Clothing Brands - what is good quality - or poor?

sillywilly

Hi am interested in finding out from other MSers what clothing brands are good quality in terms of size, cut, washing results, colour fastness etc. Item of clothing i.e. shirts or jeans or jumpers may have different qualities.

I will start off: This is menswear from experience.

I have found that FRED PERRY shirts are fantastic quality. Their jumpers are not - tend to bobble.
LACOSTE polo shirts are also fantastic quality - if they are genuine.
RINGSPUN are good quality but small sizing.
BOXFRESH are fantastic quality.
NIKE and ELLESSE are good quality. So is M&S.
RALPH LAUREN and ARMANI, HUGO BOSS- genuine stuff is fantastic quality.
PUMA is good quality.
KICKERS shoes - good with accurate sizing.

ADIDAS and SERGIO TACHINNI are not great.
PETER WERTH sizing is small and poor quality.
ORIGINAL PENGUIN has small sizing and very poor quality.
BASE London shoes are very small sizing and quality is not great.
BENCH clothing is terrible quality - worse than Primark!!
FRENCH CONNECTION - small sizing and poor quality after a few washes.
FIRETRAP - good shoes - poor quality, small clothing/

Please feel free to add your own brands and opinions and hopefully there will emerge a consensus into clothing brands.

Please try to make the actual brand stand out by spacing round, highlighting or capitalising. Thanks

Barneysmom

For ladies,
Per Una for nice day wear
Maine at Debenhams for casual

sillywilly

REEF flip flops are excellent quality.
NEXT leather jackets are good - not too sure about their other stuff. Jeans went downhill a few years ago.
TESCO leather jackets - surprisingly good.

ROCKPORT boots - fantastic quality. Also Rockport XCS coats are excellent quality.
NEW BALANCE trainers - good sizing and quality.
K SWISS- good sizing and quality.

kelou

I have several pairs of topshop jeans, that I wear again and again and still hold their shape. Just tend to get lighter and lighter as the years go on! Also love nearly anything by boden, and love joules polo shirts. Rather suprsingly I bought 2 long seeved basic t'shirts in primark (quite fitted to wear under tops) and they have washed up brilliantly and 6 months on they still look great!

newleaf

We like Lands End (mail order or online). Great quality, good fit, good bargains available in the sales, good choice of fittings - which is fab, because mr newleaf is tall and their tall fitting shirts are perfect for him. They also have a cast iron guarantee. If you are ever disappointed with your purchase, at any time, you can return it and they will refund you in full.
In fact, most of our clothes appear to come from Lands End

elfen

Nike, usually good quality for aerobics trainers, as are Adidas

slummymummyof3

Anything Joules is excellent quality and washes and washes. Timberland for shoes and boots.

sillywilly

REEBOK trainers are also good quality with accurate sizing. Even better when bought at bargain prices from places like Sportsworld.

jenniewb

Ive tried LOADS of brands and have to say, more often then not, you do get what you pay for with the exception of one ot two items (not lines, items) from a few cheaper stores.

Tesco- the jumpers "ball up" like you wouldn't believe, one or two have been fine but most have been terrible. Good for slobbing around the house though and the seam free pants are great. (The normal ones in packs are terrible though- no elastic/elastic wears away in no time).

M&S, Kings and Queens of quality IMO. But stuff "ages" fast in terms of style for some reason. Just the cut I think (rather then anything to do with the quality).

H&M, Very comfy but does seem to 'grow' in the wash, t-!!!!!! that have a very flexible feel become very thin and lose their shape very quickly. Nice for a relaxed look though and one or two items randomly can be really nicely cut.

Gap, nice quality when you first wear their stuff and things hold their shape well, but they just don't last as long as I'd like them to- not for what they cost in the first place. I have a pair of trousers I wear about 1-2 days a week (rarely more then that) and OK I walk a fair way (about an hour a day) but the inner leg and seams are now really pale (the trousers are dark grey) which is a shame as they are otherwise great- the shape, the feel/fabric and the cut have not gone to peices. I also find this happens with their t-shirts where the fabric ages quite quickly, good for a relaxed feel, maybe not so great if you like the pristine look.

Topshop- sorry, I have to say dispite my love for all things topshop (the style I think is just bang on all the time) they are not so hot on quality all the time. Some collections are great- their leather stuff is fantastic quality and weathers really well, but the jeans I find lose their shape within 6 hours of wear (skinny fit stuff) and you get the "saggy bum" look which is not good- but then I find most stores are like this unless your willing to try more expensive brands. Tops are OK in terms of quality though, last for ages (though unfortunetly not forever).

