M&S

[MehMam]

I'm 46 and usually shop at the likes of Mint Velvet, Hush, Saint and Sofia, ME+EM, All Saints, Whistles, Zara and H&M.

These past few months, I've started to shop more from M&S as I actually do like some of the styles. I grew up avoiding M&S because it's where my mum has always shopped and it was full of non-descript, drab and boring fugly clothes.

What going on other than I'm turning into my mum? I'm worried! Anyone else?

Nah, M&S goes through phases. Sometimes they get a lot of things right, sometimes a few, and for about ten years recently they got fuck all right. They brought in some new people to rethink their fashion.

Back when they used to have that massive flagship store at Marble Arch, I was working at fashion magazines. Every so often, the stylists would run around squealing about some item of clothing perfection M&S was launching, and we'd all run off to the big store to get one. You could never be sure they'd get enough of the good stuff made to roll it out nationwide; sometimes these things were never seen beyond Oxford Street and, for the rest of that season, women would be telling us "Oh, you managed to get THAT thing from M&S! Lucky you!"

They seem a lot better now at anticipating demand but there's still a strong element of grabbing the good stuff when you spot it, as it can disappear - to sometimes reappear in a different quality fabric or an inferior cut.

Sounds like you've got the good eye!

I always think that at some point in the design phase M&S have it spot on but then they add this and that and as
a result you get something that would be nice of only they did this or didn’t have that. Good on you OP on finding something good in there. The last thing I got in there was a black trench coat in the sales.

I like M&S for basics - every day jeans (loads of styles), t shirts and vests, cashmere jumpers, black slim ankle grazers. Also underwear and PJ bottoms.

Then there's the horrendous floral dress collection and random per una patterns that I steer well clear of.

I remember those days, @GarlicGrace. In the 80s, if one cared about clothes, devoured Vogue and lived outside London, it was perfectly normal to make a special trip to Marble Arch in the fevered hope of viewing The Item. And to marvel at how much better laid out the store was than the local one at home.

In the 90s I was training for and practising a fancy profession in the City - and almost the most fun part was getting dressed for the job and the socialising around it. A dangerously elastic overdraft meant I had a lot of fun buying the likes of Jil Sander from Browns and a couple of other places. The shortcut to being supremely well dressed was to mix JS stuff with M&S - particularly white vests and t shirts and cashmere or even lambswool knitwear - from the men’s department. It obviously made no difference to anything but my ego, but people complimenting my outfit would invariably assume the whole ensemble was comprised of terrifyingly expensive designer stuff.

Then in the noughties M&S took on a staggeringly massive space opposite Harvey Nichols in Manchester. My mother and I made a pilgrimage - and wandered, greatly puzzled, around several football pitch sized floors full of what looked like an accident in a dye factory. I recall they halved their acreage on that site pdq. And I pretty much stopped using M&S for anything other than food and underwear. And then just food. And lemon zesters.

But recently I was haring around Oxfordshire in desperate need of a specific item of clothing. Nowhere had anything suitable, John Lewis was useless, other shops were charging a fortune for laughable attempts at what I wanted. M&S came up trumps - and I was impressed. But whether I could ever go back to viewing it as a valuable resource for a stylish wardrobe - not sure, @MehMam …

M&S is my go-to for basics and has been since my early 20s. PJs, knickers, thermals, leggings, vests, winter jumpers and even jeans are great at M&S.

I am not so keen on the tops /blouses, dresses, skirts and shoes. The sizes tend to run big IME, and the dresses can be rather shapeless and drab. Also the shoes mostly seem to be wide fit these days, so 'normal' width is the exception rather than the norm.

Most of us are turning into our Mum one way or another. M&S now, for better or worse has a lot of differences to the M&S of our youth. It sells So Much Stuff that there's bound to be some decent things. Menswear still comes up trumps for knitwear IMO
I'm spending a lot of time hunting down the good St Michael 80s/90s Italian Wool trousers, pure wool maxi coats and ankle length skirts BNWT on eBay. Things I couldn't have afforded (and probably wouldn't have wanted) when I was young.
(Love your post @MarciaSaysANumber 😀)

I buy loads of clothes from M&S, I especially like their jeans. I think it's just trendy to sneer at the shop, and people don't take the time to look at what they actually have.

I'm mid thirties and haven't ever found anything I'd realistically be desperate to buy in M&S fashion wise - PJ's or whatever else sure, it's fine. It isn't a case of sneering or buttonholing it into a certain age bracket - I simply often go in there and wouldn't wear the clothes I'm seeing. If I saw something I genuinely liked that I know I couldn't get better elsewhere I'd happily pick it up, as I don't think their pricing is unreasonable.

