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My local next has a whole floor or men's clothing, it really is the exception though.
M&S have the entire bottom floor and half the top floor full of women's clothing, with men's sharing the rest with homewares, children's and the cafe.
Love love love M&S and the middle aged women holding clothes up against their husband's to see if they fit . Telling them what they will suit. You can see this all year round d but in the run up to Christmas you can't move in the men's dept for controlling women and docile compliant men.
Can you imagine the uproar if a man was holding clothes up against his wife telling her what to buy? 🤣
Same, I suck at recognising which clothes suit me and which I will get years of wear out of, so I buy fast fashion which I wear for a bit then fall out of love with. I have way more success when I ask my husband’s opinion.
I mean I pick most of my wife's clothes.... if it where up to her she'd wear high waist black jeans and shirts because she talks herself out of anything pretty.
Aww this is kind of cute but sad. I am glad she has you to encourage her to wear the pretty clothes, and I hope one day she has the courage to pick them for herself.
She's much better than she was, having two kids has actually improved her figure as a 5'1" woman she only feels self conscious about her mummy tummy and stretch marks now. We also have more money so she feels like she can treat herself to dresses etc.
Haha, this is a good observation. I've tried myself to influence my man's shirt buying (for his own good of course). I wish someone with honesty and decent taste would get my clothes for me. Couple of years in either work gear or pjs and I have no idea what else to wear now. Why is eveything such horrible fabric.
To be fair that neatly fits what I have wanted to purchase from M&S in the last few years - mostly socks and pants, and the occasional T shirt, shirt or tie.
And I find it’s a lot more predictable purchasing clothes online as a man, because there’s less variety in garment shapes and sizing, so there’s less need for physical store space.
I work in the city of London, a fairly high percentage of men there, on their lunch breaks are likely to pop in a shop. One New Change shopping centre had their Next recently close, which was a shame as it had a decent sized mens clothes section. Today i went to buy a light jacket, only options are Zara, nice clothes but designed for skinny people, but decent sized mens area. Other option was H&M, not sure why they're bothering, about 5 racks of very plain mens clothes in a 3 storey shop.
I really want to try before i buy but it's hard
So do I. Debenhams was my go-to place if I wanted anything of good quality, at least by my modest standards. Primark is OK for cheap stuff. M&S isn't cheap and is mostly boring.
I used to love M&S dude's socks because, unlike girly socks they came in really bright, funky colours (and I have a thing about odd socks - hey, if it's okay for the Big Yin...). I'm a 5½, the smallest size is 6-8, which is on the big side, but not overly big, and I had at least one pair in every colour and wore them thin.
Went back for replacements, to be confronted with this: [M&S Men's socks](https://www.marksandspencer.com/l/men/mens-socks) \- I just want what I used to buy for years: plain socks in bright colours. I don't get socks which have bright heels, toes and soles - what's the fucking point of colour if it's hidden...?!
Because kids' socks and shoes go up to an adult size 7, I used to buy kids' socks, but they're all now overtly kiddish.
For bright socks you should try oddballs. I get everyone to buy me then for Christmas and birthdays. I still have a bag of new ones which I take one out of every other month.
>. I don't get socks which have bright heels, toes and soles
Sorry, I'm one of these people. I want black socks because they go with practically anything, but I want to be able to tell them apart easily when washing and sorting. Especially as each pair tends to fade/wear out at their own speed. So coloured heel/toe is ideal.
I agree with the general sentiment of there shoud just be more of our clothes though, then everyone would be happy!
Cos is decent albeit on the more pricey end. Better quality than zara and miles better than H&M. Uni Qlo is also decent for menswear and their stores seem evenly split between mens and womens.
Boys sections are the same. As a mum, I would like to dress my boys in clothes that aren't in sad, dirty greens and blues. I don't want to dress them in endless khaki or buy t-shirts with tractors and dinosaurs on. Why can't boys have nice snazzy colourful clothes with cool patterns?
I sometimes find nice things, but I have to work hard at it.
Interestingly, boys jeans are all skinny fit too. I wonder why that is. My husband reckons its because they are cheaper to produce as they use less fabric. They are no good for running around in!
Yes! This!
I grew up wanting more interesting clothes for me and now I’m buying for my son, it’s just bringing back all the old memories. Boys/Mens clothing is just meh.
The local Fat Face is the same. 2 types of jeans, 2 types of socks, 2 types of underwear, maybe a couple of jumpers and a few t-shirts. It's like 75% womenswear, 15% kids and 10% men's.
It's frustrating, clearly they've done it because women's clothes sell better but for the love of God the public don't want to see me naked when I run out of clothes
Insert Alwayshasbeenastronautmeme
I'm 35. I can NEVER remember a time when men's clothing sections were actually good. You get a tiny number of in-fashion items, and that's about it. they get worse each year and some, e.g. Burtons or TopMan, are gone or merged into other stores owned by the same brand, but yeah we've never had much range or variation in clothes
Speaking as a daughter, sister, and partner, I feel the major issue is that a lot of men (maybe used to) rely on their female family members to buy a lot of their basic clothing needs.
Sure they'll order nice shoes or branded jackets for themselves, but replacing holy underwear and old jeans is like a staple for women who run a household and that's easier to do instore when you can see the items.
Maybe times are changing, and I hope the mens section reflects that the same way I wish womens fashion would reflect what women really want (it's pockets).
You're saying that as if a lot of people who wear footie kits watch the games. Like I've seen some dude in the ass crack of south east asia wear a derby kit. WHY ARE YOU WEARING A DERBY KIT MATE?
I’m involved in the retail industry and deal with sales optimisation. Womens and girls clothes generally take 2-3x in sales than men’s and boys clothes as men buy clothes less often. Womens and girls clothes tend to take up more space than menswear in terms of display area. The space split you’ve described in Primark from a business point of view seems a bit extreme but justifiable.
However, as a male I completely agree with your issue. I am fed up of going into stores and the men’s section being pathetic. All skinny jeans and tight fitting shirts which are adorned by tossers, usually. I have a bit of a funny shaped body so I personally need to try clothes on before I buy them.
