A Gransnet design brief for M & S

I have to make a trip into the city to visit M & S but thought I was lucky to have an M &S outlet at the outlet village just a few miles away. Not any more. It is stocked with all the garments which have not sold in store, which means that all the most garish colour combos and the size 8 & 10 and 20 & 22 are there. I went with an open mind as a start to Christmas Shopping and left with nothing.

I now rely on Cotton Traders, Edinburgh Woollen Mill and Sainsburys for the basic trousers, shirts, T shirts and jumpers that I used to find in M & S. Decent quality and reasonable prices and they usually have the full range of sizes.

Well I went in to M & S today and I couldn't see a thing I liked. I went on to Debenhams and bought a lovely top. There were two I liked but I restrained myself.

Moulded bras may not need underwiring but the main reason for their popularity with shops like M&S is because they are cheap and easy to make and can be produced by sweat shops at the rate of hundreds per worker a day.

I hate moulded bras and will not wear them, for the opposite reason to Cosafina. I am a narrow backed B cup and the moulded bras make me look as if I am wearing a breast plate, that doesn't move when I do.

M & S seem desperate to appeal to the younger market but my 40 something DD and her friends seldom clothes shop there and my 21 year old GD and her mates "wouldn't even go in there".

The average demo in my local store is 55 plus. M & S should listen to suggestions from their core customer base or they will lose them as well.

I did buy a very nice leather bag in there today though!

Try Bravissimo for bras, their ladies who fit in store are, in my experience,excellent.

M0nica I was amazed at how many separate pieces went into the most expensive bra that they sell - can't remember the exact number

I was at a talk about bras the other week (not M&S staff, a small local shop who are specialists in bra fitting)
CosafinaPerhaps a specialist bra fitter could suggest a bra that would suit your needs better? Moulding is different to padding apparently, bras are moulded so that you don't have to have underwiring. Padding is when you need that bit extra and is quite different.

I think that was right, there was so much information (who'd have thought it?) it has got a bit blurry in my head now.

Companies like M&S make mainly moulded bras because they are cheaper to make than properly designed one. Make the mouldings, all the same shape but different sizes, fuse the fabric on to them and all you need to add is sides/ backs and straps.

Properly shaped and fitted cups require a lot of design and cutting allowing for different shape breasts at different sizes. Time, design and cutting all cost more.

I think the padding is supposed to give more support. I brought a padded one for that reason. Can't tell the difference after a wash or two.

I do like their idea of putting 'no peep' hidden buttons on blouses.

I don't have time to read all 6 pages of comments (am at work) but agree with most of what I have read so far.

Forgive me if I'm duplicating a previous comment, but why are most of the bras that M&S sell with DD+ cups padded? Do they really think I want to make my already enormous G-cup jugs look even bigger??

I've tried on a few things this year, but though they look quite nice on the hanger they make me look like a sack of potatoes when on. I do remember buying lovely v-necked cap-sleeved (my favourite) t-shirts in quantity from M&S - but that must have been several years ago now.

They should enlarge the food shops and make the clothes part smaller . I never look at clothes in M and S , even gave up on the underwear after I couldn't work out which knickers were which, and they were all horrible colours and and synthetic. The stores are too big resembling a jumble sale. Uniqglo, Boden, Cos, and many others much better in terms of quality and value.

Pockets in skirts and dresses please! Unless it's a glam going out type dress or skirt, there's no point in buying one without pockets, they need to be practical.
And, they do a few ranges of wide fitting shoes, but nothing for the many of us with narrow feet. Why not?

Remembering that over 50's tend to have more disposable income you'd think they might be more interested in targeting us! My children are far too hard up with rent, mortgage and children to do much shopping for clothes at all.

Absolutely agree with comments above. Most frustrating to shop in MandS - I would love to be able to do so but quality and style are awful and you are all right about trying to appeal to younger women who don't want to shop there anyway. Time they realised that 60s women don't want frumpy clothes and have money to spend although most want good value (but also quality). I have had to buy from Landsend now but long to return to MandS if they improved. Has anyone sent them this thread?

They are not listening

I was in the flagship store, Marble Arch, last Friday at lunchtime which is usually a really busy day and time. The shop was almost empty and there was no queue for the fitting rooms - this would have been unheard of a few years ago. Says it all methinks.

Their jeans are okay although I have a pair of my normal size jeans which have sat on a shelf in the wardrobe for two years because they don't fit, couldn't take them back, and, even when I lost weight, I couldn't get into them.
They will have to go to the charity shop.

Charleygirl

As soon as it becomes popular of course!

Stock up phizz because it will be discontinued shortly.

I agree totally with what's been said before. Haven't bought anything from M&S for ages although there was a time when it was my first port of call.

On the plus side, I've just bought some very nice foundation cream and a lovely cream blusher from them. So not 100% bad.

I've just checked out their dresses online. Disappointing barely describes it! Some of them looked so awful that they actually made me laugh - and, bearing in mind that they are worn by models, what hope is there for the rest of us? Reading the reviews was quite enlightening, too . . .

Forgot to mention, I too would love all trousers to be in the same place, same with dresses, jumpers, cardigans, tops, jackets, coats etc. How much time it would save, you would know exactly what they had to offer instead of having to search the store. When I go into M&S I go in for a specific item/items I seldom buy on impulse, I now just get irritated trying to find what's on offer.

Must add to my list of 'wants' from M and S - jackets that cover the bum. At the moment they are too short and I'm only 5ft 4ins. (Thanks to a poster above for that one).

Come on, GN. How are we going to get this valuable marketing research collated and sent over to M and S?

I was a huge fan of M&S trousers until the cut went down the drain and they started to look like jodhpurs! A previous poster made the point that they are too wide at the thighs. It's a blow to me because their short leg length is perfect. Their jeans are okay. I'm wary now whenever I buy a sweater from there to make sure the seams are secure as I had a couple where the seams came apart on the sleeves and the back of the neckband after just a couple of wearings. Shame they seem to have lost their sense of direction in recent years.

I have money to spend on clothes but not M&S, tasteless, over-designed, fussy - make the older lady look like an extra on "Benidorm". Please, M&S look at what Jigsaw, Cos, Toast, Pure have to offer and you'll appeal to a whole new demographic.