardrobe, is a black cotton velvet, Chanel style suit, from M&S, from the mid 90s, beautifully made and was a joy to wear, never looking less that good, even after hours of wear. I paid £90 for it, which is the equivalent of £250 ish today and I earned £16k at the time. I didn't ask the clothing industry to race to the bottom, to push manufacturing off shore, to fail to invest in materials and production techniques, but like so much else we seem to be fixated on 'never mind the quality, feel the width' approach to manufacturing and clothing is one area we all notice the deterioration in. I also wash everything carefully and never tumble dry anything. Care of clothing is something that I believe makes a big difference to longevity. A friend, involved in clothing technology, told me that some of the supermarkets and those supposedly at the lower end of the clothing industry, actually did more quality checks and testing on their fabrics, as their items would be washed and that 'dry clean' only labels are to get out of clothing not being tested and reacting badly when washed. I think that clothing is like perfume now, marketing for some expensive chains is a major part of the price we are paying, so it doesn't mean better, just that we are paying for a full page ad in Vogue, or for an influencer to swan around in the frock to try to persuade as to buy it!

I can’t remember exactly what was going through my head in the late 20th century! But from the age when I started shopping independently I would definitely have looked at the inside of a garment. I wouldn’t necessarily have rejected something for being poorly made, but I would have noticed. As a student I wouldn’t have been able to afford beautifully crafted new stuff, but I haunted vintage shops and would, yes, have been mildly excited to find a piece that was as carefully finished on the inside as on the outside.

But, @MissLucyEyelesbarrow your second link has almost made me laugh! That ‘slum’ photo looks exactly like the place my immigrant student parents took me home to from the maternity hospital in the 1960s. I don’t need a Guardian article to tell me about that life … I’m sorry if I’ve been too inarticulate to make my point persuasively.

I am so sick of viscose. Everything is made of viscose now. Awful, shrinky shit.

@YYURYYUCICYYUR4ME I think you are spot on with your comments about marketing spend making up a large % of product cost so that more expensive clothing isn’t necessarily better made or of a better quality fabric.
I have often wondered if the dry clean labels just meant they can’t be bothered to test the fabric. Good to have it confirmed.

I was in Hugo Boss today looking for t shirts for DS. They didn't seem any better quality to me than the Primark ones tbh.
I'm coming to the conclusion that sometimes quality is completely random, and not related to whether a brand is expensive or not.

Yes I follow her! Whilst she has some amazing recs, I do find it all very expensive. And I also have to say I don’t agree with Uniqlo. My jumpers are less than a year and all hand washed - have become horribly thin :(

I agree with this. I think it’s all very random - but the majority is shit!

I'm surprised at some of the basic common sense here which seems to be touted as some special insider knowledge.

please elaborate on what you mean by this?

I've found charity shops have great quality affordable clothing compared to this make it cheap pile it up high street shop' ethos.
Quality clothing can be found at charity shops having more affordable prices and it saves the planet and the charity benefits too. Plus the community and the staff are mostly voluntary and live in the community.
It's win win IMHO

I mean things like looking at seams, do patterns match, that dry clean labels are to prevent you washing , marketing and names being a huge % of price blah blah - all common sense.

I must say I'm loving vinted right now. Have bought 3 virtually new blazers for £65 in total. They are leather, wool and velvet. It's definitely worth a look for good materials.

I agree with @TheOGCCL - I feel like every store and brand just offers a mind-boggling amount of choice. I too remember going to French Connection as a student (it was a little aspirational for me, as I had no money) in 2001 and it felt like a boutique with a small but perfect selection of items. I wish brands chose a lane and stuck to it - curating a look or a style in well-crafted items rather than spreading their resources and churning out style after style on weekly basis. I just bought a top that was £40 and honestly the quality is about the same as a £4 Primark top. Total waste of money.

I slightly disagree on viscose though, I think there's viscose and then there's viscose - the flimsy, wrinkly kind that shrinks, and the thicker, heavier one which looks structured. I have a few heavy-weight viscose dresses that still look pretty new after years of use.

I recommend Justine Le Conte on YouTube - she makes excellent videos for anyone who wants to learn more about how to recognise quality in items, and basically why the quality of everything is shit. She also makes a really good point that patterns are far more expensive to produce, so if you have the option of choosing a plain coloured top vs an elaborate pattern, the plain one will always be better quality and finish at the same price point.

Check out men's socks . They are usually thicker and last longer . Off post topic but try men's deodorant too . Stronger for the same price .

I agree you can get some bargains but a lot of very good quality stuff goes online now . I used to pick up silver necklaces for a pound at my local charity shop but now all jewellery now goes to a centre where it's graded and put online.

You can find nice fabrics and styles in supermarkets and high street stores if you look. I have lovely soft cotton T-shirts and loose linen trousers from Asda that have lasted years now and people don’t believe me when I say where they’re from.
I’m almost always disappointed with fabrics (and colours) in more expensive stores, especially at ten times the price.

Looking at what @MissLucyEyelesbarrow posted - I was brought up in the fifties and sixties, and yes, clothes were of good quality then. But they were rarely laundered. My school skirts (wool) were spot cleaned if necessary, and dry cleaned at the end of term. Blazer was dry cleaned annually. Socks and pants were clean every day, but blouses were alternated over two or three days. Two would do for a school week before they were washed. My mother’s outfits were hung up to air and reworn, dry cleaned occasionally. Few people had washing machines and fewer had dryers (we were an affluent MC family, and had neither). People really smelled differently than they do today (not least because very many smoked, and hair was washed less frequently). People also had fewer clothes, perhaps one pair of good everyday shoes and one pair of “party” shoes.
Clothes lasted longer, but not just because they were better quality. Also worth mentioning that people really smelled differently than they do today (not least because very many smoked, and hair was washed less frequently). Deodorant was rarely used, and seen as an American thing, not very “British”.

I'm an unusual shape that has become increasingly hard to shop for from the high street over the last 15 - 20 years.

I suit tailoring and good fitting which has pretty much disappeared.

Like lots of others on this thread I took up sewing my own clothes. Genuinely can't remember the last time I bought something that wasn't underwear/ socks or shoes.

I now have lots of lovely fitted dresses and jumpsuits in cotton, linen, ramie, decent quality viscose and various fabric blends.

If I decide I want a tailored camel coloured wool coat with welt pockets, a hood and a jazzy lining, I just make one.

I use a lot of deadstock fabric as well which is a by-product of the fashion industry.

I'm always getting stopped by other women and asked where something I've made is from. I was out on Saturday wearing a Zadie jumpsuit in a lovely viscose linen blend and got stopped 3 times!

Didn't people stink though or was everyone in the same boat