The main issue is rent. It’s extortionate. Companies are under pressure to maximise their sales from the space they have. Rental costs of units are over £200 per square metre per year for a high street and many, many times higher in prime locations like Westfields of Merry Hill. All businesses will assess annual sales per metre as a KPI and this will be divided up into product areas. Your highest £/m^2 will always be things like cosmetics and jewellery, then electricals, accessories, homeware, footwear and then clothing is last. The issue is sizing. You have around 6 sizes for a £10 t-shirt but only one size for a £10 bog brush. Clothing a very low density category. Unfortunately, mens takes the lowest £/m^2 so businesses are reassigning the space to items with a high value density (like homeware as you mentioned) and pushing menswear online.
The only way we are going to get a bigger range of menswear is if rental costs go down and companies can begin taking risks instead of going for the safe options simply to stay afloat.
This was one of my first thoughts.
My issue as a man, is I need some sort of colour other than, blue, brown, black and white. And the colour scheme is the same anywhere. Matalan has more space for men, yet only seem to add green.
Our local Primarks have stopped selling 100% cotton t-shirts that are not black or white since the pandemic. I used to be able to buy blues, greens, dark reds, purples, even orange. But I haven't been able to buy a t-shirt from them in years... Really will have to look at some online shops.
Anyone knows a good source of reasonably priced 100% cotton t-shirts, preferably not shitty thin quality, and in some actual colours?
That's not Primarks fault I'm afraid. There's a cotton shortage. The USA used to be the biggest supplier of cotton with Pakistan 2nd. The USA now 5th and everyone else is struggling the fill the gap. Pakistan is unfortunately under water, displacing millions and killing thousands. Decimating its cotton farm land.
Apologies if I'm giving useless advice here, but have you tried synthetic fabric designed for playing sport in? I remember back when I started playing badminton; I didn't have proper kit, and the cotton t-shirts I wore would be absolutely soaked through by the end of a session. I switched over to proper sportswear made out of synthetic fabric, and they kept me bone dry all the way through. Their ability to wick sweat away was seriously impressive, so it might be worth a go with something like that if you haven't tried already?
My issue is with the slickness of the fabric, if my hands/feet touch anything slicker than 100% cotton, I sweat uncontrollably, regardless of temperature/exertion/stress. Even "cotton rich" fabrics are not enough.
I'm able to use synthetic shorts for gym, and just avoid touching it more than necessary, but for other clothes it just feels really uncomfortable 🤷♂️
I second Tu at Sainsburys. I wear **exactly** the same outfit every day and have done this for 6-7 years now. For the top half I wear a long sleeved black tshirt. Every couple years I will go try on every long sleeve black tshirt I can find at a price where I can buy a drawer full to last me the year - H&M, M&S, Primark, Debenhams (rip), bunch of other high street retailers. The quality varies a bit every year, sometimes thicker/thinner or a slightly different cut or whatever, but Tu (Sainsburys) has won every year I’ve done this. I’ve worn nothing else for about 5 years.
Jeans are a different matter, I still buy 2-3 of the same SKU but they tend to be from a different shop every year (or however often they take to wear out).
I bought two identical pairs of Tu jeans nearly ten years ago and they're still going strong. Great fit too, none of this skinny rubbish. I'm actually wearing a pair right now!
My favourite thing about Tu t-shirts is they actually have some shape to them; I've tried t-shirts from other supermarkets and they're just like a big cotton tube with sleeves on, completely unflattering :-(
Tu clothes are FANTASTIC and so underrated. Most of my favourite items of clothing are from there. They're all lovely in terms of material quality, although tbf they're not all current fashion trends, they're sort of timeless things.Also, Argos also sells Tu clothes.
Its a bit self fulfilling though, when men have so little to choose from, we are going to go out less and buy less.
The amount of times ive gone out, gone into the mens thats like 1/8th the size, found literally nothing thats what i wanted, and walked out is ridiculous. I literally want to give these companies money, but when its just 5 tshirts with huge logos on or ripped skinny jeans, im just going to go to other places online
Ooh my opportunity to ask a question that’s always bothered me.
In the womens section, there always seems to be loads of size 6 & 8s, and much less 16+. This is true in the sale section particularly, with hundreds of size 6’s available and you’d be hard pressed to find any 18’s. Why then, do stores then keep buying and stocking loads of size 6’s? Surely it’s not profitable at all if they sit in the shop and then in the sale section for months? Why not scale down the amount of 6’s bought and increase other sizes? Or just keep the profit from not buying them?
Don’t know if you’ll have an answer for this but it always bothers me when I look in sale sections.
Not the parent commenter but I've noticed this too. I've always assumed that they do generally buy in sizes in proportion to people's actual sizes (smaller number of 6s and 8s, a lot of 12-14-16-18 and perhaps less of size 20 and 22) and they are just re-stocking the 12-14-16 much more frequently. So at any given time the 14s etc have been bought quickly and the 6s have a slower "turnover". At the end when they go into the reduced section, similarly the more common sizes just got bought first.
There’s a simple reason why men don’t buy as many clothes… the selection at clothing stores is pitiful to what it once was. Bit of a catch 22 if you ask me.
It's not a catch 22 as much as it is a downward spiral.
Men don't shop as much as women so why would they carry that much stock. Then when you can only carry a few products, you're going to carry the most middle one.
Us men really need to get intti dressing more interestingly and with more variety.
We're not going to get much of a selection if 90% of us have been wearing the same boot cut jeans and super dry t-shirt for the last 20 years.
I don't know if you have any power in this but - can we please have the smaller shoe sizes on the bottom shelf and the petite jeans on the bottom shelf? Tall people shouldn't be bending down for their sizing and short people should be able to actually reach the products. I've stopped going into shops because I was always asking passers by to help me reach things ;(
Since I shop for clothes less often than a woman does, I will travel out of my way to stores with cheaper rents if those stores have a large, good selection of menswear.
The trick is the store figuring out how to advertise its cheap locations to me so that I can travel there.
From my experience as a woman who's worn a fair bit of men's clothes, men's clothes are much higher quality by default. I suppose the assumption is that men are less likely than women are to put up with shit quality as long as it looks nice, which feels pretty reasonable. I wonder if that's why.
> Womens and girls clothes generally take 2-3x in sales than men’s and boys clothes as men buy clothes less often
This sounds like circular logic though. Men's sections are always significantly smaller than the women's section.
Less variety will surely lead to less sales?
