Jaeger at M & S

I have three of the old Jaeger striped tops that will never wear out. I buy from House of Bruar, online, although washing lambswool and getting a good result can be difficult. Two of my longest lasting jumpers have never been near a sheep and came from Primark

We should be able to rely on the quality of reputable brands but things have changed over the years. Companies have struggled to keep costs down and may have compromised on fabric quality or used lower cost manufacturing.
Of course you should take this up with M and S so that they’re aware but the fault lies with Jaeger.

Unfortunately we had a really bad customer service experience with House of Bruar who sent my husband the wrong item 18 months ago. It was a pair of dress shoes for a wedding and they sent the wrong size. He was told to return them and as he wanted the right size quickly was advised to just buy another pair and they would refund - so he did.
The second pair arrived the wrong size too.
They wouldn't send a new pair out without this 2nd pair going back to them and wouldn't even cover the expidited postage (but would "look at it" once they had the 2nd pair back).

Their shoe turn around was very slow but they wouldn't do a next day delivery for some reason... they said to order a 3rd pair and they would "sort out" the credit for the second. At (I think) £230 each and now getting too close to the date we bought elsewhere.

A month later we still hadn't had the refund for the second pair. We had to chase them.
I wouldn't shop there again.

I bought a tweed suit from Jaeger, in Princes Street Edinburgh, when I was a teenager in the early sixties. I was a mod. And this was part of a mod look. I wore a pastel coloured, round necked thin woolen sweater underneath it. My father was pleased because it was a "good " suit. For his generation having smart clothes for best was important to show you were doing well and were respectable in the thirties when there was unemployment and destitution for many working people. It was one of the most expensive items I ever bought..I have a photo of myself in it and it makes me feel happy to remember it. Unfortunately for my Dad, I went to University adopted the hippie look of rebellious middle class youth of the period and never wore "smart" clothes again.

Even high end brands have changed the composition of materials used in clothing and I feel that is where the poorer quality comes in now. Wool, silk, cotton, linen used to be the standard. Now everything seems to be made of a mixture including manmade fibres. Sadly, the prices havent reduced.

Usedtobeblonde

I wasn’t aware that M&S had taken over the brand.
I thought they were just acting as “middlemen “ in the way that Next and Debenhams do.
M&S sell many different brands on their website.
Jaeger always stood out as a quality if higher priced company.

Same here, I didn't think they had actually taken over the brand.

Yes, M & S bought the brand ( but not the shops) for £6 million in 2020.

4allweknow - I don't think they've changed the composition of the clothing - after all wool is still wool and linen, linen - they never were "standard".

With linen, for example, years ago it would be predominantly be European which is usually coarser but stronger. Higher quality linen is still corser and stronger with more irregularities.

Irish linen (which we might have known many years ago) is barely grown now - most "Irish linen" is still good quality though because the flax is grown in Belgium (where much of the best linen comes from). True Belgian linen is also processed there where the conditions are perfect - Ireland processes Belgian flax into Irish linen.

Flax processed in China (say) is a different beast altogether!

It's now quite a bit about provenance.
M&S need bulk and cheap.
I can't see them paying the premium for Belgian linen.

I'm afraid we probably get what we pay for.

...now that almost everyone can afford cashmere it can't be the same.

O’h dear NotSpaghetti as you say a very bad experience.

I expect they are fine if you can walk into the shop and try things on there lulu - but it was really frustrating at the time!

Thanks everyone for your comments and some very good suggestions.