Brands you loved which went horribly wrong

[WeDidntHaveWaterBottlesInThe80s]

I was just mourning the demise of the original iteration of Finery, when it was quirky and had great prints and interesting shapes at reasonable prices. Then it became weirdly expensive and Hobbs-esque, then cheap and dull. Any other sad losses? We can weep together.

Yep. They did the best vest top ever one year
A v neck with thick straps that covered a bra and didn't have baggy armpit area. Didn't cling but was fitted enough
I bought 5 and wish I had got more as I live in them in summer and they're also perfect for layering

I don't get why basics are so hard
Currently after a v neck t shirt in black that isn't clingy Lycra type, but skims/drapes without being box shaped and is long enough on me. Needle and haystack

I think in general all the brands now sell really poor quality, pretty dire clothing. It’s obviously been a gradual process but I think there was a significant shift about 15 years ago. Maybe it was the rise of fast fashion from online retailers which led everyone else to follow.

Whistles, as others have mentioned, is a good example. 15 years ago they had lots of lovely things. Not just the whistles brand but they also sold selected items from other interesting brands. Now it’s all extremely boring stuff that never seems to change and really poor quality.

YY to Gap. I ised to find lots of very wearable clothes there, and then they started selling lines with sizing that was weird and fabric quality that was very dodgy, for eye watering prices.

@Notcontent Agreed, Whistles is very uninspiring. I actually liked the pre-Jane Shepherdson boho style they used to major in (with the squiggly writing on the label) - at least the clothes had colour and interesting fabrics/ prints/ embroidery.

I would have liked to see Next in it's heyday, their shops stress me out because it's so much polyester packed together.

Boden- uses to have cotton dresses with cotton lining, half size shoes, coats that don't pill, I could go on and on.

Hobbs- I used to selectively get work wear from them, now I walk past the window display and marvel that I used to like anything.

Yes to magazines like Marie Claire ! It's all online now of course for magazines and there seems to have been a collective dumbing down.

I agree it was about 15 years ago. Will it ever go back I wonder

there doesn’t seem to be an equivalent to Yankee on the market anymore. So disappointing!

Try Bath & Body Works candles - available at Next. They're often on special offer and such good quality.

Ooh, good thread!

I remember in the late 90's my very cool friend mentioned she loved this shop called Urban Outfitters on Kensington High Street; so I started shopping there and it was full of interesting, quirky stuff, often by small UK designers. I felt really cool wearing the clothes I bought from there and always got loads of compliments. And then it expanded everywhere and the quality went down the toilet, like everything else, and just became overpriced samey fashion.

I used to really love People Tree - beautifully made, lovely natural fabrics, had their own style. I bought so many dresses from there and I loved the ethical focus. I'd been thinking recently how it had got really boring over the last few years, so much so that I'd stopped buying from them - and then heard it's gone bust. Sad, especially as they had such a strong vision and were one of the first properly ethical /fairtrade and successful brands.

And also, like many others have said - All Saints. I had a 100% wool coat from them in about 2004 that was amazing, such a great cut and I loved it so much. They had some genuinely distinctive designs, interesting cuts and you could rely on the shop always being full of natural fibres. I was buying loads of vintage All Saints on ebay for a while, but now most of what you come across secondhand is the recent tat.

And the others:

Early to mid 90's - River Island and their gorgeous shop interiors, Warehouse.

Late 90's/2000s - Oxford Circus Top Shop, Karen Millen (I had two really beautiful evening dresses from them in the early/mid 2000s which looked incredible on and the quality was ace), Monsoon, Gap, Jigsaw, Habitat (I used to love wandering around the Tottenham Court Road store. I bought a sofa from there when I was in one of my first jobs in London and felt like I'd made it! I had that sofa nearly 15 years and it was better quality + more stylish than any other I've owned).

And increasing amounts of polyester throughout their range

Joules. But it's gone all flowery.

This. I wondered why I loathe going shopping, and put it down to being old, fat, boring etc. But actually, this thread is making me realise how shops now don't give me any buzz - the clothes are so boring, and badly made. I can't remember the last time I saw lovely beading or feathers, or even noticed different fabrics. Also the colours are all the same. Shops had their own colour palettes. Now, everyone has the same pink, same blue...

Also miss Snob - loved that I could buy a pair of plain black work trousers for my Saturday job on a rail next to flounced flouro stretch dresses for Saturday night!

And Jigsaw tailoring - all the different styles made from the same wool crepe so it all matched, and how the assistants were so helpful and knowledgeable and would run around to find you a complete outfit of pieces you loved but had overlooked. So good to be able to take a previous year's jacket in, and they'd happily find you new bottoms to match it, then pin them so they could be tailored precisely within a couple of days. Oh, how I miss that service.

Interesting that so many cite Kate Moss at Top Shop. For me, that was the beginning of the rot as it lead Jane Shepherdson to leave. She was responsible for Top Shop's golden age, and without her, well, it's not only disappeared from the high street, but is one of the many brands now owned by ASOS and totally unrecognisable.

