Why do people always recommend personal shopping at John Lewis?

[Nortono]

Who really goes to John Lewis for clothes? Is it because it’s the only place that has a personal shopper?

Is it because no one else does it, for free? Possibly. I used to go to Debenhams, twice, eg for a dress for ds2's holy communion. I went to JL twice, both times fine, I bought 1dress.

God knows
They post loads of reviews for clothes modelled by themselves which are terrible-totally puts me off buying. They must loose so many online sales this way

Sister Jane is great style but cheap crap fabric.

I dont think they have Ganni, Rixo and Farm Rio in Oxford street- which branch did you see them in?

I did set it up for an older relative because I couldn't imagine her walking even around the shop floor for a morning, never mind a range of shops. It worked brilliantly.

Edinburgh - but I might be wrong. I've never bought clothes in John Lewis.

I disagree with you about Sister Jane fabric.

I think I'd be worried if I went to a personal shopper that they'd push me towards "this really suits you/ shows off your figure/ is your colour"

I'm currently in love with these dresses. They will "suit me" because I would enjoy wearing them and swishing around in them. I'm not interested in whether they suit me.

<a class="break-all" href="https://sisterjane.com/collections/dresses/products/bonnie-jacquard-midi-dress?edit=onesisterjane.com/collections/dresses/products/petally-midi-dress?edit=one" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">I love this dress 1
I love this dress 2

Because they stock so many brands.

I miss John Lewis. My nearest one didn't reopen after lockdown. The next nearest is trickier to get to, and rubbish. All fur coat and no knickers.

Have you seen that petal dress in real life?
I saw it in John Lewis last week.The design is great but the fabric is really really cheap and it has an odd nylon nightie shine
It is such a shame-if they invested a few pounds more on fabric they could be great

I've done it twice (with about 10 year gap in between) and this is how I felt about it. There were a couple of things, I perhaps wouldn't have bought myself, but also things that they recommended and I bought, but then took back or sold on Vinted. I think it might very much depend on who you get, I didn't really feel the last time I went that she was working with what I asked for, and I ended up with lots of disparate garments to try on rather than it feeling like it cohesive look. Same the first time, I asked for work rather than casual clothes and she got me jeans. The second time I had originally picked a different personal shopper in a different city and booked quite a way in advance, but then my mum was sick and I couldn't go so the one I booked was at shorter notice. I think she wasn't as experienced as the original one I chosen, it wasn't really clear that she had a background in fashion at all. I do like mooching around John Lewis to look at the different brands, it's about the only place that has them in the nearest city to us, there aren't many separate shops anymore, they seem to have closed.

My mum was late 70s when both her grandsons got married within 6 months ( one late summer,one January). She is 4'10" so buying clothes is not always easy. We went to JL twice to see the personal shopper. She brought things mum would never have found in amongst all the concessions. She phoned before each appointment to find out what mum had in mind and what she absolutely didn't want ( sleeveless, stiff MOB type of dress and jacket combo). She was brilliant . I would absolutely recommend using the service if you are very short, very tall, busty, non conventional shape, hate shopping, can't be bothered to go through all the concessions, need to revamp your post baby/ post menopause body.

My mum tried their personal shopping service and the woman told her they only carried stock to suit the under-40s! She is 70+ and wouldn’t be seen dead in the shapeless polyester shite they seem to fill their shop floor with, so god only knows who their target market is 🤷🏼‍♀️

If you go shopping on your own, you'll buy what you like.
If you go shopping with a friend, they'll encourage you to buy what they like even if it doesn't quite suit you and won't tell you unless it looks awful.

The JL shopper will bring you things that you might not have considered and they'll be objective.

If they're good at their job they should know which colours and styles suit you.

I'm not sure how much 'taste' comes into it. If something doesn't suit you, it doesn't suit you, no matter how much you might like it. Most people tend to like things that are flattering on them.

Depends by what you mean by "doesn't suit you".

I've seen plenty of stuff praised on here which I'm sure would "suit" me but to my eyes is horrible. Liking the item is far more important than "flattering".

I know one and she has no training in this.

Because there aren’t many department stores any more with many different brands. They do have some good brands among the drab stuff but it’s not something I’d bother with personally.

@IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle , there's a thread on a Me+Em dress. The dress in question is one that would look completely wrong on me. If I loved it, which I might on someone else, following what you say I should wear it.

Trust me, I would look ridiculous in it.

My MIL went to JL for this service for her mother of the groom outfit for our wedding day. They dressed her in white and she bought it. I didn't say anything (but her two sons - one my DH) said something as soon as they saw it. She exchanged it for a lovely floral number instead!

I arranged one for a friend who needed MOB outfit - she was shown half a dozen dresses she would normally never had considered, and I would never have chosen for her. She looked fab in all of them. There was no pressure to buy and the woman even searched on line for a cheaper hat (not JL). Was a wholly positive experience but I expect it really depends on who you get.

Oh God yeah horrible fabric but personally I don’t think styling women as Violet Elizabeth meets Grayson Perry does them any favours.

I used it when I needed a formal dress but had exactly two hours available to shop - sent a very detailed description of what I wanted, arrived, they had found four dresses of which two were exactly right, done in 20 minutes. Can't complain!

Like so much of fashion, those dresses look OK on tall slim women with small/average boobage and reasonably wide shoulders.

On me: 5'4" with large norks and narrow shoulders, they give alarming 'Whatever Happened to Baby Jane' vibes.

I would probably be told I suit Bombshell dresses. I hate them. I'd be dead miserable wearing them.

But they stock so many brands. How can you say you can't find even one. Frame, Paige, Rag and Bone, Hush, Boden, Carhartt, All Saints, Barbour,Hobbs, Ralph Lauren, Billabong... my point is they cover a pretty broad range from street wear to preppy to elegant.

Friends daughter went . She is tall, slim and beautiful and now 32.. She also has a very large bust. 32 J. The advisor had pulled various options which the daughter would never have considered because of her bust. She tried them and in all of them her bust was still there ( obviously) but not the 'in your face ' event that she has absolutely hated since her breasts arrived at 17. She looked fantastic and bought 2 of them.

@IHaveNeverLivedintheCastle , they seem to have a certain look and if that's not your style then it's not for you. I'd wear a few of their dresses but I'm not an hourglass, so it would probably be very few.

From their website, I'd say the clothes look nice but not for me.
They probably look great on someone with an hourglass figure who likes that style.

Having looked at the Me+Em dress again, I don't think I'd even like it on someone else. It looks a bit like a little girl's party dress meets crinoline lady bogroll cover.