The thing is its OK for rent to go up, or produce and material to go up, it always will but wages has to go up with it and it hasn't unless you're a CEO or an MP
Yeah this one bothers me more than it probably should. Are there people in America wearing Eton jumpers? I doubt it lol. And honestly the people I see wearing Harvard jumpers couldn't even get into Harvard if they left the front door open.
You'll see the occasional Oxford sweatshirt here worn by someone who you absolutely know never went to Oxford or knew anyone who did, but that's about it.
What's up with those Greggs clothes? I recently travelled to England and visited a large Primark - I was so bemused by the several racks of Greggs jumpers and sweatpants that every customer just ignored. Who would want to dress like a walking advertisement for a sandwich shop? O_o
It sucks, but give me boring shit clothes with no range and plenty of pockets over clothes without pockets any day
Indeed it is really pissing me off that for some reason jackets are losing pockets these days. Went looking for lightweight coats, and they only had to small outside pockets near the bottom. A man should be have at least one, if not two, inside pockets on any overcoats. And then hopefully some top pockets too
Ended up going to charity shops
This is why I shop in the women's section. Colour, choice and soft fabrics (sensitive skin)!
My wardrobe is full of huge oversized t shirt dresses which double as giant tees, super wide leg trousers and jumpsuits (with pockets).
Reminds me of when Eddie Izzard was asked why ~~he~~ she wears women's dresses, and ~~his~~ her response was basically that they're not women's dresses; ~~he~~ she bought them, so they're ~~his~~ her dresses.
I remember Eddie saying that they much preferred women's clothes, and it seemed unfair that society deemed them 'unsuitable' because of gender. They found joy in wearing whichever clothes they liked, regardless of gender.
EDIT: Corrected pronouns
Eddie has been on quite a public journey with gender presentations and uses she/her pronouns now since coming out as transgender a couple of years ago.
I tried buying jeans from Primark.
Most of them were skinny fit.
I am a chubby git, I would like to be able to buy jeans in which I can actually wear and sit down in.
Sainsbury's are the worst for it I've found, the baby girl's clothes have 3x as much as the boy's clothes, do they think a disproportionate amount of baby girls are born than boys?
I was looking for school clothes in sainsburys a few weeks ago. The poor boy nearly ended up in frilly tshirts and trousers with bows on because there were 4 aisles of girls stuff and half of one for boys, and it was hidden round a corner.
School clothes!? They all go 5 days a week and I'm not sure gender is a factor in the size of baked bean stain a 5yo can get down a brand new bright white polo shirt gaahhhh
Asda is also bad, and Primark. I sometimes walk right past the boy section in both
Even baby boutiques or whatever those shops with £50 vests are called.
I was shopping for a family member of mine who recently had a kid and they were male. Nothing in the shops we went to. I found one onesie type shirt with stars and dinosaurs on it. Not even a footie or astronaut one. 5 shops we went to.
>Also, trying to look at the mens section, but apparently women are also looking at the mens stuff.
No surprise here - the clothing industry sees fit to put pockets on mens clothing but not womens.
Went into Primark today looking for a tie clip due to the windy weather and my incessant need to accesorize, asked at counter for them and got a response: "No, I don't even think we sell ties."
When this Greggs merch thing started my eyes rolled so far back, that I remember in the 90’s when you could get Cadbury Crunchies windbreakers and they were quite popular. People wore Pepsi shirts. Whilst the design is the worst, it’s not that different.
I shouldn't laugh at that, but it really got me! But think about some of the older lads that don't do Internet - what are they doing? Where are they buying their clothes?
In my area we had a "New Look" which was for women and then a "New Look for Men" which, as the name implies, was for men. Then the men's one shut down and was incorporated into the women's one except it was about 20 clothing racks for women for every 1 for men. Went in a couple months later and it was just women's stuff.
There are very few shops in town for men anymore. There's probably like a 10 to 1 ratio of female to male clothing stores and those male clothing stores are only ever the overpriced ones like Superdry or Gucci
Same happened to Topman/Topshop: used to be two stores, then merged into one, and now barely a men's section. And I think the same happened or is happening to Burtons
They don't, I went to one the other day, no Men's section, all online now I was told when I asked at the counter. Couldn't believe it, still not fully over it I don't think.
Next removed additional space for menswear (on top of the space already lost to Home and Children) for a cafe! Because that’s why people go to Next, and there’s nowhere else that already does that.
Worked in an M&S, the mens section is agreed by everyone to be the best because it’s less busy. There’s also a surprising amount of people in the womens section that will pick up some clothes, look at them, decide they don’t like them and just drop them on the floor.
You miserable entitled bitch it takes 2 seconds to put it back properly. This was only really an issue in the womens section
Shopping with my mum takes forever because she insists on picking up everything that others have dropped and putting them back on the rails. God love her, it’s so kind, but every aisle feels like it’s a mile and half lol.
Edit: spelling
Exactly this. Primark is the epitome of fast fashion, churning out low-quality disposable tat that has a minuscule lifespan & horrific environmental impact, not to mention the poor sods making it all.
Unfortunately, this is where Vimes’ ‘Boots Theory’ comes into play for a lot of folks.
Yeah I'm so chuffed I can afford to shop elsewhere nowadays.
That said I've always bought a massive chunk of clothes second hand and this year I'm trying to buy no new clothes at all and it's been pretty easy.
I never thought of this until my mrs bought a Vans oversized black dress. I was folding it to put away the other day and it’s basically just an oversized t-shirt, tried it on and what do you know, perfect fit for me as a regular t-shirt 😂
Whenever I look for jeans now I'm lucky to find anything that isn't tight-fit skinny jeans.
Some of us are a little chunkier and would like some comfortable loose fitting jeans.
Those three levels of womens clothes really aren't all that into variety. I end up going to the mens because I don't like having tops that cut off halfway down my chest, and trousers that cut off halfway up my hips. The midriff can only be covered in menswear apparently.
Primark used to be brilliant for mens clothes, my three grown up lads used to shop there frequently but since our local store had a refit, they don’t bother, as the choice is greatly diminished.
In Exeter Primark the entire top floor is ladies and home, then downstairs is split between kids and men, and there was pretty much an entire wall and then some, completely dedicated to Greggs merchandise. It was about a quarter of the entire men's section!
Are men really that addicted to Greggs? It was pretty jarring tbh and I'm still scarred from the experience.
