M&S is cool, but we knew that, didn’t we?

[jellybobs]

Interesting article on the BBC website today. I’m actually really surprised that it’s not done a London Fashion Week show before.
Certainly over the last few years it’s become one of my go-to places if I decide I need new jeans, a particular kind of dress etc. It’s even acceptable to my 16yo DS who’s very particular about where his clothes come from and has quite a small list of “acceptable” high St brands he’ll deign to go into!

Is it cool to wear M&S clothes now? https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cje3rk4p39zwo

I spend far too much time on TikTok and find it fascinating the way M & S have tapped into influencers and “viral items” - then I discovered they pay very high commission on affiliate links, so it makes perfect sense.

I’m another “snobbish” (!) person who wants natural fibres, and I got one great jumper there last year, an alpaca and wool blend. I bought it in a Sparks 20% off thing, but if I hadn’t it would have been priced alongside Cos/Arket. This summer I bought the barrel leg trousers which TikTok said were a dupe for the Cos ones. They were fine, and much cheaper than the Cos pair which I also own, but really thin fabric in comparison (although credit where it’s due, 100% cotton per Cos).

Our store is fab and I like a wander round, but really I’m all about the red pepper chips and the bakery cookies rather than the clothes. I’m definitely not paying £700 for jumpers but am lucky to be able to shop at higher end high street and get the fabric composition I prefer.

@Judystilldreamsofhorses But why shouldn’t they? It’s a modern way of influencing people to look and buy. Why should others do it but not good old staid Marks who couldn’t make a profit on clothes? Better late than never in my view.

Yes, I buy some of their pricier items and why should they not be priced similarly to the Scandinavian brands? I still think at full price they are well priced.

I'm absolutely not lauding Pull&Bear or Mango or Zara or Bershka for that matter.
I am saying that Spanish clothing brands occupy a huge percentage of the British high street market in reply to a poster who said that the Spanish are not known for their style.

I didn’t say they shouldn’t? I’m a lecturer in digital marketing, so I am very interested in this stuff. I don’t have any skin in M&S’s game - they generally don’t sell what I want to buy clothes-wise, so I generally don’t shop there for clothes. That’s the great thing about having choices!

Yes, isn't it just?!! I clicked on the OP's post as I thought it might be an interesting discussion to wind down to on a Sunday evening ...

... instead, I'm feeling wound up by all the barbed comments, nit-picking & general intolerant spikiness!!!

I've not explored the womenswear this season yet. However, DH wanted a smart casual jacket (sometimes called blazers these days) and the selection of clothes on offer was really poor. They had great utility jackets and bombers and some suits but little else. We went to Tyrwhitt, pricy but much better.

This set? Yes, I really like the look of it (not seen in the flesh yet). Good colour, silk, & the shirt & skirt work well together or apart.

I used to absolutely love the Autograph range when it first came out. Then it got very dull & tired for a long time - but in the last couple of years I think it's become really good again. Well styled, lots of natural fibres/good-quality tactile fabrics, & a little bit of quirkiness alongside some great classics like wide silk trousers & brushed wool & cashmere sweaters.

I bought several things last year that I really loved wearing, they still look good-as-new, & I'm really looking forward to wearing them again this autumn/winter.

https://www.marksandspencer.com/pure-silk-midaxi-asymmetric-skirt/p/clp61225019?intid=mobile_app_pdp_share&color=Mahogany

@Judystilldreamsofhorses Well you know all the answers then but you seemed dismissive. I’m all for a great British company turning itself around.

I don’t know if you work for M&S or are a shareholder - but you seem very invested here, and quite rude. It’s an internet discussion board where people have different opinions, and also different shopping tastes.

I’m sure M&S’s CEO isn’t crying into his or her high protein granola this morning thinking I’d prefer to buy my knits in Arket.

I just don’t get that, to be so invested in a brand you get upset if people don’t like it or think it’s poor. I also don’t get your point on nit picking, intolerance or barbed comments, it’s a brand, not a person.

no one is criticising you personally for wearing marks and Spencer stuff, no one is saying there is not one good item available and it’s all shite.

