Dresses

[TimeForADrySherry]

If you look on Trustpilot, M&S has dreadful reviews, particularly since the standard of clothing went down, cheap material, poorly sized and poorly made, in places like Bangladesh, which screams sweatshop workers. Their customer care is now outsourced to South Africa, and is definitely not what M&S customers have been used to over the years.
I used to always buy knickers from them, but over the last few years the quality has markedly declined, and the sizing is ad hoc to say the least. Shame to see this happening to so many British companies when they were really good for so long.

 

[Grizelda]

Hmm went into M&S today and to be honest,not impressed with the clothes.
I'm trying to get a long sleeved chiffon blouse as I need to cover the horrendous bruising on my arm. Had a fall last week,wrecked the trellis and ended up among the pumpkins,took me a while to get up ,hubby hadn't noticed I was taking some time. About 3 weeks ago I lost a fight with a lawn rake and tore skin on my shin. I ended up going to A&E as it kept bleeding. Didn't need any stitches just had to see the practice nurse at the surgery to do the dressings.
I've got an appointment on 1st August to see the Dr about my blood tests and will mention my falls etc. Probably just clumsy and I keep forgetting I'm 75 at the beginning of November as my darling hubby reminds me.

Watch how you go Patsy.

 

[Patsy]

If you look on Trustpilot, M&S has dreadful reviews, particularly since the standard of clothing went down, cheap material, poorly sized and poorly made, in places like Bangladesh, which screams sweatshop workers. Their customer care is now outsourced to South Africa, and is definitely not what M&S customers have been used to over the years.
I used to always buy knickers from them, but over the last few years the quality has markedly declined, and the sizing is ad hoc to say the least. Shame to see this happening to so many British companies when they were really good for so long.

I've got a pack of 3 knickers from Primark £6 and they are soft and comfy.

 

[Patsy]

Watch how you go Patsy.

Thanks I'm trying to be more careful.

 

[mina]

I'm wearing a Tesco end of sale midi dress (£6 a few years ago) tiered with tiny black sprigs, not for some of you, I know, but I'm comfortable round the house or down the shops in it and it's a style that suits me. It's been washed and worn, washed and worn. I got a similar dress from Morrisons for under £20. Both of them could rival many higher end stores for quality and appearance and both beat them hands down on price. I've only seen the old Tesco dress worn on someone else once, before lockdown, and as people update their wardrobes my dress is becoming more exclusive. I could easily put smart shoes, bag and a fascinator with it and go to a wedding. If anyone invited me, that is.

 

[merryone]

I'm wearing a Tesco end of sale midi dress (£6 a few years ago) tiered with tiny black sprigs, not for some of you, I know, but I'm comfortable round the house or down the shops in it and it's a style that suits me. It's been washed and worn, washed and worn. I got a similar dress from Morrisons for under £20. Both of them could rival many higher end stores for quality and appearance and both beat them hands down on price. I've only seen the old Tesco dress worn on someone else once, before lockdown, and as people update their wardrobes my dress is becoming more exclusive. I could easily put smart shoes, bag and a fascinator with it and go to a wedding. If anyone invited me, that is.

I love clothes like that, garments that you go back to time and time again because they look good and feel comfortable. I really can't see the point in having variety for the sake of it. Choose a colour/pattern/style that you like and that suits you, and you really can't go wrong. Don't get me wrong I think it's nice to have a few dresses, but I know people who've got 50, 100 even and they're still on the look out for new ones - I really don't get it at all. I like your point about having stuff in your wardrobe that's season's old - it becomes exclusive again. Also like you said switch up your shoes bag etc and a garment can look completely different every time and will serve numerous occasions!

 

[Grizelda]

One hundred dresses? That's staggering!

 

[Silver Fox]

I had a nose on M&S this week and wasn't tempted with any of their stuff, once upon a time I would go in for some food or flowers and often come out with a new top or a dress, now I go in to look at the clothes and the only money I spend is in the foodhall. They seem to do one design in something and do it to death, like the floaty flowery dresses they did last summer. I have bought better looking stuff in Tesco's or Sainsbury's, the quality is no worse and it's far cheaper.

Always said when M&S get on a theme they do it to death.The items I buy from them are really good but then they have a ‘ got to be trendy’ moment and loose sight of their core customer.We don’t want to be ’mutton etc.’ but neither are into the ‘ over 70s given up’. Just look at the fashions on the continent, I always wore German brands , fashion but not rediculous for my age, but that came at a price.