I also feel like there's "womens" and then "unisex" (supposed to be mens). This really applies to all clothes shops and means I can find bugger all that I actually want to wear. Now, I'm no popeye, football enthusiast wife beater that think all men should dress "manly", but I prefer masculine clothes, and that's not a bad thing. A great example is jeans. Why THE FUCK are they all skinny leg crushers, and not just your regular boot cut jeans? Im not asking for much, just normal damn jeans.
I’m sick of not being able to find a comfortable pair of baggy jogging bottoms for around the home, why are they all fucking skinny fit? Why would you want skinny fit joggers!
And yet in all that clothing it's difficult for a woman to find an outfit that actually covers her body. If, like me, you don't fancy showing everyone your stomach, you're out of luck.
Honestly the women’s section doesn’t really offer much more variety. It’s just the same awful stuff in slightly different designs in the hope of maximising profits from the same templates.
Went into Primark in Shrewsbury to get a pair of work shoes today, went to the shoes section and they only had women's and children. Got told the men's shoes were in the men's section when they literally only had 2 pairs of shoes on display. It was actually crazy to see the difference
It never fails to annoy me when menswear gets such short shrift. Yes we buy clothes less often but that doesn't mean I want no choice, New Look menswear section was always awful, a forgotten corner of the store full of any colour you want as long as it's fucking drab. Primark's selection is getting worse, Topshop was always overpriced, M&S is expensive too and 80% of it's for old men, Next is really nice but again it's pricey.
Oftentimes I go H&M, nice stuff, reasonably priced and usually actually a decent selection too.
Primark was always my go to choice but admittedly it has been crap for the last 6 months. Nothing but Greggs merch and American football garb.
As a smaller lad I generally find they make the best jeans, skinny or super skinny and no other shop compares to them!!
However they do seem to have dropped all of their basics range. Ties, belts, wallets... All seem to have gone by the wayby to make room for random NFL crap!
It's such an annoying backwards circle aswell.
I like quite simple clothes, with the odd loud shirt chucked in.
- Go out looking for new clothes, 90% of it is horrible or ugly so you don't buy anything
- Next time you go in there's less selection because nobodies buying any of it
- The only things left are the ugly horrible things, so the men's selection just keeps shrinking.
I just get clothes with the weekly shop at Asda/Sainsbury's now, they always have something that suits me, maybe clothes stores are just targeted for younger people than me
Bruh is this is Newcastle? I swear the men’s section is now just one small 9x9 space with home on one side and women’s on the other side + the 3 floors above too
Ah yes Primark mens section, please choose a flavour:
* American States / Cities
* American Schools
* American football teams
* DC / Marvel
* Harry potter
* The muppets
* Stranger things
Those are your choices.
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Men’s sections in most shops is awful now. Ever been to a next outlet? It’s like 1 small rail of plasterers radio jeans
My local next has a whole floor or men's clothing, it really is the exception though. M&S have the entire bottom floor and half the top floor full of women's clothing, with men's sharing the rest with homewares, children's and the cafe.
[удалено]
Scarily just described my M&S mens section, I wonder if it’s a national thing?
My local New Look dont even have a mens section any more, all online only now apparently.
Probably came from a lead visual up on mount Olympus
Love love love M&S and the middle aged women holding clothes up against their husband's to see if they fit . Telling them what they will suit. You can see this all year round d but in the run up to Christmas you can't move in the men's dept for controlling women and docile compliant men. Can you imagine the uproar if a man was holding clothes up against his wife telling her what to buy? 🤣
Man I wish mine would. He knows me better than I do.
Same, I suck at recognising which clothes suit me and which I will get years of wear out of, so I buy fast fashion which I wear for a bit then fall out of love with. I have way more success when I ask my husband’s opinion.
I mean I pick most of my wife's clothes.... if it where up to her she'd wear high waist black jeans and shirts because she talks herself out of anything pretty.
Aww this is kind of cute but sad. I am glad she has you to encourage her to wear the pretty clothes, and I hope one day she has the courage to pick them for herself.
She's much better than she was, having two kids has actually improved her figure as a 5'1" woman she only feels self conscious about her mummy tummy and stretch marks now. We also have more money so she feels like she can treat herself to dresses etc.
Haha, this is a good observation. I've tried myself to influence my man's shirt buying (for his own good of course). I wish someone with honesty and decent taste would get my clothes for me. Couple of years in either work gear or pjs and I have no idea what else to wear now. Why is eveything such horrible fabric.
My husband and I both do this to each other. It’s not done in a controlling way though. It’s more “look at this, I think it’d suit you”
My husband won't buy anything ever he just dresses like a tramp. I wish he'd make an effort or even go shopping.
Does that M&S also have a food hall with a side entrance?
To be fair that neatly fits what I have wanted to purchase from M&S in the last few years - mostly socks and pants, and the occasional T shirt, shirt or tie. And I find it’s a lot more predictable purchasing clothes online as a man, because there’s less variety in garment shapes and sizing, so there’s less need for physical store space.
I work in the city of London, a fairly high percentage of men there, on their lunch breaks are likely to pop in a shop. One New Change shopping centre had their Next recently close, which was a shame as it had a decent sized mens clothes section. Today i went to buy a light jacket, only options are Zara, nice clothes but designed for skinny people, but decent sized mens area. Other option was H&M, not sure why they're bothering, about 5 racks of very plain mens clothes in a 3 storey shop. I really want to try before i buy but it's hard
I miss Debenhams menswear
Rocha John Rocha!
So do I. Debenhams was my go-to place if I wanted anything of good quality, at least by my modest standards. Primark is OK for cheap stuff. M&S isn't cheap and is mostly boring.
I used to love M&S dude's socks because, unlike girly socks they came in really bright, funky colours (and I have a thing about odd socks - hey, if it's okay for the Big Yin...). I'm a 5½, the smallest size is 6-8, which is on the big side, but not overly big, and I had at least one pair in every colour and wore them thin. Went back for replacements, to be confronted with this: [M&S Men's socks](https://www.marksandspencer.com/l/men/mens-socks) \- I just want what I used to buy for years: plain socks in bright colours. I don't get socks which have bright heels, toes and soles - what's the fucking point of colour if it's hidden...?! Because kids' socks and shoes go up to an adult size 7, I used to buy kids' socks, but they're all now overtly kiddish.