I've looked at a few things occasionally an on closer inspection there's always something slightly off or dated about the item - cut, fabric, quality etc that subsequently puts me off and certainly the bulk of the store would be a hard no. What I will say though is that our local M&S is lovely, very shiny and new and always immaculate - it's lovely going in there compared to most things on the high street.

M&S needs time to turn around and I think they have managed this in the last few months. I have struggled for years to find anything to buy and yet, in the last few months, have been very happy with the items I have bought, although lucky enough to have the huge M&S at Camberley, which does carry a good range. This might be a reason for the improvement https://www.retailgazette.co.uk/blog/2022/08/marks-spencer-womenswear-hires/

I like M&S and it is good to be able to go into a shop and see the actual clothes.

I don't shop in M&S or any of the shops the OP listed. I had a look at dresses on their websites. With the exception of ME+EM (in a good way) and Zara (in a bad way) they were a dreary collection of far more slip dresses than anyone could feasibly want.

Zara was awful - I thought they were famous for producing a "must have" dress every year but everything on their website looked perfect for a holiday in Ibiza and nothing else.

ME+EM had dresses similar to what I wear and I could see myself wearing theirs. I didn't look at M&S website but from what I recall seeing in M&S stores when food shopping some of the Jaeger dresses looked interesting and others weren't a million miles from the ME+EM concept, although ME+EM are more stylish (and a lot more expensive).

Anthropologie seems streets ahead on the high street.

They have an excellent range of jeans. Cashmere is elm priced as is merino. Embellishments have been put to
one side on many items. They don’t do enough wool and higher quality fabrics but too many people won’t pay the price. So we get poorer fabrics so they can compete. I have a brilliant couple of shirts from them in a very good quality cotton. There are loads of dresses that are not floral. Loads.

This winter I would look for longer skirts with a split, knitwear and their loafers.

I'm 30 and I only buy from there. It's reliable, I'm bored of buying clothes for the same price elsewhere for it not to last. It's also classic, so it ensures in that way too. M and s is an undervalued national treasure.

Thing is, @plehpleh, you’ve missed out on the decades when M&S was a very valued national treasure because it was good.

I'm in my 50s and am buying more and more there. Nearly all my footwear, the wide range is an absolute godsend for me, jeans/chinos/cargos, vests, bras, and several linen/cotton dresses for the summer. Our local store is large, brightly lit and well stocked, its always busy and unlike in days gone by it seems to be easy to find what you want as it's arranged by clothing type instead of ranges such as Per Una (has that gone now?)

I'm in my 50s and have always shopped there. Not a huge amount and not for fashion items. It was excellent in the 1980s and 1980s, and the clothes range has improved recently.

Bring back C&A!

Bring back BHS

Having been in more than one branch of C&A in Europe in the past couple of years, it's not something I would be wishing for. M&S is much higher quality, has a better selection and better fabrics.

BHS went from mid market to expensive for what it was to crap in its later years. I can honestly say I had bought nothing in there apart from something from its Christmas gift section for 20+ years before it died.

BHS and C&A were always hit and miss for clothing and after searching you might find the odd gem, with C&A being good for ski wear and coats and BHS carrying wedding wear / accessories, plus their lighting at one time of course. However, BHS was on a hiding to nothing when Mr Green started to feather his nest!

Well, I'm surprised at your comment about a good layout- I nearly had a breakdown in the Marble Arch store trying to find a trenchcoat that I'd seen advertised and that the website said they had instore! There were raincoats in at least 5 different places, and I couldn't see how they'd decided to put which ones where. They seemed to be dotted randomly around the shop, and the staff didn't seem to understand the layout any better than I did!
The heating seemed to be on to about 28 degrees, it was a really uncomfortable place to be, and whilst I did eventually find the coat ( which is lovely) the experience was not pleasant.

I used to shop in a Simply Food store that also had a selection of clothes, and countless times I would see something from a distance that looked great. When I looked closer the item of clothing invariably had sequins, glittery, diamanté buttons thread or something else that detracted from it and was unnecessary.

M&S always stocked to the local demographic. They graded stores and altered stock accordingly. I always shop
on line. Returns and collections are a doodle at local food hall. Nothing much is in my local store and I’m certainly not bothering with M&S in London. Far easier to get big choice on line.

Per Una is much reduced in stock. Was always the embellished line. Autograph is better fabrics. There’s more Autograph now and no Limited. Autograph is pretty unadorned!

I recently went to London and thought that the M&S at Marble Arch would have a good selection of clothing. To be honest, it was poor and very disappointing, with a great deal of empty space on the shop floor between rails.