 

[ERICS MUM]

I bought a dress for a wedding from Amazon in desperation, it’s the 2nd time I’ve worn a dress in 30 years

£30 and it’s lovely. Cotton but I hung it on a coat hanger to “drip dry” and it hasn’t needed ironing.

Too long so I had to chop 4 ins off and re-hem. I’m going to get a couple more. They will last me for a few summers.

 

[Vienna]

I can`t remember the last time I bought any dresses from Marks mainly because they were all so frumpy and dreadful ditsy florals. This year I`ve actually bought 2 and love them both. We were on a cruise in April and we`re on holiday again in October so I will have had some wear out of them this year. I`ve also worn them a couple of times when out with Mr V for meals etc.
I ordered both dresses but only intended to keep one but I liked them both and they were much nicer than they looked on the website, were fully lined and the fabric was of a decent weight and quality. I`ve dressed them up and dressed them down and they`ve been ideal for both casual events and more dressy events. More importantly not a ditsy flower in sight ! Here`s the white one I ordered and for some reason it says the photo of the other is too big of a file for this post.

 

[Patsy]

I bought a dress for a wedding from Amazon in desperation, it’s the 2nd time I’ve worn a dress in 30 years

£30 and it’s lovely. Cotton but I hung it on a coat hanger to “drip dry” and it hasn’t needed ironing.

Too long so I had to chop 4 ins off and re-hem. I’m going to get a couple more. They will last me for a few summers.

I've got a lovely blouse from Amazon, 100% rayon and looks lovely on and washes well.

 

[Vienna]

This is the other

 

[boffy]

If you look on Trustpilot, M&S has dreadful reviews, particularly since the standard of clothing went down, cheap material, poorly sized and poorly made, in places like Bangladesh, which screams sweatshop workers. Their customer care is now outsourced to South Africa, and is definitely not what M&S customers have been used to over the years.
I used to always buy knickers from them, but over the last few years the quality has markedly declined, and the sizing is ad hoc to say the least. Shame to see this happening to so many British companies when they were really good for so long.

This may sound odd but Bangladesh manufacture some of the most expensive brands. Top end sports clothes. Have been doing so for years now.

 

[TimeForADrySherry]

This may sound odd but Bangladesh manufacture some of the most expensive brands. Top end sports clothes. Have been doing so for years now.

The stuff turning up in M&S certainly isn't of that calibre. There are masses of complaints about cheap material and unreliable sizing, as well as items not lasting, falling to bits after a couple of washes. Typical of what you find when poorly paid, exploited sweat shop labour is used.

 

[boffy]

The stuff turning up in M&S certainly isn't of that calibre. There are masses of complaints about cheap material and unreliable sizing, as well as items not lasting, falling to bits after a couple of washes. Typical of what you find when poorly paid, exploited sweat shop labour is used.

Sadly most companies use sweat shop labour abroad. My Mum and mum in law lived in East London and were in the rag trade making fantastic clothes many many years ago for some of the top British brands. M&S on the whole sell beautiful clothes for an exceptional price on the whole. They always have sales and promotions. I like thier Autograph range and the sell Jaeger sometimes you can snap up items for 70% off.

 

[Vienna]

I recall buying Marks stuff under the St Michael`s name they put on their products but (sadly) times have changed. People want more clothes than ever before, disposable fashion, cheap to buy and to move with the trends. Compared to years ago the cost of clothing takes just a small part of someone`s salary and places such as Primark sell stuff at pocket money prices. Many people don`t care if something isn`t made to last because they only wear items once or twice anyway.
Gone are the days when you only got a new outfit once or twice a year, when you only had one good frock in your wardrobe and when families passed stuff down from sibling to sibling because items were made to last and of wool, cotton, silk or linen. The advent of man made fibres and mass production of them saw an end to that and up and coming generations wanted more and more. I was a teen in the 60`s and music, fashion, Carnaby Street, designers such as Mary Quant and models such as Twiggy filled my silly teenage head. I wanted to be just like them.
The end of British cotton mills, the end of British sweat shops and yes some were sweat shops until the unions stepped in and people demanded better pay and conditions, saw many companies buy from abroad instead. My Mum worked in a mill from the age of 13 and saw other youngsters badly injured or even killed, my sister in law who`se almost 80 worked in a shirt factory and they had to produce so many shirts in a day or their pay was docked, they got paid less than men, they had poor lighting, poor chairs which deformed their backs leaning over a machine, no sick pay, had to hold up their hand if they needed the loo and were told not asked that they had to work overtime. No such thing as maternity leave, either return to your machine within a few weeks or you were sacked. Health and Safety was non existent, overloaded electrics, poorly maintained equipment and no such thing as air extraction or ventilation for lungs which ended up filled with fibres and so on and so on. This Country has been as guilty as others for using what equated to slave labour and yet it was called "The Best Of British" and looked back on with with fondness. All I can say is many of us have short memories about the working conditions our parents, grandparents and even our siblings endured during the 20th Century and even now in the 21st Century there are still sweat shops in Birmingham, London and other towns using immigrant labour and churning out cheap clothes in dreadful conditions.

