Would you pay more for British made undies?

System

I like the ivory and black scalloped lace but at that price i'd want to wear bras that matched.

horsechestnut

I buy Sloggi Knickers which aren't the cheapest but they do last and are very comfortable. I was hoping that there would be similar ones in Mary's range; but I must be getting old!
I have also noted that the country of manufacture has dissappeared from the Sloggi label, so I assume that they are no longer made in Europe; despite the price.
I would like to see knitted goods made in Britain again and of the quality that they once were; I must be dreaming.

margaretclare

horsechestnut wrote: »

I buy Sloggi Knickers which aren't the cheapest but they do last and are very comfortable. I was hoping that there would be similar ones in Mary's range; but I must be getting old!
I have also noted that the country of manufacture has disappeared from the Sloggi label, so I assume that they are no longer made in Europe; despite the price.
I would like to see knitted goods made in Britain again and of the quality that they once were; I must be dreaming.

Yes, I wear Sloggi pants. I've just replaced a lot of them - went from size 18 to 16.

Try David Nieper, made in Derbyshire: https://www.davidnieper.co.uk

Blue_Elephant

belfastgirl23 wrote: »

Can it seriously cost £10 to make a pair of british knickers? Unless the queen was hand stitching them for me I wouldn't be buying them.

I do believe in supporting local producers but this really is taking the biscuit.

In a word yes. My mother used to work as a seamstress in a factory that produced M&S clothing. They even made underwear for a while. Yes yes my mum worked in a corrie style knicker factory :P This was until of course, even M&S outsourced everything and they got made redundant.

When MP was talking about it tearing families apart, she didn't just mean the impact on the families of the workers. Mum had been there 18 years - her colleagues were family!

Anyway once you add it up -

cost of material
contrasting material
thread/other consumables - needles/spools etc
electricity/water rates/rent on premises
cleaning and maintaining the building and machines
other tools - scissors/irons/sewing machines - (i think MP said they needs 4 different types for that style of knicks?
wages for the machinists at say £7ph rahter than 7pence per hour.
wages for cleaners/caretakers/canteen staff/supervisors
cost of health and safety measures - ie providing first aid resources and PAT tests
then business tax and VAT and accountants and other costs i haven't thought of.
transporting materials to factory and product to shops

I'd wager that even without a profit (which is essential for business) and without stuff I've forgotten that you'd be getting close to £10 per pair.

Would I buy? Yes, I try to. more folk in jobs means less on the dole.

lostinrates wrote: »

The benefit to you of better employment rates in uk is a reduced benefits and support bill, which means either a lower tax bill, or more likely maintaining providence of services you or people around you use! Successful British business is of benefit to all of us who live here.

Or the more succinct version above. Cheers LIR :P

peachyprice

Pennylane wrote: »

I think you might be wrong there. They will not be making the lace, it will be bought in but made locally by the guy who lives on the barge and has a small factory. They will be machining and overlocking and that's what they will be trained for.

So I was right in my first post, her claims that she's training seven apprentices in traditional lace making techniques to make her undies is misleading. She's training them in sewing and overlocking, not the same thing, is it.

foreign_correspondent

Pennylane wrote: »

I would! I agree with Mary Portas that it is criminal that all clothing/hosiery/underwear factories have disappeared and we're buying stuff from China, Romania, Indonesia etc.

All those jobs gone! I used to work as Secretary to the Managing Director of a huge knitwear factory in the Midlands with 6 smaller factories dotted throughout the Midlands. It employed thousands of peoples - designers, overlockers, pressers, hand-finishers, menders, machinists ... and then there were drivers, canteen staff, cleaners, secretaries, accountants, payroll clerks etc.

I am also old enough to remember factories where you could go and buy clothes, socks and underwear which were made in the UK for M & S and which were wonderful quality. Look at the rubbish in M & S now - all made abroad and most of it shoddy.

Why do people complain about the price of a pair of pants (made in UK) which should last for ages, yet they will willingly go and pay £5 for a magazine, £6 for a packet of cigs, even more on alcohol and take-away food. I just don't get it.

I agree.. my aunt worked at a hosiery factory from leaving school, till it closed about a decade ago...

In the midlands the textiles business was a massive industry, and marks and sparks used to be proud of their stock being made in britain - its all gone now.. all those skills, those jobs, the communites are decimated - whilst we happily import stuff made in sweatshops abroad - it's ridiculous.

runningwoman

I'll happily buy stuff that's from folksy, from individual suppliers or whatever. I get my clothes fixed locally when I can.

I find the whole project INCREDIBLY tacky. I love England, but I'll connect to my country in whichever way I like, thanks. I don't approve of patriotism packaged and sold so some presenter character can have some ego trip.

It's a bit like when some politician says "oh, do this, this will give you pride in your country, as part of Big Society" and any independently thinking person says CHUFF OFF WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE.

It's sinister. It's incredibly twee and guilt inducing - BUY MY KNICKERS RATHER THAN THE BETTER VALUE ONES YOU LIKE MORE SO OTHERWISE THESE POOR GIRLS WON'T GET WORK. Yeah like we're chuffing thick and we can't see the recession, poor educational opportunities, bankers stealing our resources, aren't issues? Like what we need are more egotistical "gurus" promoting themselves as some magnanimous types to sort the poor stupid working class out, and we're unpatriotic if we refuse to buy something we don't want to? JOG ON YOU PATRONISING WEIRD HAIRED CRETIN.

PS My pants tip is to get EVERYTHING in plain black - bras, knickers. It will all match, always. I don't think I've got new ones in years, and I still look fine. Also cycle and run regularly, this will ensure the bottom within the knickers will detract from any tattiness of the knickers.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Interesting how she hates the modern fashion market so much when her OH edits/runs a fashion magazine intended to encourage such purchases.

runningwoman

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Interesting how she hates the modern fashion market so much when her OH edits/runs a fashion magazine intended to encourage such purchases.

It's like "go on you women struggling to make ends meet, buy this stuff OR YOU'RE UNPATRIOTIC AND SHOULD FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT", whilst she's living the life of Riley in Maida Vale and getting paid oodles by Dave Cameron and his chums. I'd happily contribute to someone I know locally who was the real deal, as I'm sure most people would, but definitely not to some posh self promoting chuffwit.

PS Chuff is a euphemism

Pennylane

runningwoman wrote: »

It's like "go on you women struggling to make ends meet, buy this stuff OR YOU'RE UNPATRIOTIC AND SHOULD FEEL GUILTY ABOUT IT", whilst she's living the life of Riley in Maida Vale and getting paid oodles by Dave Cameron and his chums. I'd happily contribute to someone I know locally who was the real deal, as I'm sure most people would, but definitely not to some posh self promoting chuffwit.

PS Chuff is a euphemism

It's interesting how people read things differently. I am more interested in the fact that she is trying to give work to young people, people who have never had a job. Channel 4 have funded the project to get it off the ground but MP won't get any of the profits. The idea is to get the up and running and they have to make profits to continue obvously.

I am not interested in whether people like or dislike MP, but I am very interested in seeing how these young people get on and whether they make a success of things. I would love to see more manufacturing in the UK again although I fear it is too late now. A lot of people don't care about quality, they don't care what people are getting paid to make this rubbish and they don't care that this stuff is travelling thousands of miles when we should be more than capable of producing quality clothes in the UK.