This summer, the phrase I'm saying the most is not 'White wine spritzer' or 'Can you pass the , please?', rather it's 'Thanks, it's M&S'. The titan has become more than my port-of-call for picnic picky bits to see me to fill holes in my wardrobe, while scratching a sartorial itch left unresolved by others. It’s getting me compliments left, right and centre.
Lucky for you then: I’ve given up on gatekeeping. In revealing outfit origins, what I’ve found is that I'm not the only one buying what the High Street store is selling. For those of us born and raised on the Great British High Street, Marks & Spencer has always been there.
It's been there for our baby grows, our school summer dresses, our first bra and not forgetting a lunchtime meal deal. What it's not always been there for are statement pieces that feel driven by trends with simultaneous classic, enduring appeal. There have been times over the yers when Marks & Spencer clothes may have felt dreary, or too try-hard.
Too many sequins and arresting prints. However, we've always loved their knickers (recent statistics share that the store sells 114 pairs every minute). Now, all of a sudden, I’m finding that my most-complimented pieces are from M&S.
And I’m stopping to look for more as I go collect my dinner treats, coming out with far more than a rotisserie chicken. My obsession started earlier this summer when I got my hands on its white cotton square-neck midi dress. I’d seen the Sara Sampaio campaign and so hastily went to M&S Marble Arch, London (quieter in a really good way than Oxford Street, even in peak hours) where I picked up three to try for size.
It’s great. I’ve scarcely taken it off, whether it’s been to wander Charleston or to watch Girls Aloud. The roomy sizing meant that I went for the smaller of the three and I later picked up the green stripe version.
On top of this, I’ve bought just under a dozen other pieces this season. It sounds grandiose and unnecessary, but my wardrobe has been starved of affordable, reliable pieces for far too long. My colleague, Grace Clark, 's shopping editor agrees.
'In the time of Instagram retailers and the fastest fashion you could ever want, M&S has been carving its own path with a new generation of shoppers,' she affirms. 'It seems almost entirely untarnished by its own supermarket-adjacent status, if anything, it helps as a guarantee of quality and the comfort of familiarity. It feels like the go-to spot for 30-somethings looking for affordable clothing and quality pieces.
' The way that M&S has me shopping and feeling takes me back to the time when Topshop was, well, everything. And it all makes sense. Maddy Evans, M&S’ now womenswear director is Topshop alumni and a seasoned fashion know-it-all with a Central Saint Martins degree.
It’s clear that Evans knows what women — now a little more grown-up than when in their Topshop era — want. ‘We pride ourselves on taking inspiration from all aspects of the creative world,’ Evans tells . ‘From the latest trends on the catwalk to the M&S archive and our design teams taking trips to source inspiration.
’ This bountiful supply of inspiration now manifests on the shop floor in pieces that offer a nod to the quiet luxury trend with a muted palette of earthy tones interspersed by just the right amount of bold colours. Quiet luxury in M&S’ hands doesn’t feel trend-driven, but more earnest and honest. A safe space.
Meanwhile, prints feel elevated and elegant and silhouettes fall towards the more modest and classic side of things, which sits in stark contrast with M&S’ price peers. ‘Our most important challenge is then taking that inspiration and turning it into stylish, versatile collections we know our customers will love and wear for seasons to come,’ Evans adds. I’ve found that these pieces, whether a cotton A-line skirt or a short-sleeved Cashmere sweater sit well with my pre-existing wardrobe and the labels that line it.
The M&S pieces don’t cheapen my fancy favourites, but allow them to sit centre stage and thus my M&S pieces become worthy of a Best Supporting Academy Award. You can imagine it’s a nice moment for the M&S design team to have their sartorial endeavours back in favour once again. We might not know them, but they clearly know us.
‘We take so much pride in our in-house design team and we are so thrilled that their hard work and meticulous passion for creating desirable products for M&S is paying off,’ Evans says. ‘There is always such excitement in the air when an item of clothing or accessory goes viral.’ Sorry, Colin.
But you’re no longer M&S’ only viral sensation. Now, it’s clothing and accessories that get the TikTok airtime, where millennials and some Gen Z creators wax lyrical on their M&S finds. It’s a world away from the time when clothing sales were falling year-on-year for nearly a decade.
Be it a great tailored suit or hyper-flattering denim, M&S is doing something right. There’s no point gatekeeping. M&S has always been for everyone and the same still stands even if it is in its 'trend' era.
Freelancer.
