Decided to start buying UK clothes

''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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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!

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.

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?

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

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

Here you go: makeitbritish.co.uk/top-ten/british-womenswear-brands/

I know it’s EU, but linen is still made in Ireland, and it’s not hard to source clothes made from Irish linen.

A company that has a lot of clothes manufactured in the U.K. is Celtic &Co., they have some lovely clothes that aren’t old fashioned -not cheap, but very good quality, and all items state where they are made.

There are a few clothes that are fully produced in the U.K., Harris Tweed would be one, as would be some locally produced wool garments, Fair Isle and Shetland sweaters and the like. Anything cotton would have to use imported raw materials and cotton isn’t woven here much if at all anymore. Maybe your best bet would be to avoid synthetic materials and cheap fast fashion, maybe make your own or buy from small designers from Etsy.

I also work for one of these "reputable" U.K. clothing manufacturers when I was younger. They produced most of the clothing for the high street stores. However, if a particular order could not be despatched due to a shortage in one size, a number of garments a size higher and lower were sourced from stock and re-labelled to meet the contract!

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 ?