Why is Marks & Spencer so obsessed with women wearing waistcoats?

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I do not like waistcoats, I can’t see them without thinking of Suzie Quattro.

The new ones are awful. The fabrics look cheap. The colours are grim and you have to have pretty good arms for them to look anything less than hideous.

Stop with the waistcoats.

If you are over a certain age and are larger of bosom (me) they just put me in mind of Mrs Slocombe in 'Are You Being Served'.

To be honest, as someone of a similar vintage, I also get slight Brian Rogers Connection vibes from the waistcoat-no shirt-paperbag trousers look - as if the silver trilby and decorative walking stick and routine to 'Chanson d'Amour' isn't too far behind...

HA 😂

I thought they were only for slim, straight up and down, people but I have seen a few midsize people on insta wear them well. Personally can't get past the 'nothing underneath' thing, just seems wrong to me!

If I looked like this in a waistcoat I’d definitely wear them!

Saw the M and S ones this week. The buttons looked very cheap and plasticy. But I do love a waistcoat. They can be very fetching.

I like the look, took a lot of try ons to find a good fit, as I've a dd bust, I found one in m&s a black short linen mix one, I love it, I don't like the more formal ones on me. I also have from last year have a knitted one from zara in white.

I don’t think I even wore them with bare arms in 80s/90s. Maybe over a blouse or something.

I was a size 8-10 then but always had larger norks so anything which emphasised them I didn’t like. I know some larger bust women embrace this but not me.

That was the fashion back in the day preferably with cigarettes, lighter and notes (pounds) in the cleavage slit or inside your bra.

I have an M&S one Had one last summer too, I like them for proper summer with casual trousers. Sleeveless but not too clingy.

I rarely went braless at that age. Having sizeable norks no matter how firm they are you learn to wear a bra no matter what, unless you want attention for all the wrong reasons. I mean at six stone ffs at age 12 I had decent sized norks even then!

Just looked
theyve FORTY ONE

I'm 57 and 80-90 % of my wardrobe is from M&S with a bit of Other Stories and Mango thrown in. I love, love, love a waistcoat. I just think that they're so smart. I would have thought that I'm pretty much the target M&S demographic.

I've got a few. I've got a linen waistcoat trousers and blazer set from Mango last year that I wore with a shirt underneath, a plain white t-shirt underneath or just the waistcoat on its own when it was really hot. I also like one worn open over a band tee for a more casual look.

M&S always have multiple versions of everything. Twenty zillion different versions of the long, floaty, prairie style dresses for instance when they were doing the rounds. I don't like them and never did but I wouldn't expect them not to stock them. The whole idea is that there's something for everyone.

I'm a fan of a nice fitted waistcoat/trouser combo. Not a big fan of wearing them with nothing underneath though, just looks like you've run out of clean laundry!
Also not a fan of those knitted vest tops....I mean are you a vest? Or are you a jumper? I feel like some part of you will always be either too hot or too cold.

Love a good gillet or waistcoat- always have, always will.

I bought a tweed one from a charity shop back in 2001. It's quite fitted. I wore it to my registry office wedding with jeans and fantastic shoes.
I shall dust it off again and work on my arms.

I hear you. I am really not liking the waistcoat trend and waiting for it to blow over.

The thing I really don't understand us why if somebody doesn't like a trend, they don't want the shops to sell it, or want it to blow over. Why?

What is it stopping you from buying? What is there less of in the shops because of it?

I can understand to a certain extent. I hate skinny jeans. At their height all you could buy was skinny, super skinny or a very narrow straight. It was impossible to buy a wide leg or a flare. But I didnt need the shops to stop selling them. Just to offer more variety.

The same quite a few years ago when three quarter sleeves were all the rage. M&S sold about fifty thousand tops and cardigans with three quarter sleeves but it was impossible to buy a cardigan with full length sleeves and you just couldn't get a fully long sleeved t-shirt.

So those sort of trends are very annoying if they take over to the exclusion of all else and the shops don't offer any other choices.

But I fail to see how the waistcoats are causing a problem. If you don't like a waistcoat you can still just buy the trousers and blazer without it. And it doesn't affect the supply of general tops.

Just puzzled.

I just wanted to slag off waistcoats

What a strange thing to get upset about. 😂

I loved a waistcoat in the 90s. Had a beautiful tan suede one and a beaded one from New Look which did magnificent service as part of a pirate costume for my DCs. DS still has it somewhere.

I think they look fantastic and the poster up thread looks amazing. I’d happily wear with a shirt.

I'm with you OP, unless you are the artful dodger it's not a good look.

For God sake, I’m not upset. I’m just on a thread talking about waistcoats!!

Some people like them though, I'd wear them if I could but I'm too bulky so I just don't buy/wear them

Is Style and Beauty no longer the right place to discuss trends?? Why does it always have to turn to the stupid advice of 'wear what you like', 'what do you care what people think','why are you commenting on this '???

Why don't these posters just go back to AIBU or wherever and leave S&B to those who are interested in discussing trends and fashion and are (shockingly!!!) fashion followers??