High Street clothing has definitely dropped in quality

SaLoGo

Sharon87 wrote: »

Probably a bit controversial what I'm about to say, but to the people who's clothes tear, are you sure you're buying the right size to fit you? Skinny jeans for example, you expect to be tight. People buy the size they think they are, not what they are in that certain shop. Clothes shops have different sizes from each other. You can be a size 12 in trousers in Top Shop and a 16 in Primark. If you put excess strain in clothes of course they're going to rip.

Not controversial... slightly rude! I know perfectly well what size I am in store where I have been buying their skinny jeans for years without any issues. The quality of the material has simply gone downhill!

Hermia

nomoneytoday wrote: »

It's because too many people chase the cheapest price, rather than good quality..

Exactly. Price is everything. I remember being a teenager in the late 1980s. My friends and I were from a working class background, but we did expect to pay the equivalent of £30ish for a pair of trousers. But we didn't shop so often and did expect clothes to last for a while (and we were trendy!). A lot of people have now grown up expecting to buy cheap clothes every Saturday or when they pop into the supermarket.

I think the big difference in high street clothes now is how they are constructed. I found some boxes of my old high street clothes in my mum's attic. What surprised me is how well the seams/hems were sewn and also the fact that darts etc had been used to shape the garments. Many high street shops now don't seem to make any effort to shape clothes to fit the human body. Presumably because it takes longer to sew and would therefore be more expensive to make.

pinkfluffybabe

I think quality has got very poor on the high street. M&S in particular used to sell clothes that were hard wearing and now everything is very thin and either washes out of shape or fades colour very quickly.

I would rather pay more and get better quality. I've bought more from GAP lately becuase their basic t-shirts are much better quality than their competitors. I used to spend a fortune in Next, but now I hardly go near because everything looks (and is) cheap.

Sharon87

SaLoGo wrote: »

Not controversial... slightly rude! I know perfectly well what size I am in store where I have been buying their skinny jeans for years without any issues. The quality of the material has simply gone downhill!

Didn't mean to be rude, but shop sizes can change from one batch to the next. Some reduce it to save on materials. It's just something that may cause clothes to break.

nellytheelephant

It's definitely true about New Look with their sizing, I bought three identical pairs of jeans. Two fit perfectly and one I couldn't get over my knees!

I think Republic is one of the better quality shops atm, even if their own brand stuff does tend to shrink!

Jane Norman I find to be the worst - the stitching is awful and the material looks tacky!

gregg1

FelinePrincess wrote: »

I agree, the quality of high street clothes has really gone down hill in recent years. I agree you get what you pay for but topshop isn't cheap in my opinion - the cheapest top on their website is £18 and most fairly basic short sleeve/sleeveless tops cost £35! For £35 I want to be able to wear something more then a couple of times. I had a printed vest top from there last summer which I loved - until I washed it (40 degrees as instructed, inside out) and the colour from the print smudged all over the top. I had a t shirt material batwing top from there which I washed once and was so badly miss-shapen I had to send it to recycling. Last year I brought a ring and a bracelet watch from there - wore both for a few hours and the watch part fell off the watch and ALL the gold coating came off the ring! It hadn't been in water and even the outside parts which had no contact with my skin had worn off. I was shocked as I have a cheap ring from bay trading about 8 years ago which I've worn at least once a week since buying and although the silver coating has worn off the inside and at the back - it still looks fine when I wear it! When I took them back the assistant said about the ring "the same thing happened to me".

While topshop isn't an upmarket shop it's prices aren't low enough for their clothing to be disposable.

I have also experienced quality issues with the clothes at river island and refuse to buy shoes, bags or anything leather from there because the quality of the leather is so poor. These are the 2 main high street shops I shop at as I'm limited with the shops where I live and don't shop in new look or similar low-end high street shops.

As a reformed shopaholic I wont be buying any new clothes anytime soon but maybe we should all take a stand on this poor quality? I know it's easy not to bother but if we all bombarded the high street with returning their poor quality good they might be forced to improve things - and Mary Portas would be proud!

Yes but at least in Topshop they are usually OK about refunding or exchanging - have you tried taking anything faulty back to River Island - their customer service (or lack of it) is unbelievable (know this cos I had to step in when something my son bought was faulty and needed exchanging - they were really difficult).

metoyoubear

I agree Next clothing has gone downhill and i bought a coat from Peacocks before Xmas and after i'd worn it half a dozen times a button had fallen off and there was a massive hole in one of the pocket linings.
Online,that lovely coat that was on a daily deal from Boohoo,i've lost one button and had to sew loose ones on three times and another button fell off last week but i found it this time on the floor!!

midget_gems

Maybe you're just getting fat.

mulled_wine

nellytheelephant wrote: »

It's definitely true about New Look with their sizing, I bought three identical pairs of jeans. Two fit perfectly and one I couldn't get over my knees!

I agree. I've about 3 pairs from New Look in my wardrobe that are too small despite being labelled as the same size I'm currently wearing - and bought at the same time.

Sharon87

mulled_wine wrote: »

I agree. I've about 3 pairs from New Look in my wardrobe that are too small despite being labelled as the same size I'm currently wearing - and bought at the same time.

I found them to be quite consistent with sizing. I do buy the exact same jeans but in different colours bootcut 28 inch leg. I've put weight on recently so my size 12s are a bit tight, but use to fit perfectly before! I bought a few 14s and they were exactly the same fit as each other.