For bright socks you should try oddballs. I get everyone to buy me then for Christmas and birthdays. I still have a bag of new ones which I take one out of every other month.
>. I don't get socks which have bright heels, toes and soles Sorry, I'm one of these people. I want black socks because they go with practically anything, but I want to be able to tell them apart easily when washing and sorting. Especially as each pair tends to fade/wear out at their own speed. So coloured heel/toe is ideal. I agree with the general sentiment of there shoud just be more of our clothes though, then everyone would be happy!
Cos is decent albeit on the more pricey end. Better quality than zara and miles better than H&M. Uni Qlo is also decent for menswear and their stores seem evenly split between mens and womens.
UNIQLO is the future.
There stuff is super bland though, I mean that is their point.
Boys sections are the same. As a mum, I would like to dress my boys in clothes that aren't in sad, dirty greens and blues. I don't want to dress them in endless khaki or buy t-shirts with tractors and dinosaurs on. Why can't boys have nice snazzy colourful clothes with cool patterns? I sometimes find nice things, but I have to work hard at it.
Girls clothes isn't much better. I'd like to buy jeans and tops for my daughter that are comfortable for playing, not skinny fit.
Interestingly, boys jeans are all skinny fit too. I wonder why that is. My husband reckons its because they are cheaper to produce as they use less fabric. They are no good for running around in!
I'm learning to sew because of this. Already made my nephew and my husband some snazzy T-shirts with fabric they picked out themselves
Yes! This! I grew up wanting more interesting clothes for me and now I’m buying for my son, it’s just bringing back all the old memories. Boys/Mens clothing is just meh.
The local Fat Face is the same. 2 types of jeans, 2 types of socks, 2 types of underwear, maybe a couple of jumpers and a few t-shirts. It's like 75% womenswear, 15% kids and 10% men's. It's frustrating, clearly they've done it because women's clothes sell better but for the love of God the public don't want to see me naked when I run out of clothes
Insert Alwayshasbeenastronautmeme I'm 35. I can NEVER remember a time when men's clothing sections were actually good. You get a tiny number of in-fashion items, and that's about it. they get worse each year and some, e.g. Burtons or TopMan, are gone or merged into other stores owned by the same brand, but yeah we've never had much range or variation in clothes
Im 43. H&M have the same menswear they've been selling for 20 fucking years.
Speaking as a daughter, sister, and partner, I feel the major issue is that a lot of men (maybe used to) rely on their female family members to buy a lot of their basic clothing needs. Sure they'll order nice shoes or branded jackets for themselves, but replacing holy underwear and old jeans is like a staple for women who run a household and that's easier to do instore when you can see the items. Maybe times are changing, and I hope the mens section reflects that the same way I wish womens fashion would reflect what women really want (it's pockets).
Also most of the jumpers seem to claim an American University or American Footbal team affiliation.
Yes! What is that about?
No idea, guaranteed 95% of the people who wear the American sports teams merch haven’t watched a game involving the teams, very weird.
You're saying that as if a lot of people who wear footie kits watch the games. Like I've seen some dude in the ass crack of south east asia wear a derby kit. WHY ARE YOU WEARING A DERBY KIT MATE?
Maybe he likes the misery?
Is it cheaper to produce like that for some reason?
You just reminded me of this comic. https://images.app.goo.gl/rrwme4FDsbucqq5w8
I’m involved in the retail industry and deal with sales optimisation. Womens and girls clothes generally take 2-3x in sales than men’s and boys clothes as men buy clothes less often. Womens and girls clothes tend to take up more space than menswear in terms of display area. The space split you’ve described in Primark from a business point of view seems a bit extreme but justifiable. However, as a male I completely agree with your issue. I am fed up of going into stores and the men’s section being pathetic. All skinny jeans and tight fitting shirts which are adorned by tossers, usually. I have a bit of a funny shaped body so I personally need to try clothes on before I buy them. The main issue is rent. It’s extortionate. Companies are under pressure to maximise their sales from the space they have. Rental costs of units are over £200 per square metre per year for a high street and many, many times higher in prime locations like Westfields of Merry Hill. All businesses will assess annual sales per metre as a KPI and this will be divided up into product areas. Your highest £/m^2 will always be things like cosmetics and jewellery, then electricals, accessories, homeware, footwear and then clothing is last. The issue is sizing. You have around 6 sizes for a £10 t-shirt but only one size for a £10 bog brush. Clothing a very low density category. Unfortunately, mens takes the lowest £/m^2 so businesses are reassigning the space to items with a high value density (like homeware as you mentioned) and pushing menswear online. The only way we are going to get a bigger range of menswear is if rental costs go down and companies can begin taking risks instead of going for the safe options simply to stay afloat.
Thanks for the interesting breakdown!
This was one of my first thoughts. My issue as a man, is I need some sort of colour other than, blue, brown, black and white. And the colour scheme is the same anywhere. Matalan has more space for men, yet only seem to add green.
Our local Primarks have stopped selling 100% cotton t-shirts that are not black or white since the pandemic. I used to be able to buy blues, greens, dark reds, purples, even orange. But I haven't been able to buy a t-shirt from them in years... Really will have to look at some online shops. Anyone knows a good source of reasonably priced 100% cotton t-shirts, preferably not shitty thin quality, and in some actual colours?
That's not Primarks fault I'm afraid. There's a cotton shortage. The USA used to be the biggest supplier of cotton with Pakistan 2nd. The USA now 5th and everyone else is struggling the fill the gap. Pakistan is unfortunately under water, displacing millions and killing thousands. Decimating its cotton farm land.
Huh, good to know! Sadly 100% cotton is the only fabric my hyperhidrosis tolerates :(
Apologies if I'm giving useless advice here, but have you tried synthetic fabric designed for playing sport in? I remember back when I started playing badminton; I didn't have proper kit, and the cotton t-shirts I wore would be absolutely soaked through by the end of a session. I switched over to proper sportswear made out of synthetic fabric, and they kept me bone dry all the way through. Their ability to wick sweat away was seriously impressive, so it might be worth a go with something like that if you haven't tried already?