And ASOS itself used to be great when it first start. But now, it's nothing but permanent discounts and far too much stock. When are brands going to realise most want quality, not quantity, and for a brand to have some kind of signature look that is unique to them, rather than a variation of what everyone else is doing. Once, somewhere like ASOS and other multi-retailers properly curated their stock, but now, not wanting to miss out on a sale, stock everything.

Re. Boden. Cutting margins was a conscious decision almost a decade ago. This lead to cheaper fabrics and the spread of polyester. Add in chasing the US market coupled with the IG crowd, and you have the current mess that they've started to finally address.

Anthropologie worked so well when it first launched in the UK. It really really faithful to what was sold in the US. However, over the years, the UK team have had more control and tried (and failed) to tailor it to the UK market, losing some of what made it so special in the first place. Most recently, someone ex-Boden is now in charge and although he has clearly cut a lot of the dross and the offering is more streamlined, it's not a patch on its former glory. It is also clearly trying to chase some of the Boden demographic/disgruntled ex-customers. I think it needs to go back to its original spirit.

For most brands, over-expansion, online shopping and far too much choice, not to mention profits above all else is what has lead to the rapid decline of not just quality, but the lack of each brand having a distinct identity as it is trying to serve everyone, not just a certain market.

It's broken, and unless all have a radical overhaul of how they approach things and actually listen to what consumers want, it is only going to get worse.

Apologies for mini-essay. Have worked in around retail for decades, as well as having a genuine love for clothes (and shopping) and this topic is something I find alarming and am genuinely concerned by. I don't know how/where to shop now. I have money to spend and there is nothing to buy 🤷🏻‍♀️

Benetton in the 1980s...
All wool soft jumpers and scarves in every colour, annoying presented all folded into immaculate piles that you had to destroy in order to see the jumpers
Loved that shop.

As soon as the rose gold came in, I was OUT

I LOVED Miss Sixty in the 90’s, it was really boho retro high quality. Now it’s all horrible clingy clubwear.

And oh god yeah, the Ted Baker rose gold… eurgh

@7catsisnotenough , I remember Snob. I'm too young (?) to have worn it but i remember Biba.
Young me thought I would furnish my first flat with Habitat but it ended up being cheap (2nd hand) Ikea.

As a teenager loved Topshop, Miss Selfridges and Chelsea Girl, but Dotty P and Richards were OK. Fashion ideas were from Cosmpolitan (Marcelle D'Argy Smith and Helen Gurley Brown days).

Benetton - TK Maxx tat now, as is Boden.

I used to love Toast but hardly anything seems appealing now. Maybe I need to see it.

Women’s magazines. In my youth, I bought Marie Claire, Cosmo, 19 for the articles as well as the fashion. They were full of confidence boosting articles and making the most of yourself. Then they became full of adverts for plastic surgery, Botox and psychics-preying on women’s insecurities. Ugh.

Joules, fat face, white stuff.
And for my kids Frugi - what happened to them was an absolute travesty and a disgrace.

I’m finding this thread really useful.

After years of shopping in charity shops (when charity shops were actually affordable!) I can now afford to spend a bit more on clothes.

Trouble is (and not to derail the thread), all the brands I was going to look at have all been mentioned here or I’ve gone to buy and realised it was all cheap fast fashion fabric. I’m willing to pay a bit more but want items that will last more than a few washes and actually fit me. Is there such a miracle shop?

absolutely this

Next

I don't get why basics are so hard
Currently after a v neck t shirt in black that isn't clingy Lycra type, but skims/drapes without being box shaped and is long enough on me. Needle and haystack
Me neither but it's frustrating. I'm looking for a white jumper in a nice flattering cut, don't mind which neckline, and it needs to be in good fabric. It needs to be versatile enough to go with different outfits and the two different styles/languages of my wardrobe.
I can't find anything right.

Nude and white basic camisoles and tops are hard to find as well. I don't want them so thin that my bra shows.

The shift to clothing as disposable has made good quality basics hard to find.

Haven't read the full thread but I mourn 90s Gap, early 2000s Whistles and 90s River Island! (Admittedly I was a skinny teenager then so all the going-out stuff fitted me 😁)

I do think, though, that M&S is a lot better than it used to be. John Lewis is so patchy now but I actually think its own-brand stuff is improving.

Definitely Joules. They used to have some really nice ‘country’ type clothes that were a bit quirky, but also well made and genuinely good for knocking around fields and stables in. I had a couple of their polo shirts and loved them, a couple of really nice pairs of shorts, a few lovey sweatshirts. I coveted a tweed field coat. Now it’s all weird flowery crap, and they seem to be having some sort of Jilly Cooper-esque county set fever dream phase, looking at their social media. I just want something that is a bit nice that I can walk the dog in 🤷‍♀️