Boz
I looked down at my OH's legs when we were out last week; his trousers were ill-fitting and in a cheap material. Where did you get those from, I asked. M&S £45 he said. They were awful You get what you pay for.
You should indeed get what you pay for. For £45 they should have been better fitting, and have been in a decent quality of fabric. M & S (or their supplier) bought these without exercising any quality control from the sweatshop where they were churned out. That is not cheapy-cheap pricing, and they shouldn't be disposable rubbish.
M & S have once had a reputation for being slightly above rock-bottom sellers, but with high quality standards and classic designs, but they have assumed in recent years that their "older customers" are not looking for affordable style but just buy the same throw-away stuff that youngster do, and in the same shapes and sizes. We are NOT the same shape as our grand-daughters, and our older skin and hair don't suit the same colours that they can look good in. A good buyer will be aware of this and order accordingly.
The quality and the aesthetics have been slipping. If they don't get them back they will find that they have completely lost their traditional customers without gaining any trendy but discerning new ones.