Best quality high street clothing brands

[MrsResponder]

What are you finding is the best quality on the high street for women's clothing?

Until about 5 years ago I was in the sort of H&M/New Look price bracket. Fortunes have looked up since then and I've been trying higher price point clothing with varying results. I find it very annoying to spend what would've been the budget for a season's wardrobe back then on one item only for it to be poor quality or wash badly.

Style wise I like Sezane although I've not yet bought from there. I love natural fabrics. I've tried Cos for merino tops which were so-so for the price, raw edges on sleeve which doesn't bode well in the long term. Shape wise (classic hourglass size 10/12) their dresses wouldn't suit. Any recommendations?

I genuinely think supermarket jeans are on a par with most of the high street brands, even the higher end ones. I also bought a cotton broiderie anglaise blouse from Sainsbirys recently and thought it was fab quality.

I have always liked Whistles but it's definitely gone downhill. Mint Velvet I find quite hit and miss. All Saints has always been fairly consistent but I have never had trousers or jeans from there. I don't think their leather jackets can be beaten, ditto their boots.

Hush has always been pretty consistent for me in terms of quality but I haven't bought anything new from there recently.

I echo the quality of supermarket clothes being OK. Tu is probably the better one.

Brands like Margaret Howell (MHL) and Community Clothing are good. With most of the high street shops, check the garment itself.

Agnès B is still around and making lovely, good quality, clothes, in answer to an earlier question. More expensive than most brands mentioned but they last and last. The same for Paul Smith.

At a similar price point is Brora, but I had a cotton knitted dress from them that just kept stretching at the sides, so it was really uneven; at the hem, and they refused to accept it was poorly designed/made, so I am boycotting them!

I like Hush and Eleven Loves

I buy from Sezane and Me and Em, I like their styles but both can be hit and miss. I paid £150 for a shirt from Me and Em which I always get compliments about but the quality is really not great and the material rather thin. I find most Sezane shirts to be good quality but I had trousers from their which are a great fit and nice material but the colour faded whenever I washed them - bought them as they could be washed rather than dry cleaned. I also like Jigsaw and Saint and Sofia which probably have the best t shirts I have tried so far and I have tried many! I love 7fm for jeans. I bought cashmere jumpers recently from M&S and Boden, Boden slightly more expensive but so much better quality than M&S which was very poor quality and bobbled after first couple of wears and having never been washed. Just to add Brora cashmere is worth the extra money, I’m wearing pieces from over 10 years ago and they still look so good without any bobbling. I really like Zara and find some nice pieces there, their trousers and jeans fit me well. Best advice is shop around, feel the fabrics and try on clothes.

I agree with @Ladyymuck, fabrics vary within each shop.

I only buy natural fabrics and also don't wear that much cotton, only really for trousers, so tend to shop around for wool/linen/silk in various places. I only ever buy anything I can wash either by hand or in the machine.

I tend to mainly buy in sales at end of season, so at least if the quality isn't perfect I haven't paid a fortune for it.

I have some clothes that are more robust for more active wear like walking, gardening, cleaning, hiking, lounging and then clothes for other purposes which don't need to be quite so robust.

I have found decent items I like from Boden, Brora, Poetry but also have a few items from Jigsaw, Hobbs and Sezanne. However, I tend to be very selective about fabrics. I have wool jumpers from other smaller Scottish suppliers like Croft House and Bosie which are really good quality too and I like Celtic & Co.

But my wardrobe staples like t-shirts and long sleeved tops and other active/lounge/practical wear like hoodies, joggers and leggings are pretty much all merino. Most of it is machine washable merino from places like Icebreaker and Smartwool. I also have some from Dilling which is 'woolier' and better for winter, but only washable on the hand wash setting.

I find machine washable merino fabric extremely durable, keeps it's shape and colour and lasts for years of multiple washes and wears. I pretty much abandoned cotton for tops once I started wearing it and apart from PJs, I have no cotton tops. But this kind of merino is expensive so I wait for their sales. But it means most of my tops, both long and short sleeved, are suitable for both active wear and other purposes.

Brora from 10 years ago is probably better quality than recent Brora.

I buy from Uniqlo, M&S, &otherstories, Boden, Zara, Lucy & Yak, White Stuff & nobody's child most often.

I know I’m coming late to the party but I always shop at Finisterre and wish I could find another brand that’s as reliably good quality and value for money. If there is, tell me!

I'm a big fan of online shopping and unless you are able and willing to travel to a city centre it's the only way most women have any choice these days. I like to think I'm quite good at gauging what will work for me, given a well-designed website, BUT what the web doesn't tell you is what the fabric is like (or the general quality). I buy a lot of technical sports apparel, where the properties and feels of the fabric are important, yet hard to predict from the online description, so this is the main reason I return items.

Looking at ordinary tops online it's impossible to tell the thickness and it can't be inferred from price. I've just bought a couple of basic cotton tops, similar prices, one is noticeably thicker than the other. In the days when I shopped in person I'd have traipsed round, compared fabric in several shops and chosen accordingly. That's simply not possible online. I'll never know whether I've missed out on a better/ better value basic cotton top because it's not practical to do more comparing...

I bought a dress, skirt and 2 jumpers from Ro&Zo last September and have each item repeatedly - and they’re still going strong with no issues of fading or bobbling for example, and have retained their shape well. I find their sizes are lovely and generous too.

I bought a lovely cotton Summer dress in French Connection this year and have worn that a few times - it does crease like crazy though and the creases are difficult to remove, although I find this with cotton.

I haven’t had much luck recently aside from the above with quality items from high street or mass or mid-market retailers.

It’s more expensive but I adore Rixo and now have several items from there that I wear over and over again and the quality and cuts are great. Sizing across styles can be very inconsistent though. I would buy more from there but I can’t afford to!

I really need to buy a winter coat for myself and ideally do not want to spend more than £150, but I can’t find anything that looks and feels half decent!

My DSis buys designer clothes and shoes, but she also gets a lot of stuff from Asda and Primark. When we're out and about she's often stopped and asked where her dress or coat is from and it's always when she's in her Asda or Primark gear.