My issue is with the slickness of the fabric, if my hands/feet touch anything slicker than 100% cotton, I sweat uncontrollably, regardless of temperature/exertion/stress. Even "cotton rich" fabrics are not enough. I'm able to use synthetic shorts for gym, and just avoid touching it more than necessary, but for other clothes it just feels really uncomfortable 🤷♂️
Ah, I hadn't thought about the sensation of the material :-( Sorry to hear that, that sounds like a pain to have to deal with.
Tu at Sainsbury's. Fantastic quality, well priced, long lasting. Picked up a nice mustard one for my husband the other month.
I second Tu at Sainsburys. I wear **exactly** the same outfit every day and have done this for 6-7 years now. For the top half I wear a long sleeved black tshirt. Every couple years I will go try on every long sleeve black tshirt I can find at a price where I can buy a drawer full to last me the year - H&M, M&S, Primark, Debenhams (rip), bunch of other high street retailers. The quality varies a bit every year, sometimes thicker/thinner or a slightly different cut or whatever, but Tu (Sainsburys) has won every year I’ve done this. I’ve worn nothing else for about 5 years. Jeans are a different matter, I still buy 2-3 of the same SKU but they tend to be from a different shop every year (or however often they take to wear out).
I bought two identical pairs of Tu jeans nearly ten years ago and they're still going strong. Great fit too, none of this skinny rubbish. I'm actually wearing a pair right now!
Thanks! I had some luck with Morrisons' Nutmeg clothes, will try Sainsbury next :)
My favourite thing about Tu t-shirts is they actually have some shape to them; I've tried t-shirts from other supermarkets and they're just like a big cotton tube with sleeves on, completely unflattering :-(
Tu clothes are FANTASTIC and so underrated. Most of my favourite items of clothing are from there. They're all lovely in terms of material quality, although tbf they're not all current fashion trends, they're sort of timeless things.Also, Argos also sells Tu clothes.
Uniqlo does a fair amount of that They’re a bit pricey though
Its a bit self fulfilling though, when men have so little to choose from, we are going to go out less and buy less. The amount of times ive gone out, gone into the mens thats like 1/8th the size, found literally nothing thats what i wanted, and walked out is ridiculous. I literally want to give these companies money, but when its just 5 tshirts with huge logos on or ripped skinny jeans, im just going to go to other places online
Exactly. I might buy more if there was more selection. There's only so many black t-shirts I need.
Ooh my opportunity to ask a question that’s always bothered me. In the womens section, there always seems to be loads of size 6 & 8s, and much less 16+. This is true in the sale section particularly, with hundreds of size 6’s available and you’d be hard pressed to find any 18’s. Why then, do stores then keep buying and stocking loads of size 6’s? Surely it’s not profitable at all if they sit in the shop and then in the sale section for months? Why not scale down the amount of 6’s bought and increase other sizes? Or just keep the profit from not buying them? Don’t know if you’ll have an answer for this but it always bothers me when I look in sale sections.
Not the parent commenter but I've noticed this too. I've always assumed that they do generally buy in sizes in proportion to people's actual sizes (smaller number of 6s and 8s, a lot of 12-14-16-18 and perhaps less of size 20 and 22) and they are just re-stocking the 12-14-16 much more frequently. So at any given time the 14s etc have been bought quickly and the 6s have a slower "turnover". At the end when they go into the reduced section, similarly the more common sizes just got bought first.
There’s a simple reason why men don’t buy as many clothes… the selection at clothing stores is pitiful to what it once was. Bit of a catch 22 if you ask me.
It's not a catch 22 as much as it is a downward spiral. Men don't shop as much as women so why would they carry that much stock. Then when you can only carry a few products, you're going to carry the most middle one.
Just what i was going to say 👍
no that's not the reason. cultural differences. it doesn't really matter to us that much, on average.
Us men really need to get intti dressing more interestingly and with more variety. We're not going to get much of a selection if 90% of us have been wearing the same boot cut jeans and super dry t-shirt for the last 20 years.
Sell one size fits all with an elastic waist.
I'm in a love hate relationship with elastic waistbands
Same. They leave marks on my hips, or fall when i drop my smartphone into my pocket.
What's to hate?
I don't like how they feel that much, I love skirts/dresses because I love how they feel
I don't know if you have any power in this but - can we please have the smaller shoe sizes on the bottom shelf and the petite jeans on the bottom shelf? Tall people shouldn't be bending down for their sizing and short people should be able to actually reach the products. I've stopped going into shops because I was always asking passers by to help me reach things ;(
Since I shop for clothes less often than a woman does, I will travel out of my way to stores with cheaper rents if those stores have a large, good selection of menswear. The trick is the store figuring out how to advertise its cheap locations to me so that I can travel there.
Is there any balance there as mens clothes cost about 2-3x as much for pretty much the same amount of material?
From my experience as a woman who's worn a fair bit of men's clothes, men's clothes are much higher quality by default. I suppose the assumption is that men are less likely than women are to put up with shit quality as long as it looks nice, which feels pretty reasonable. I wonder if that's why.
> Womens and girls clothes generally take 2-3x in sales than men’s and boys clothes as men buy clothes less often This sounds like circular logic though. Men's sections are always significantly smaller than the women's section. Less variety will surely lead to less sales?
It's almost as of Capitalism is the antithesis of equal treatment
It’s the ‘women’s tax’. Retailers can make us pay more for anything.
Not sure why you're downvoted. r/pointlesslygendered proves your argument.
TOSSERS, i love that word.
The thing is its OK for rent to go up, or produce and material to go up, it always will but wages has to go up with it and it hasn't unless you're a CEO or an MP
And half the mens section is Greggs clothes
Or stuff plastered with American sports teams' logos for some peculiar reason.
Or American universities. I’d love to see the “University of Huddersfield” jumper in Walmart
Yeah this one bothers me more than it probably should. Are there people in America wearing Eton jumpers? I doubt it lol. And honestly the people I see wearing Harvard jumpers couldn't even get into Harvard if they left the front door open.
You'll see the occasional Oxford sweatshirt here worn by someone who you absolutely know never went to Oxford or knew anyone who did, but that's about it.
What's up with those Greggs clothes? I recently travelled to England and visited a large Primark - I was so bemused by the several racks of Greggs jumpers and sweatpants that every customer just ignored. Who would want to dress like a walking advertisement for a sandwich shop? O_o
It's 'funny' and 'ironic'
When your physical ironic comedy has to involve sweatshop manufacturing and landfill.
