Full Marks? No Marks? Primark gets both and neither. (Primark)

Member Name: bondgirlk8

Product:	Primark
Date:	29/12/08 (394 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very cheap, excellent supplier of fabric

Disadvantages: Over-thumbed, make-up stained products, over busy, messy, questionable ethics, etc.etc.

Primark as a supplier of actual clothing that I would actually wear? No. I don't think so. Much as I like a bargain, I don't go in for the wear once and throw away market. I'm unsure how it can be ethical, despite its claims, whilst managing to produce products quite so cheaply. I'm also not happy with the consumption of the Earth's increasingly scarce resources to produce that which after a few wears will become landfill - I'm unsure of the charity resale value for donated goods that cost only a pound or two new. I am a strong believer of value-for-money not simply being about the cheapest.

Add to that the whole shopping 'experience'. The stores are messy, horrifically busy, much of the stock is tainted with rubbed off make-up or general crap-from-the-floor, the queues for the changing rooms are so bad that some delightful people resort to just using the middle of the store (seriously, I saw someone doing this in the lingerie section of the Marble Arch store - that is plain wrong). And then there is the clientele. Now, I don't mean to be a big nasty snob, but I struggle with some of the customers - pushing their greasy, MacDonald's fuelled bodies around in a greedy bargain-crazed frenzy with little care over the damage caused to both stock and people by their pushing and shoving. Yucky.

I recently had to leave a Primark store when a trip through the lingerie section (different trip to the one above) actually made my fiancé retch. Yes, a proper real genuine, HURWEH-URRRGH style dry-heave. After that, I couldn't really bring myself to stay and had to return at a later date, alone.

So why, given all of the evidence pointing to a one-star rating at best have I seen fit to give it 3 whole stars? Am I just a hypocrite? Well, a bit, yes.

My reasoning is this. Yes, it is a poor clothes shop, but it is a wonderful supplier of fabric. My involvement in the performing arts means I am regularly required to provide costumes for various shows. London living and the frittering of all my income on dance classes tends to leave me with a budget-per-show of around tuppence, so whatever I go with has to be both dirt cheap, and look amazing....on stage at least.

Now, Primark mass-produced items clearly do not look amazing. Luckily, I own both a sewing machine and a tiny bit of imagination - so all I really need is fabric. Not only is Primark cheaper than buying 'raw' fabric (I know, it makes no sense), it is thoughtfully pre-arranged in a vaguely body like shape. In this way, Primark, I have to admit, has been good to me.

The other problem with shop bought costume (assuming for a moment that cost is not an issue) is that it is pretty dull and unimaginative. The low cost of the Primark clothes means I'm happy to tear and cut away at it and transform it into something far more exciting. This also means, thankfully, that sizing doesn't really matter, because as long as it is bigger than me then I can do something with it. I say 'thankfully' because surely I can't be alone in noticing the complete and utter randomness of the Primark sizing system. It really does change on every piece you pick up. How can this size 12 item be too tight, yet this size 6 drown me? Given that I'm hacking it, I don't have to worry so much, I can always make it smaller.

Another sneaky tip from the fabric point of view is to check out the men's department (unless you yourself are a man where this, clearly, is obvious). I recently needed a waistcoat for a show, the ladies ones were around £12 - quite pricey really. I picked up a bargain from the men's section for £2.50 which I re-tailored to fit me.

So, how good is it? Well, the fabric itself, depending on what you get, isn't anywhere near as bad as I was expecting. It sews quite nice and doesn't feel too rough. The colours can run a little bit when you wash them with some items, but as long as you separate colours and wash low, this isn't a problem.

Of course, if you plan to take this approach, success is very dependent upon your own level of skill. I'm good enough to make something for the stage (where you can get away with so much more, and it only has to last as long as the show runs for) but I'm not quite there with making everyday wear, though I'm learning fast.

I do feel bad encouraging a company that really I am ethically against. But at least with me, the items will live a long and happy life. At the end of the show, my items go back into my fabric box to be re-transformed ready to star in another show.

If you are going give it a try, here is my advice to make Primark work for you:

1. Go early to avoid the masses as much as possible. By 'early' I mean opening time.
2. If you plan to wear the item as it comes, try it on. The sizing cannot be trusted.
3. If you are using it as 'fabric' buy big (it's easier to make something smaller than bigger) and judge this by holding it up or trying it on and making sure.
4. Check quality levels before you make a purchase - some items fall apart much quicker than others and like the sizing, its pot-luck! It's less of a bargain if you only get to wear it once.
5. Wash it before you wear it to remove any funk picked up in the store.
6. Wash it on a very low temperature and with similar colours so that the fabric lasts longer and the colours don't run.
7. At the end of its life, if you can't transform it into something else to give it a new life, donate it somewhere that can actually use it, or rag it and use it around the house - landfill shouldn't be the price.

Thanks for reading.

© Bondgirlk8 - December 2008

Summary: Cheaper than buying the material - but that shouldn't be good.