Is anyone else suprised to be finding Marks and Spencer Really Good?

[MalagaNights]

I've been looking for winter dresses, struggling to find warm everyday styles. Saw a few knitted dresses in places like Arket/ Cos usually about £100 which I was prepared to pay.

Went on the M&S webisite and I've found loads of dressses which fit what I'm looking for an they're around £40!!

This alos happened to me in the summer when I was looking for everyday midi stye dresses. Prepared to spend £100+ and found just wahst I was looking for in M&S for around £40. So git twice as many!!

I've orederd about 7 dresses. A few knitted styes and a a few midi styles with long sleeves. Waiting for them to arrive so will comment on quality, but my summer dresses were a lovely crisp high quality cotton.

I'd really given up on Marks and regarded them as done and out, and never go in the shop.
Anyone else suprised to find they're really good again?

I’ve gotten Jaeger in the Sale as well, but I hate the way it’s bunged onto the Sale rack with everything else. Really cheapens the brand. Jumble sale Sale racks are horrible anyway, but I know they don’t have the staff to do it differently. Which is also something new. M&S always had great customer service, and the people in my local one (big city) are always great. But every time I’m browsing, I overhear staff conversations complaining about it (their workload). When I worked in retail, the managers (no managers nowadays!) would not tolerate that at all. No way!

After years of whinging on about M&S I'm loving it this autumn. I've bought wide leg jeans, kick flare cords, several tops and bag. So annoying as I'm going to have to find something else to moan about.

Bloody love M&S - it's my secret-ish go to for basics and jeans. Since they got a new MD it's been loads better.

However I can't for the life of me understand why they only do cotton Lycra plain knickers in black and white and no nude shades.

no, their sizing is ridiculous and way off in most things. Dresses are better than trousers but still a size out on any i’ve tried

Oh the extra deep fitted sheets are amazing I agree. Better then John Lewis and as nice a quality as TWC

They've got much much better certainly.

But

Why can't they do Cotton midi knickers in nude.
That awful microfibre fabric 🙄

I've got their leather look leggings and only £25! Love them.

Has anyone bought a really good jumper from there? One which doesn't bobble eg merino?

M&S have a bad track record it has to be said.
I've never bought it, but their good move range is said to be good.

Their crepe tab top wide leg trousers are lovely, really heavy and good quality but the person who commented above about all the trousers being too long now for shorter people (even in the petite sizes) is right, I have to have mine altered now, which puts me off.

I've just bought the fleece lined tights and they're so warm it's ridiculous - I used to buy the merino ones but they pick up too much fluff and always look messy, these are warmer and less of a magnet for white bits. I really recommend them.

I've ordered one of the merino and cashmere dresses for wearing out and about so I'll see how that fits and washes. Personally, I've found M & S cashmere shrinks quite badly, no matter how carefully you wash it. Boden used to be a lot better for washable cashmere but they're crap now too, unfortunately. The last one I bought developed a hole along the neck seam and they seem obsessed with balloon sleeves, which I hate.

I have to say that M & S underwear has really decreased in quality, it's awful. Thin and horrible and so easy to put your finger through and cause holes. I used to buy all my underwear there even when everything else went off the boil but the last lot of knickers were so rubbish I've switched to buying them from Sainsbury's.

I've found that in recent years I need petite trousers in most places. I'm 5'7" and when I was young standard trousers were often too short. Has there been a deliberate change because people are getting taller? All DSs' GFs are taller than me.

I agree with you @WarmBeerAndSandwiches.
The quality of the knickers is shocking ( for M&S ).
For decades I bought mine there
Not anymore.

I have bought elsewhere too.

I agree that stuff looks superficially quite good, but I really think the quality is poor. The cashmere definitely shrinks now, even if you wash it in cold water. If you just want to wear something for a few times, maybe it's fine, but the underwear is much worse than it used to be – knickers go grey on the elastic really quickly.

The worst thing for me, though is the way that they allow people to choose the fitting rooms in which " they feel most comfortable". Therefore, they are happy for men to be in the same changing room areas as women and children. In all Marks & Spencer's that I've been into recently, while they have lockable doors, they have gaps at the top and sometimes at the bottom of the partitions. Handy for a phone to fit under. Maybe think about this next time you're changing in Marks & Spencer...

My local out of town store has a lot of good looking, well displayed items at the minute. Sadly, not a lot of long trousers so I'll still have to order online.

I think the overall quality is good in M&S, but I only really buy the jeans from there, oh and their leggings. I love the straight and balloon fits. Good quality denim and I know the sizing is consistent, unlike some other retailers!

I've boycotted have they sorted their changing rooms out

I went in yesterday evening for a plain merino jumper as I wear them for work and they didn't have one in any colour or size. But they did have a hundred jumpers for about £17 called things like 'soft touch'.

Surely a plain wool jumper is a perfectly standard thing to want to buy in October.

I haven't ever ruled out M&S, I don't think it's all that different these days. You still have massive variations between stores so I'm not surprised people have different impressions. It's rare to find a well laid out store, everything seems to squeezed in, even in shops in central London where you'd think they'd try a bit harder to keep up. The Jaegar concession in the Pantheon branch on Oxford Street isn't shown well, Mary Portas would have a field day. I think having the food is always going to dumb things down a bit, even if it is expensive food. The quality is not always there and I tend to find the sizing a bit off, they went though a big phase of vanity sizing but it's more than that, not sure the cuts are all that great. And the shoes are all far too wide or you can have them even wider in wide fit.

Andrea Cheong reviewed M&S recently and concluded the quality was shocking.

She knows her fabric compositions and would absolutely not rate M&S.

Tailoring for plus sizes and shoes are great!

I did buy a couple of super Winter wrap-dresses in the sale at a great price about 4 years ago. Man-made material but very good quality.

I do think some of the quality has gone in the last few years. Eg. Some nice coats or jackets ruined by cheap elasticated and uncomfortable sleeve endings (you couldn’t call them cuffs in any way).

Tbh I see some things I like and try them on but stupid high necks and some of the patterns mean that when I try them on or buy them they just make me feel frumpy and old fashioned.

I keep getting tempted then need to remind myself of the things I have bought that in the end I hate on the second wear 😞

I shop at White Co for smart stuff (not always great either!) and for organic cotton tees I use Superdry or Seasalt.
I can also pick up decent bits in John Lewis, depending. I have had success with Mango jeans too.
My fave place for knits and linen is Wrap, and I dream of having a budget that could keep me in Poetry cashmere!
I have a wool coat from Massimo Dutti (100% wool yet same price as average poly-shite at M&S), a long puffer from COS and an old long tweed coat from House of Bruar (not to everyone's taste but I love it). I also rate Barbour for coats.

I don't have a 'high street' locally so will either visit my closest city or shop online.

stupid high necks

Yep, the bane of my life. I have a nice neck and like scarves in winter, and I don't want throttling. A lot of cheap high necked tops just pull oddly at the seams and the breasts sit awfully.
This pic is a faithful example of what I mean, it looks like a stretched bin bag about to cut her throat: