Credit crunch hits Britain's high streets as major shop chains struggle for business

amcluesent

IMHO the high-street are in denial over the prices peeps are willing/able to pay. Sure M&S has some 'sale' items but TBH it's just tat borrowed from Poundland. The main stock in M&S, John Lewis etc is still crazily prices when you know what it costs at the factory gate in China.

Pennywise

The contents of my wardrobe are depleting every year. I hate clothes shopping and always come away disappointed with very little, if anything, and usually what I do buy ends up being returned when I get it home as usually the fit is wrong or it is damaged in some way. Clothes shops really need to get a grip if they seriously expect people to keep buying from them.

I was in M&S the other week and found some jeans I liked. I tried one pair on and they fitted, so I bought those and another pair, same size but different colour. When I got them home, they didn't fit at all. Legs were 2 inches more and the waist was an inch less. Where has the M&S quality control gone?

I'd love to spend a few hundred pounds and beef up my wardrobe but I can't because the High Street shops just aren't offering what I want.

fc123

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I appreciate, don't worry, that this is from the article, not your own words.

As you are in the rag trade, what do you think of the phrase, "investment pieces"?

Sounds like rubbish to me. They are just more expensive clothes, hardly an "investment" of any description.

Those labels not my opinion of 'investment' either.

Something that lasts and could be sold on later (if you're not going to wear it again) without too much depreciation.......for me...Martin Margiela, Max mara, Commes de Garcon etc sort of stuff I would love to wear but have never been able to afford.

Again, I know the High St factory prices so struggle with the retail prices of a most of the chains.
I would only pay top whack if there was some designer integrity attached....sample sales used to be my fave place to shop plus top end vintage.
Guttingly, I sold my personal vintage collection in Sothebys in 2000/01 for a tidy sum....as It was all a bit small for me....and now I would fit into it all again. Oh well....


Just to add, my current work is 80's Trash/Bandage. Narrow customer base, clubby, age 18 -25 + perfect figure. I don't think any of it will end up in Sothebys in 2 decades time.:o BTW I don't wear it either.

neverdespairgirl

ailuro2 wrote: »

For people who work in offices and need to dress smartly, it can pay to buy a few very good quality jackets,trousers and skirts, then change the blouses and accessories from year to year

I wear fairly expensive suits for work - it's important to look smart, and a good-quality wool suit looks good for a long time.

But it's not really an investment - it's a necessary expense.

The only items of clothing I have that were "investments" are my wig, gown, and bands - cost about £800.

fc123

Pennywise wrote: »

I'd love to spend a few hundred pounds and beef up my wardrobe but I can't because the High Street shops just aren't offering what I want.

We hear this all the time but it's not new. More quantity seems to indicate more choice, therefore, one assumes that there should be enough different styles out there to suit all tastes/needs/wants.

The rise of 'Google' designing during the past decade has created a clone look, the destruction of small, niche fabric suppliers and producers has created a 'one look for all' type market.

But it was no different for myself as a teenager growing up in SE London during 78/79.....my friends and I made our own punky stuff as it wasn't available to buy at pocket money prices.

During the 80's, I made all my own clothes plus my knitting friend used to knit amazing jumpers from the free patterns in Elle magazine. We learnt how to sew and knit in school.

The shop we owned during the 90's satisfied a niche market.

This decade may revive dressmaking skills (I heard Singer say sales of domestic sewing machines are already up) which means, if you have a non standard figure to High St blocks or want a style not being mass produced, you just make it yourself.......just like in the olden days.



Many yrs ago, a Canadian visited us and was going on about how wonderful our supermarkets were; ''In Canada we only have one type of fish sticks, here you have a whole aisle of fish sticks''....it stuck in my memory.

space_rider

I`m glad I`m of the age where I`m not bothered about fashion. I do stick to black trousers for work so I don`t skimp on the price of these so they last me years then buy tops to go with them. Worse day for me is dress down friday, can never decide what to wear!

My daughters spend a fortune in primark and the checkouts always seem to be full of people queueing. Well not a fortune as its cheap!

fc123

space_rider wrote: »

I`m glad I`m of the age where I`m not bothered about fashion. I do stick to black trousers for work so I don`t skimp on the price of these so they last me years then buy tops to go with them. Worse day for me is dress down friday, can never decide what to wear!

My daughters spend a fortune in primark and the checkouts always seem to be full of people queueing. Well not a fortune as its cheap!

I confess to now spending most of my days in yoga trs and army surplus long slv vests (amazing cotton fabric) that cost £3 as I am studio based most of the time now. Much less stressful in the morning.

Primark seems just as busy as ever now (post slave labour allegations rumpus).

GracieP

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

I wear fairly expensive suits for work - it's important to look smart, and a good-quality wool suit looks good for a long time.

But it's not really an investment - it's a necessary expense.

The only items of clothing I have that were "investments" are my wig, gown, and bands - cost about £800.

You aren't looking at it right. If you purchase yourself just the right, expensive looking, slutty yet classy dress you could bag yourself a premiership footballer to bankroll all of your wildest dreams.:cool:

fc123

I can't remember the poster who put this up..somewhere on this board....but worth adding to this thread. My next read...though not normally Sci Fi fan.

"The Midas Plague" (originally published in Galaxy in 1954). In this new world of cheap energy, robots are overproducing the commodities enjoyed by mankind. So now the "poor" are forced to spend their lives in frantic consumption, trying to keep up with the robots' extravagant production, so that the "rich" can live lives of simplicity. This story deals with the life of a man named Morey Fry, who marries a girl from a higher class. She is unused to a life of consumption and it wears at their marriage. Morey eventually hits on the idea of having the robots help him to consume his quotas. At first he fears punishment when he is discovered, but instead the Ration Board quickly implements his idea across the world.

chucky

tomstickland wrote: »

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/article-1078551/Credit-crunch-hits-Britains-high-streets-major-shop-chains-struggle-business.html

high street sales have been dropping for a while compared to internet sales - isn't that the case?