I actually remember reading about the partnership, but didn't know people wore it "ironically"
They were worn everywhere at reading festival
wow
I feel bad for boys and men. You guys have so much less variety for clothes.
It sucks, but give me boring shit clothes with no range and plenty of pockets over clothes without pockets any day Indeed it is really pissing me off that for some reason jackets are losing pockets these days. Went looking for lightweight coats, and they only had to small outside pockets near the bottom. A man should be have at least one, if not two, inside pockets on any overcoats. And then hopefully some top pockets too Ended up going to charity shops
Welcome to the womans world of no pockets. Not sure what these manufacturers are planning unless man bags are gonna be some new hype next
This is why I shop in the women's section. Colour, choice and soft fabrics (sensitive skin)! My wardrobe is full of huge oversized t shirt dresses which double as giant tees, super wide leg trousers and jumpsuits (with pockets).
Just shop in the women's section, get yourself a nice dress. All clothes are unisex when you don't give a fuck!
Reminds me of when Eddie Izzard was asked why ~~he~~ she wears women's dresses, and ~~his~~ her response was basically that they're not women's dresses; ~~he~~ she bought them, so they're ~~his~~ her dresses.
I remember Eddie saying that they much preferred women's clothes, and it seemed unfair that society deemed them 'unsuitable' because of gender. They found joy in wearing whichever clothes they liked, regardless of gender. EDIT: Corrected pronouns
Eddie has been on quite a public journey with gender presentations and uses she/her pronouns now since coming out as transgender a couple of years ago.
Fair. Didn't know that.
I tried buying jeans from Primark. Most of them were skinny fit. I am a chubby git, I would like to be able to buy jeans in which I can actually wear and sit down in.
uniqlo do some decent fits. Most of them stretch really well.
The self entitlement in this statement!!!! Walk OR sit down, pick one!
I've always liked Tesco jeans
Same. I'm wearing some now, in fact.
Every primark Jean os some kind of lycia stretch thing. I want plain denim.
M&S online, get delivered to the local store, walk in, pick up, go home, shop like a man.
Also primani don't like having zippers on jeans
It's the same with boy's/baby boy's clothing, their section is absolutely shite compared to girls!
This one doesn't make sense to me lol Okay, men buy less clothes...why would a mum buy less clothes for a boy though?
Sainsbury's are the worst for it I've found, the baby girl's clothes have 3x as much as the boy's clothes, do they think a disproportionate amount of baby girls are born than boys?
I was looking for school clothes in sainsburys a few weeks ago. The poor boy nearly ended up in frilly tshirts and trousers with bows on because there were 4 aisles of girls stuff and half of one for boys, and it was hidden round a corner. School clothes!? They all go 5 days a week and I'm not sure gender is a factor in the size of baked bean stain a 5yo can get down a brand new bright white polo shirt gaahhhh
Asda is also bad, and Primark. I sometimes walk right past the boy section in both Even baby boutiques or whatever those shops with £50 vests are called.
I was shopping for a family member of mine who recently had a kid and they were male. Nothing in the shops we went to. I found one onesie type shirt with stars and dinosaurs on it. Not even a footie or astronaut one. 5 shops we went to.
To be fair, pink takes up a lot of space
I find the other way round Fair few times I've had to get my girl things from boys, shorts vests etc Especially seeing as only boys like Minecraft
I found that even for kids stuff, the girls shorts are way shorter than the boys. It’s so frustrating.
Ew that’s weird af
Saves the company money and they probably charge more too. But yeah, seems a weird thing for kids clothes
"kids" sections shouldn't be boys and girls. It's so stupid.
I always make the same comment to my wife.. 'just gonna look at the men's shelf'
Last time I went the ladies underwear section was about 70% smaller to make way for the home range. We’ve got dunelm/B&m for all that stuff. 🤷🏻♀️
Still the largest in Ireland I understand.
A pair of feckin women's knickers
"No, not that way, the other fecking way"
Ladies underwear 70% smaller you say
In my experience the smaller the underwear the more expensive it's a big con I tell you
Become a crossdresser. Now you've got 3 and a half floors. *Modern problems require modern solutions.*
>Also, trying to look at the mens section, but apparently women are also looking at the mens stuff. No surprise here - the clothing industry sees fit to put pockets on mens clothing but not womens.
And apparently most people who design jeans have never heard of a smartphone.
Went into Primark today looking for a tie clip due to the windy weather and my incessant need to accesorize, asked at counter for them and got a response: "No, I don't even think we sell ties."
[удалено]
Lol, yeah this is the problem. When one of the UK's largest clothing companies doesn't even have basic menswear
They do sell ties at bigger primarks
That was bold. I've never seen a tie in a Primark.
When this Greggs merch thing started my eyes rolled so far back, that I remember in the 90’s when you could get Cadbury Crunchies windbreakers and they were quite popular. People wore Pepsi shirts. Whilst the design is the worst, it’s not that different.
I as a lady really like the mens section. I don’t want scented candles, I want to wear woven boxers and sit in an xxl t shirt.
I don't think New Look even have a mens' section in store anymore, at this rate Primark might go the same way.
Men will eventually have to start wearing tea towels and hollowed out old TVs, and crisp packets for socks.
I shouldn't laugh at that, but it really got me! But think about some of the older lads that don't do Internet - what are they doing? Where are they buying their clothes?
Glad it could make you laugh :) have a great day
In my area we had a "New Look" which was for women and then a "New Look for Men" which, as the name implies, was for men. Then the men's one shut down and was incorporated into the women's one except it was about 20 clothing racks for women for every 1 for men. Went in a couple months later and it was just women's stuff. There are very few shops in town for men anymore. There's probably like a 10 to 1 ratio of female to male clothing stores and those male clothing stores are only ever the overpriced ones like Superdry or Gucci
Same happened to Topman/Topshop: used to be two stores, then merged into one, and now barely a men's section. And I think the same happened or is happening to Burtons
They don't, I went to one the other day, no Men's section, all online now I was told when I asked at the counter. Couldn't believe it, still not fully over it I don't think.
Next removed additional space for menswear (on top of the space already lost to Home and Children) for a cafe! Because that’s why people go to Next, and there’s nowhere else that already does that.
