Decided to start buying UK clothes

My daughter buys from a company called Lucy and Yak all UK made.

I have bought T shirts and tops in Sainsbury's that were made in the UK, very acceptable quality too.

I can remember there was a patriotic call to buy British in the 60s because our economy was performing so badly against other economies.

I wonder how it ended, allowing our economy to thrive and expand?

Maybe we should go back to the days of making our own clothes, knitting and sewing lol.

We would probably take more care of items and keep them for longer if time, money and effort had gone into the making of them.

Sadly you can't always tell where fabric and knitting yarn has come from.

I remember going to a local market back in the 70/80's to buy fabric and made clothes for the children and myself. Must admit i never gave it a thought then where the fabric had come from.

Have a look at Marble fashions a Scottish company lovely tops and trousers.

BlueBelle

*The younger market would always go for the cheap options*

Oh lemongrove you are so wrong I m not sure what you are basing that statement on ... my young working grandkids spend hundreds more than I ever have on clothes and shoes
Me I ll carry on at the charity shop I often get complements on my clothes ?

I don’t think I am wrong BlueB and am basing that assumption on the fact that when I was young and my children were young and my DGC (the teenager anyway) had very little money for clothes just at the time they were most interested in fashion.Teenagers and early 20’s.
If your own young DGC ( how young?) spend a fortune on fashion then they are very lucky to earn so much whilst paying rent/mortgage, food and utilities etc.Most young people can’t do that, so fast cheap fashion suits their pockets.

I'm a fan of David Nieper too. Really good well made clothes and they do also make their own fabrics.

To date I have had a good response ... choice really better than I expected.
Certainly some ‘homework’ to be done! Thank you all. ?

NotTooOld

Thanks for the website, Hejira. I have just looked through it and there are some lovely clothes made in the UK but all out of my price range. Such a shame that no-one seems to make affordable British clothes in natural fibres. I spot a gap in the market. Isn't M&S missing a trick here?

M & S did launch a Best of British range a few years ago. It was pricey though (understandably). Whether it just didn't take off, I don't know.

Perhaps the time is right for a relaunch, now that many people are getting into buying less, buying better. I'm treating my DH to some British made jeans for his birthday from HebTroCo in Hebden Bridge. They're so popular there's often a wait for certain styles. They don't cater for women yet though, apart from accessories.

Missfoodlove

My daughter buys from a company called Lucy and Yak all UK made.

I'm afraid they're made in India not the UK.

Lucy and Yak

They seem to be 'doing the right thing' and being as ethical as they can though.

It's not easy to buy clothes made in the UK!

Exactly nannyjan, my adult children don’t buy cheap clothes they pay out a lot more than I would, I will carry on buying where I always have done, as long as they fit and I look reasonable in them, I’m not particularly worried where they are made

Well Lemongrove if you ask any young person today if they would buy generic trainers or some ridulous priced converse or other name most wouldn’t look at the generic and that goes for clothes too
I never mentioned that my grandkids spent a ‘fortune’ I said they spend hundreds more on clothes that I would (which isn’t hard as I mostly buy in charity shops?) but most kids now a days average age of 13/14 wouldn’t buy a Primark
t shirt they rather save and get a named one
My grandkids arent married, don’t have kids they all work
(part time whilst at school, apprentices, and two working full time) and save their money up to buy what their friends have (daft in my books but that’s how it goes these days)
My own kids were brought up on hand me downs and thrift shop ps times have changed for young people

It is so hard to buy British and requires effort. Most people can’t be bothered and, sometimes neither can I. I do try though and am very concerned that I don’t buy cotton goods from Xinjiang inChina, I don’t want to feel guilty about the poor Uighur people having to pick the cotton.
The BBC asked 30 companies if they intended to continue scourcing products from China. Of those that replied M&S, Next, Burberry and Tesco were the only 4 companies that have a strict policy not to use cotton from Xinjiang.
If only there was transparency when it comes to products. A product sold by a British company doesn’t mean the product was made here although there is often the intimation that it is.
Celtic label all the items in their catalogue.