 

[merryone]

One hundred dresses? That's staggering!

I know! I have 15 dresses and I LOVE every one of them. How can you say that when you've got 100 of the b*ggers, 50 even? Mrs 100 dresses does go away on holiday a lot and recently told me that she packed 29 of them for a 10 day holiday. To be fair she never wears skirts or shorts and practically lives in dresses. Other than that it's plain black trousers, and occasionally black leggings with a top or jumper.(Never a t shirt) I think she owns a normal amount of garments that aren't dresses. To me it must be horrible never being satisfied with what you've got and always on the look out for something new to wear. For me half the fun of it is to be able to adapt what you've got to suit any occasion that arises and I've yet to fail. Don't even get me started on the amount of handbags she's got, that's gotta be 40 or 50, but I'd say more! I have 2, one for evenings out, it's not an evening bag per se but is a bit small for everyday use and a little too smart looking. The other's a black leather one that can be used as shoulder bag or a backpack.

 

[mina]

50 even is mind-boggling, but 100? I've got 5 that cover all occasions. Buy well, buy once. (Sez she of the cupboard full of handbags).

The quality of Marks's clothes was second to none back in the day and everything looked well-cut and was excellent quality. What I see now is a pale shadow of the place I once knew and not much appeals to me these days though we recently bought 2 pairs of men's shoes which are perfect for Mr M and excellent value. And they seem to have kept up the quality of their food section. Many moons ago I used to work at M&S and the quality aspect was paramount because we had weekly training sessions where it was drilled into us how good we must be to have been chosen to work there. They stuck to their word and kept jobs open for ages until they found the right person, no matter how much extra work the remaining staff had to do. And if you worked there you did feel special. Their motto of "tidy as you go" has stuck with me over the years.

 

[Silver Fox]

Those were the days when the majority if not all M&S production was U.K.I worked for one of their largest suppliers, there was nothing or very little that was impossible! Samples could be remade and in Head Office within hours, it was constant ‘RedStar’ & courier services.Trouble was you got used to the pace and the ‘impossible’ happening, hard work & long hours but everyone pulled together.

 

[Patsy]

50 even is mind-boggling, but 100? I've got 5 that cover all occasions. Buy well, buy once. (Sez she of the cupboard full of handbags).

The quality of Marks's clothes was second to none back in the day and everything looked well-cut and was excellent quality. What I see now is a pale shadow of the place I once knew and not much appeals to me these days though we recently bought 2 pairs of men's shoes which are perfect for Mr M and excellent value. And they seem to have kept up the quality of their food section. Many moons ago I used to work at M&S and the quality aspect was paramount because we had weekly training sessions where it was drilled into us how good we must be to have been chosen to work there. They stuck to their word and kept jobs open for ages until they found the right person, no matter how much extra work the remaining staff had to do. And if you worked there you did feel special. Their motto of "tidy as you go" has stuck with me over the years.

I remember, you never saw loose buttons,threads dangling etc. A few years ago I commented to a member of staff about the quality and she said they were always having people complaining about the quality. Another moan is no matter what you bought in Marks you could guarantee if you were a 12 or 14 etc your bra,knickers,dress,trousers,skirts they would fit. Lately I've found tops in different colours could be different sizes in order to fit. I bought a pair of shoes just before lockdown,I started with my normal size 5.1/2 and eventually I bought a size 4.1/2. It's ridiculous.
Our Marks in the ladies dept now has no tills,everything is self checkout,they have lost quite a lot of custom.