Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Style and beauty

Looking for style advice? Chat all about it here. For the latest discounts on fashion and beauty, sign up for Mumsnet Moneysaver emails.

Flip

Original poster

Who do JIGSAW think they are??

24 replies

howtotellmum · 04/04/2009 11:33

I used to love Jigsaw and could always have spent £££s there.

Now- it's all shapeless- but the £££S!!

This summer they do a linen dress for £145 - I have seen it online and in the shops and no way is it worth more than say £50-£60.

I can't believe they will survive if they carry on like this. I notice that KEW have closed down several branches and their stuff used to be lovely but is now all plain and shapeless in the main.

I am thinking of writing to them.....

OP posts:

macherie · 04/04/2009 12:16

The Jigsaw in Dublin closed down last year, and when I was in London a few weeks ago it was one of the shops on my to do list.... but what a disappointment, middle-aged, shapeless, and totally over-priced.

There were 2 things I was tempted by, this and this but the womens clothes are the pits, as j
John McEnroe used to say in my formative years!

foxinsocks · 04/04/2009 12:17

yes I agree, couldn't see anything I liked in there

Sorrento · 04/04/2009 12:34

We need a new kid on the block to kick this lot into touch, am considering becoming the next jigsaw/kew/boden rolled into one myself there is a huge gap in the market.

TheRealMrsJohnSimm · 04/04/2009 12:40

I also think the quality is not good enough either for what they charge. I have a shirt from Jigsaw which I have worn three times and each time lost a sodding button off of it . I know that sewing a button back on is not the end of the world but having paid £65 for it, I wasn't expecting regular maintenance of it too!!

francagoestohollywood · 04/04/2009 12:53

Jigsaw is overpriced and the quality is bad.

foxinsocks · 04/04/2009 12:54

that's true sorrento

we need boden without the wankiness and the prices (I ordered a plain white cotton shirt for work off there - was JUST what I needed - lovely proper stretchy cotton and what does it look like when I unwrap it? it has different coloured button holes ffs. I looked like a sodding lollipop)

kew/jigsaw with a bit more shape and quality

I used to love the colours at Kew but they seemed to have become a bit more drab

hf128219 · 04/04/2009 12:54

I was thinking this the other day - clothes are definitely getting more expensive. Selling less so have to make their margins bigger?

francagoestohollywood · 04/04/2009 12:56

What grates me is that clothes are getting more expensive and the quality/materials etc worse and worse. Even trusted brands (I'm thinking of some Italian ones in particular)

hf128219 · 04/04/2009 12:57

This is the thing - all shops are using cheaper fabrics sourced from Asia.

ItsMargotBeauregarde · 04/04/2009 13:03

Macherie, good to hear that, makes me feel better! I never bought anything there, but I liked having it there!

I miss Principles more. I bought loads there over the years.

Years ago , Jigsaw was cheaper than Whistles but I always prefered Whistles. I never intended to spend that sort of money on clothes, but once a year or so I would see something in Whistles that I just couldn't walk past.

Is that shop still nice? I'm sure they have it in Dublin, but I'm trying not to shop so much these days.

ItsMargotBeauregarde · 04/04/2009 13:05

Doesn't Kate Middleton work for them??

Two mornings a fortnight or something like that?! nice one kate, we'd all do it if we could get away with it.

ItsMargotBeauregarde · 04/04/2009 13:06

Jigsaw I mean, not Whistles, KM works for Jigsaw.

Sorrento · 04/04/2009 13:08

The trouble is and trust me I have researched this, we won't pay for quality, in real terms food and clothes have become really cheap over the past 15 years.
Think back to the 80's or even the 90's you bought 2 suits tops, one winter coat every three years or so ?
Now people want an entirely new wardrobe every season so that's how long clothes are made to last.
If we want to do our bit of the environment if nothing else then we need to get back to wearing the best quality clothes until they fall apart.

Sorrento · 04/04/2009 13:08

Kate Middleton works for the family business now.

MargaretMountford · 04/04/2009 13:10

Jigsaw was great in the late 80s - I bought stuff there then

AbleSister · 04/04/2009 13:12

Kew is the same brand but cheaper

macherie · 04/04/2009 13:14

I think Whistles is pretty drab too at the moment, lots of grey and beige stuff on the rails, neither of wich do anything for my complexion.

I had birthday money recently and wanted to buy a dress, and even in 3 days in London I couldn't find anything.

I think sorrento is right, maybe we could start up a MN brand??

Margot, shopping in Dublin is nothing to get excited about, even Brown Thomas has nothing to get excited about. Maybe the recession has made all the brands play safe/boring?

Original poster

howtotellmum · 04/04/2009 13:16

JIgsaw quality is so-so- some of their knitwear bobbles very quickly- but it's not about quaity=cost, it's about how in previous years i could spend say £80 on a dress ( got 1 in wardrobe from 2 years back, 100% silk) and now they want £145 for a linen sack.

Ordinary T shirts for £36??? I used to pay £25 and feel I was being ripped off by them, but the prices this season have gone sky high.

They have a new desinger, saw in the press last year- and it shows.

I used to love them for their slightly ethnic feel and beautiful colours/fabrics, and unusual knitwear. Now, it's all plain smocks which make you loook pregnant.

OP posts:

ItsMargotBeauregarde · 04/04/2009 16:57

Probably true macherie, there are certain looks and trends that have repeatedly throughout history run alongside recessions and depressions. That's an interesting subject in my geeky opinion.

cazzybabs · 04/04/2009 21:01

BTW i complainned about buttons falling off amd they said if I took it into a shop they woul get their tailor to sew it back on...in the end it was more effort to go back into the shop than it was to sew the bloody button on

ItsMargotBeauregarde · 04/04/2009 22:38

cunning of them. they know nobody is going make a special trip for a button.. so they have their answer ready to any complaints, btu the point is that the buttons fall off in the first place!!!

hf128219 · 04/04/2009 22:40

Just wrong!

Sorrento · 04/04/2009 23:21

Marks and Spencers say that buttons coming off on their clothes aren't a cause to complain and I should get my sewing kit out

ItsMargotBeauregarde · 05/04/2009 09:25

wow, did they say that!!!?

I'm shocked, that's the sort of "talk to the hand" customer services you'd expect from ryanair!

Flip