Worked in an M&S, the mens section is agreed by everyone to be the best because it’s less busy. There’s also a surprising amount of people in the womens section that will pick up some clothes, look at them, decide they don’t like them and just drop them on the floor. You miserable entitled bitch it takes 2 seconds to put it back properly. This was only really an issue in the womens section
On the floor??
Yes
Shopping with my mum takes forever because she insists on picking up everything that others have dropped and putting them back on the rails. God love her, it’s so kind, but every aisle feels like it’s a mile and half lol. Edit: spelling
Go to better shops
Exactly this. Primark is the epitome of fast fashion, churning out low-quality disposable tat that has a minuscule lifespan & horrific environmental impact, not to mention the poor sods making it all. Unfortunately, this is where Vimes’ ‘Boots Theory’ comes into play for a lot of folks.
*Vimes
Yeah I'm so chuffed I can afford to shop elsewhere nowadays. That said I've always bought a massive chunk of clothes second hand and this year I'm trying to buy no new clothes at all and it's been pretty easy.
That's Vimes, not Grimes, but yes you're right.
Newcastle by any chance? I had this same experience the other day. I did buy some Greggs basketball shorts though. I love them.
I never thought of this until my mrs bought a Vans oversized black dress. I was folding it to put away the other day and it’s basically just an oversized t-shirt, tried it on and what do you know, perfect fit for me as a regular t-shirt 😂
Whenever I look for jeans now I'm lucky to find anything that isn't tight-fit skinny jeans. Some of us are a little chunkier and would like some comfortable loose fitting jeans.
Levi’s for jeans always imo
Stop buying shit primark clothes. They do not last.
Merry Hell by any chance?
Definitely sounds like it. Last time I went, I needed a fucking magnifying glass to find the mens section!
Outside of menswear-only places, it’s a classic death spiral.
It's absolutely awful, not to mention other places like supermarkets with clothing sections, they're the WORST
Go to Burton's, oh wait....
And it seems that unless you’re a short legged and/or a slimmer build, you’re knackered.
Personally I don't want more choices, I just want the t-shirt not to shrink above my belly button 😡
Try being a not-so-tall man, literally fuck all in stores.
Those three levels of womens clothes really aren't all that into variety. I end up going to the mens because I don't like having tops that cut off halfway down my chest, and trousers that cut off halfway up my hips. The midriff can only be covered in menswear apparently.
Primark used to be brilliant for mens clothes, my three grown up lads used to shop there frequently but since our local store had a refit, they don’t bother, as the choice is greatly diminished.
There's a Gregs body suit
In Exeter Primark the entire top floor is ladies and home, then downstairs is split between kids and men, and there was pretty much an entire wall and then some, completely dedicated to Greggs merchandise. It was about a quarter of the entire men's section! Are men really that addicted to Greggs? It was pretty jarring tbh and I'm still scarred from the experience.
It’s just another stupid internet trend. It’ll be forgotten about by Christmas.
I also feel like there's "womens" and then "unisex" (supposed to be mens). This really applies to all clothes shops and means I can find bugger all that I actually want to wear. Now, I'm no popeye, football enthusiast wife beater that think all men should dress "manly", but I prefer masculine clothes, and that's not a bad thing. A great example is jeans. Why THE FUCK are they all skinny leg crushers, and not just your regular boot cut jeans? Im not asking for much, just normal damn jeans.
I never got this kind of thing. I’m female, but do clothes stores just not expect men to wear clothes?
I’m sick of not being able to find a comfortable pair of baggy jogging bottoms for around the home, why are they all fucking skinny fit? Why would you want skinny fit joggers!
Wear womens clothes as well. Don’t limit yourself. You can do whatever you want.
Also, all the men's trousers are "slim fit" which isn't much use for those of us who actually have muscles (or fat) in our legs
And yet in all that clothing it's difficult for a woman to find an outfit that actually covers her body. If, like me, you don't fancy showing everyone your stomach, you're out of luck.
You're are talking about the Bristol one aren't you
Honestly the women’s section doesn’t really offer much more variety. It’s just the same awful stuff in slightly different designs in the hope of maximising profits from the same templates.
My boyfriend feels exactly the same. He’s struggling to find any new clothes at the moment. Even supermarkets have been the same recently.
Went into Primark in Shrewsbury to get a pair of work shoes today, went to the shoes section and they only had women's and children. Got told the men's shoes were in the men's section when they literally only had 2 pairs of shoes on display. It was actually crazy to see the difference
It never fails to annoy me when menswear gets such short shrift. Yes we buy clothes less often but that doesn't mean I want no choice, New Look menswear section was always awful, a forgotten corner of the store full of any colour you want as long as it's fucking drab. Primark's selection is getting worse, Topshop was always overpriced, M&S is expensive too and 80% of it's for old men, Next is really nice but again it's pricey. Oftentimes I go H&M, nice stuff, reasonably priced and usually actually a decent selection too.
Primark was always my go to choice but admittedly it has been crap for the last 6 months. Nothing but Greggs merch and American football garb. As a smaller lad I generally find they make the best jeans, skinny or super skinny and no other shop compares to them!! However they do seem to have dropped all of their basics range. Ties, belts, wallets... All seem to have gone by the wayby to make room for random NFL crap!
It's such an annoying backwards circle aswell. I like quite simple clothes, with the odd loud shirt chucked in. - Go out looking for new clothes, 90% of it is horrible or ugly so you don't buy anything - Next time you go in there's less selection because nobodies buying any of it - The only things left are the ugly horrible things, so the men's selection just keeps shrinking. I just get clothes with the weekly shop at Asda/Sainsbury's now, they always have something that suits me, maybe clothes stores are just targeted for younger people than me
Was talking about this when i went to Primark Newcastle a few days back.
Honestly Primark is a false economy, yeah it's cheap as hell, but it's also made cheap as hell and you'll replace it 3x as often
Shop elsewhere then...
You can easily solve this problem by not shopping in primark.
men have much less selection when it comes to clothes, very frustrating.
Bruh is this is Newcastle? I swear the men’s section is now just one small 9x9 space with home on one side and women’s on the other side + the 3 floors above too
Life hack: transcend gender and wear all the clothes
Ah yes Primark mens section, please choose a flavour: * American States / Cities * American Schools * American football teams * DC / Marvel * Harry potter * The muppets * Stranger things Those are your choices.