What’s being said and my many people is the quality is generally low , to keep the price point low. And that many would prefer to pay slightly higher prices, to have better quality items that don’t look cheap. No one should be all upset about that,

Fuck me it is bitchy in this board, used to quite peaceful.

I've come off it except for first thing ie now, as it's such a wind up,I feel forced to defend the OP, but people rant about why are women so bitchy / cruel but we have no idea if it's women posting windup posts or if it's Russian bots or school kids or pro Trans disrupters or anyone anywhere in the world.
The best thing would be to remind people of this and advise that they don't engage with them - it would shorten threads a lot.

Yes, that’s the one. The shirt has turned out to be cut with a bit of very subtle shaping below the bust, just enough to keep it from being boxy but without actually looking “fitted.” It’s a nice update on last year’s silk shirts, which were a little squarer. And I personally like wearing the full coord with the shirt tucked so it looks like a shirt dress, though the shape makes it quite nice untucked as well.

Doesn’t seem to have attracted much attention though. I’ve assumed people just prefer looking for things to moan about!

I like that asymmetric dress but who would suit that colour ?

This is a bit random, but last year I read Jilly Cooper’s Riders and Rivals after watching the programme, and one thing that really stood to me was the characters who don’t have loads of money talk a lot about how they are scraping money together for a news dress/ spent their weeks wages on a new dress/save up for clothes/borrow clothes etc. I don’t know how representative that was of the 80s really, but it’s interesting how differently the relationship with clothes is written about.

Are you talking about the burgundy coord? Pretty much anyone cool-toned and relatively high contrast.

“Wool rich” though isn’t - not wool. I’ve been quite disappointed with the Jaeger range, some nice stuff but a £100 linen dress I was interested in wasn’t lined. If it a was £120 with a lining I would have bought it. It’s Jaeger! They can push the price up!

I’ve just remembered a range that I used to get lots from - was it called Autograph Weekend! I had some really nice jumper dresses and denim from that range.

I find it quite muddy/dulk in colour to be honest as well. That colour can be done well, but with a less dull finish. But that’s just personal taste,

i do have this skirt from this summer season from jaeger, (pic under review) which is also silk, i got it on a whim for a holiday , going to breakfast or lunch, and I wore it a few times during the heat wave we had with a vest as it is very thin, it washes well though.

as said, there is occasional items they do which are fine, but over all, I genuinely think they can do a lot better with their autograph and jaeger ranges.
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I used to like Autograph Weekend, I don't know why they got rid of it.

No, it’s not cool. It aims firmly at the middle age/middle class market. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

You’re quite right. Women in Jilly’s books go without lunch for a month to buy a dress, and spend 3 weeks salary on one item. One dress is worn by 3 different women in the same family, and if you bought a nice jumper, there wouldn’t be any more money to buy new jeans. These are not poor people as we would understand it! People just had fewer clothes then, valued them more, expected to pay more for them.

I think it’s more her books focused on upper middle class, where disposable income wasn’t so high, rhe asset rich cash poor brigade, but they bought very expensive pieces, they weren’t scraping together 40 quid to buy a pair of markies trousers, or 30 for a jumper. They were scraping together hundreds for one item, which would of course last.

in real life, which her books are not, most people in the working or low to middle middle class echelons don’t do that and never have.

sure if you’re skint you do, but that’s not who the books were describing.

People aren’t so invested in the brand. They wear it a lot so when people say it’s ugly, cheap and unstylish you’re essentially insulting their wardrobe. People then feel you’re insulting them and their taste and look.

I think you’re wrong. As I mentioned before, I was starting work in the early 80s and my wool M&S skirt cost £25. My weekly wage was under £100. It was an investment and my goodness that skirt earned its keep.I’m neither posh nor poor… I was low to middle if we must cling to these class distinctions. And there must have been plenty of other people like me because otherwise why were M&S selling them. Everyone had fewer clothes and looked after them because they were costly.

So to you cool can only ever be young and working class?