Just a quick comment C&A are Dutch company and still trading outside the UK. There is one about a Kilometre of me.

lemongrove

When clothes were made here ( Marks and Spencer) and Ladybird clothing for children (Woolworths) or C&A or British Home Stores we all bought them.It’s not the case that the public won’t pay a bit more to buy British, but that firms can make more profit by not making them here.We can only buy what’s in the shops after all.

I always thought that M&S articles were made in the British Isles however, in the early 90 s there were factory shops selling M&S clothes in Hong Kong. This was before the labels ‘made in HongKong’ were added.

Biba (post on previous page) you can tell where a garment was made, it will say so on one of the labels on the garment.

Talking 'affordable'. In the 1960s when Biba flourished, the big shock horror was that prices started at £5, 1960s prices and the dresses were considered almst disposable, buy Friday lunch time, wear FRi/Sat night and never wear again.

In 2020 values that £5 = £75,. Go to the Boohoo site. They sell dresses for £5 in 2020. That is not affordable that is straight exploitation of impoverished women. It actually makes me feel ill.

I just about remember the times when 'made in Britain' was easily available - but long, long ago. Of course, even then, most fabrics were from abroad.

How about reviving that good old pastime of dressmaking? I made a lot of my outfits as a teenager and young woman. I'd often take apart an old item to use as a pattern for a new one.

Harris Tweed is still made in Scotland but it is then made-up into items in China.

Some Brora clothes are made in Britain and I believe Celtic
& Co also .
Mulberry still make bags in England.

''you can tell where a garment was made, it will say so on one of the labels on the garment.'' - I asked gthe question because I am not sure we can trust the Labels to tell the whole truth.

We have C&A still in France and Switzerland.

In the 60s and 70s, M&S clothes were made in Leicester, at Corah's- and it was brilliant to go and buy everything at their 'seconds' shop - often with absolutely nothing wrong with them. Many other manufacturers in Leicester also had 'seconds' shops on the premises.

How could I forget Cordings for country wear .

BlueB All teenagers are different ( even these days!) and although trainers seem to be the one thing that teenagers like to have ( not any old generic ones) they do spend less on other clothes ( or the ones that I know, anyway.) Especially girls, who like to change their clothes regularly.
I understand that to you, who buys clothes from charity shops, it may seem that they spend a lot of money, everything is relative isn’t it? Also perhaps your DGC are earning a lot with their part time jobs.
Mokryna yes, Marks and Spencer ( before they became M&S) did make their clothes in the UK, but like so many other retailers later moved their production to countries where labour was cheap and materials too presumably.

There are still C&A’s in Madeira too, but having bought a few all cotton tops there the quality is really poor and thin.

Sadly Leicester is one of the worst examples of how “Made in the U.K.” does not equal ethically produced.

From Euronews
Fast fashion giant Boohoo is facing an investigation into accusations of modern slavery after it emerged garment workers at factories in Leicester, UK were being paid just £3.50 an hour.

An investigation carried out by The Sunday Times last week found textile workers producing clothes for Boohoo's suppliers were being paid far below the UK minimum wage (£8.72), while working in unsafe conditions.
Boohoo issued a statement on Wednesday, saying it was "shocked and appalled" by the claims in The Sunday Times.
The company faced criticisms earlier in the lockdown, as workers' rights group Labour Behind the Label reported that staff at the Leicester factories were "being forced to come into work while sick with COVID-19 "
Leicester was the first British city to face a local lockdown, after a rise in coronavirus cases. The spike has been associated with the city's textile industry, which has continued to operate throughout the pandemic.
Fast fashion factories in Leicester are a long-standing issue, with authorities often struggling to find evidence of modern slavery, despite the prevalence of sweatshops in the city

Yes Maw unfortunately that’s what Leicester is known for now, what a shame.