Quality really dropping everywhere. Where's reliably good for quality and style?

[StationeryNerd]

Where's left for quality women's clothing that's in fashion, and ideally not the worst of fast fashion? Just sent a whole & Other Stories order back: hideous thin, cheap, creased stuff mostly made out of polyamide or viscose.
M&S is good but never stock anything in size 6 or 8.

I know that since Covid shut down a lot of factories in South Asia, it's been harder to get quality cotton and therefore clothing. Where are your hidden gems?

I want cotton work trousers. Where are they?

I read something online that clever people are going on Vinted buying clothes from 2009-15 as that's before all the supply chain stuff changed.

Community Clothing.https://communityclothing.co.uk/products/womens-work-trousers-denim?variant=20443187281974

One of my hidden gems is Thought which has a lot of cotton.Sadly, paying lots of money for things these days doesn't mean they will be good.

For winterwear, I buy a lot from charity shops. In summer, I am a bit stuck as I hate Vinted. But summer never lasts long, anyway!

I’ve been really disappointed with Thought clothing this year.
last year I bought some lovely long plain cotton skirts and dresses now everything is tiered and flowery! I keep looking in the hope I will see something similar to the collection last year

You're absolutely correct about buying pre owned on Vinted as this is exactly what I do!
Today I'm wearing a lovely really well made linen top from next. Immaculate but probably a few years old. It cost me £4 I'm sure I could pay 10x that today for crap quality in comparison.
I just wash everything with laundry sanitiser first

Yes @kublacant everything is tiered these days and so hard to find anything without puff sleeves and florals.
i am looking at this from Thought. https://www.wearethought.com/products/nona-organic-cotton-sleeveless-shirt-dress-navy

I’ve found Zara great recently, good quality etc.

I know some people think its a bit meh but I like The White Company

But @StationeryNerd - & Other Stories does sell cotton and linen and silk stuff, you weren’t forced to order polyester?

I second Community Clothing - they do really aim to produce decent quality, contemporary clothing.

I love them, but they are very expensive for me these days. I am Asian, so I get a lot of clothes when I visit family, or get them tailored because good cotton is just so hard to find. I do a LOT of ironing.

This is why I’m shopping my wardrobe. Have so much stuff that is years old but far better quality than what’s in store now & as I always bought classic, plain fabrics & cuts it hasn’t dated. Never mind manufacturing having closed down in the east, the great pity is that it closed down in this country to be shipped to the far east. One time all M&S clothes were manufactured in this country,they made a big thing of it…quality!
I live in the NW, the cotton capital. Still surrounded by the mills but now they’re mostly antique emporiums, converted to “executive flats” etc. Criminal when you think of all the jobs lost & income it generated for the country.

Lancashire, @Darklane - Lancashire. ⭐️

https://communityclothing.co.uk/pages/our-story

Perhaps you misread the bit where I said mostly:
..creased stuff mostly made out of polyamide or viscose.

Their cotton is tracing-paper thin and doesn't justify a 9x price premium vs. say George at Asda. Otherwise not sure of the point you were trying to make.

I like Wyse. Quite £ but am trying to buy quality and buy less these days.

M&S have been much better lately though.

Why does M and S never have smaller sizes? My local store literally only seems to stock size 14 and above.

M&S rarely have whatever size I'm after. I've taken to ordering online to collect instore, try it all on and return the unwanted there and then. But I am lucky to have an out of town one so easy to park and go evenings when it's quiet.
That makes it sound like I go often, not really, but it's also the one place DD gets new clothes.

Other than that I buy in charity shops, or on eBay if I have a specific thing I'm looking for.

Try Massimo Dutti, Cos and Arket. I agree & other stories seems to have gone down hill, their designs seem to be a bit too mad at the moment. You could also try H&Ms premium range.

Abroad is where you'll find nice clothes, something I forget every single time I travel and dont have space to bring stuff back

Cos sale is on and I am contemplating a viscose dress but will it be good viscose or bad? Will have to take my chances. I hate the constant cycle of returns though.

I buy so much from jigsaw. Sale is great

If you hadn't said style, OP, I would have recommended Land's End..Dont laugh, please. But their cotton basics- tshirts, shirts, some trousers- are often really good quality and deeply discounted.

Back in the day I used to really like People Tree but the prices had really increased in recent years & I wasn’t so keen on the designs so I stopped buying from them. I’ve just seen they’ve gone in to liquidation which is a shame. I used to buy a few things from Howies too that were always good quality.
I will check out community clothing. I was a big retro/ vintage shopper when I was time rich but I struggle to replicate this online. I must try Vinted but whenever I go on there I find it really overwhelming. How do you find anything on there?

Among basic high street brands none of them are reliably good for quality any more though occasionally they might have single items which are ok.

Nowadays I buy a lot less but from more expensive brands that can be better quality (though lots of rubbish in the shops even for high prices) and I sew.

@Koolsgang in case of misunderstanding it is not a vintage or pre-owned site! New clothes, designed and manufactured in the UK.

That’s enough about that one brand from me. I can’t actually think of any High St physical store that I look to for reliable, good quality basic items. Summer used to mean diving into Marks and S for an armful of vests and white t shirts (in the 90s I’d buy from the men’s department) but other than food and thermal vests I find the place all too depressing these days.) I might once or twice a year drop into a branch of Zara for something frivolous - but it’s not somewhere I’d go for anything as simple as a vest or t shirt. Those I bought from Cos or Toast more than a decade ago lasted well, but I can’t get excited about either now. Though Cos seems to have recovered lately. Now that Matches has gone I can see myself buying most of the more substantial things pre-owned from places like Vestiaire.

Benetton has a lot of cotton and linen and their stuff is good quality. I’ve recently rediscovered it after a 90s love affair with it!