SweatyBetty- 10/10 for quality, some cuts could be more flattering but they seem to get better with each collection.

River Island- now this I cannot really rate. You see I used to work at RI not so long ago and I workd in the delivery department. I/we could never afford the clothes yet would be unpacking around 50000-100000 items a week. As members of staff it got to us we could never afford what we spent so much time dealing with, then one girl came in saying she had seem what we sold, exactly the same but the label in Primark. We went to check it out and yep, many of the Primark lines are made by the same manufacturer. Primark is so-so for quality- you get what you pay for most of the time as the shape can fall away as fast as the style does but then again the clothes from there were never priced to be kept as treasured possetions. It just gets to me that RI stock near enough the same items for quite a few lines and they are in some cases 10 times as much. They do good jeans for the sale price though!

sillywilly

jenniewb wrote: »

Ive tried LOADS of brands and have to say, more often then not, you do get what you pay for with the exception of one ot two items (not lines, items) from a few cheaper stores.

Tesco- the jumpers "ball up" like you wouldn't believe, one or two have been fine but most have been terrible. Good for slobbing around the house though and the seam free pants are great. (The normal ones in packs are terrible though- no elastic/elastic wears away in no time).

M&S, Kings and Queens of quality IMO. But stuff "ages" fast in terms of style for some reason. Just the cut I think (rather then anything to do with the quality).

H&M, Very comfy but does seem to 'grow' in the wash, t-!!!!!! that have a very flexible feel become very thin and lose their shape very quickly. Nice for a relaxed look though and one or two items randomly can be really nicely cut.

Gap, nice quality when you first wear their stuff and things hold their shape well, but they just don't last as long as I'd like them to- not for what they cost in the first place. I have a pair of trousers I wear about 1-2 days a week (rarely more then that) and OK I walk a fair way (about an hour a day) but the inner leg and seams are now really pale (the trousers are dark grey) which is a shame as they are otherwise great- the shape, the feel/fabric and the cut have not gone to peices. I also find this happens with their t-shirts where the fabric ages quite quickly, good for a relaxed feel, maybe not so great if you like the pristine look.

Topshop- sorry, I have to say dispite my love for all things topshop (the style I think is just bang on all the time) they are not so hot on quality all the time. Some collections are great- their leather stuff is fantastic quality and weathers really well, but the jeans I find lose their shape within 6 hours of wear (skinny fit stuff) and you get the "saggy bum" look which is not good- but then I find most stores are like this unless your willing to try more expensive brands. Tops are OK in terms of quality though, last for ages (though unfortunetly not forever).

SweatyBetty- 10/10 for quality, some cuts could be more flattering but they seem to get better with each collection.

River Island- now this I cannot really rate. You see I used to work at RI not so long ago and I workd in the delivery department. I/we could never afford the clothes yet would be unpacking around 50000-100000 items a week. As members of staff it got to us we could never afford what we spent so much time dealing with, then one girl came in saying she had seem what we sold, exactly the same but the label in Primark. We went to check it out and yep, many of the Primark lines are made by the same manufacturer. Primark is so-so for quality- you get what you pay for most of the time as the shape can fall away as fast as the style does but then again the clothes from there were never priced to be kept as treasured possetions. It just gets to me that RI stock near enough the same items for quite a few lines and they are in some cases 10 times as much. They do good jeans for the sale price though!

Thanks for the very helpful and informative post Jennie - exactly what I am after! I want to tap MSERs completely unbiased opinions based on facts with no ulterior motive. You say you get what you pay for but you can get good brands very cheaply on sites like M&M and Ebay. My issue is that I have bought so called premium brands, albeit cheaply, but the quality has been shocking!!

Please continue Money savers and let me know your opinions.

It would be nice if we could get enough responses to find a definite - best / worst brand!!

skintandsad

I've bought my daughter school uniforms from the following shops:

ASDA - cheap stretchy trousers @ £3 per pair are BRILLIANT, lasted 2
years and still had wear left in them, no rips, tears or fading.
Brilliant fit and comfortable too. School polo shirts and
shorts for PE also of very good quality as above, although
don't wash shirts too hot or they MAY shrink a little.

BHS - school trousers tore within a few days of purchase, very weak
seams (my daughter is very slender so not over pressured
IYKWIM!!!)

TESCO school trousers not of the greatest quality. Hems came loose
and showed signs of wear within a couple of wears. Wouldn't
buy again. PE shorts and polo shirts acceptable quality.
Lasted for two terms before needing replacement

MATALAN purchased tracksuit bottoms very cheaply, meant for boys,
however fitted perfectly and would definately buy again. Still
as good as new after wearing all year, but outgrown.