And the "Next" problem?..... (Next Directory)

Member Name: nicola21

Product:	Next Directory
Date:	09/04/01 (161 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: What are they?

Disadvantages: Many!

I know that many, many people love Next clothing and footwear, but I challenge you, why? Why do so many people love Next? Is it that great? Are the clothes that good? And why, oh why, do people start queuing outside the little retail outlets nation-wide as early as 6am to get to the reduced sale clothes first?

In my opinion, which I just know others will certainly disagree with, Next are not that hot as a clothing retailer, and their home-shopping catelogue, Next Directory, is nothing other than an extension of what is available in stores. The Next craze is utter madness. I have to admit that I still have a denim jacket from Next that I have had no problems with and am very fond of, but the rest of the products that I have purchased from this company are very bad quality at a very steep price.

Swept along with the general fascination of Next, as everyone seems to be, I went through a phase of buying their clothes. The design of most items is very simple and classic with some more retro and seventies clours and designs creeping in nowadys as fashion has changed. Some of these simple, blending designs have caught my eye and I have succumbed to buying them. However, after only a few wears and washes, (I wasn't putting the clothes through any strain, and I was observing the washing instructions), one by one, the items began to, well... malfunction, not serve their purpose, fall apart, I don't know how to describe it, but my new clothes appeared to be nothing other than tat.

A jumper that I had bought shrunk considerably after the first handwash, and the stitching came undone completely up the seam of one arm. Extensive repairs and stretching managed to save my invested £40 and I have worn it occassionally since. It isn't a delicate fibre either, just plain old wool with the added necessaries they mix in with fabrics nowadays. Other tops that I have bought, have all fallen to bits with seams undoing and loose threads r
uining the look of the items, again after a short while of owning them. Exchanged items for faulty ones have done exactly the same. It wasn't just the bad apples I was picking.

The hems always fall down on their trousers and if you examine brand new items, you can see that the stitching is poor and very loose, so there is your answer, however, if you are paying around £50 for their products, you do expect better quality. Other stretchy jumpers from Next have lost their stretch and ballooned into shapeless bits of material, especially around the neckline.

Most of the shoes they sell are all flat-heeled, or only an inch high, which isn't appealing to many females. The trousers are available in "longer length" and the length is adequate, but once washed they appear to shrink an inch or two which is disastrous for the longer-legged female who solely paid out for the trousers because they specified the longer length.

I have given Next a fair try, and out of about fifteen items I have purchased from them, only one, being the denim jacket has lasted for a satisfactory period of time without problems. When I shop, I am quite picky, but I normally walk into a store or look at a catelogue and spot what I like immediately. There will always be styles and designs that do not appeal, but every company mormally has a wide range of possible prospective buys. Next, despite its extensive catelogue range, does not. Very few if any, caught my eye from the most recent of their catelogues which I was perusing at a friend's house the other day.

Next as a company are highly over-rated with little variation and choice of decent clothes, and from personal experience the poor quality of many items certainly do not warrant the disgustingly extortionate prices charged.

Sorry Next, it's Room 101 for you!

Summary: