Has Marks & Spencer lost the fashion plot?

CONGRATULATIONS to Muriel Conway for speaking out at the Marks & Spencer annual meeting (Mail). Every word she said is true. Like her, i used to sew and had ten years in the rag trade. i have also been a loyal M&S customer for 70 years. This season, there’s just nothing outstanding: the materials are like old-fashioned, heavy brocade curtains, thick, rough and trashy. The colours are dreadful. Checking for linings, i found none in the jackets or skirts which need it. The designers might like to take a look at the gents wear, made from good cloth, which has been manufactured for a good while now. M&S’s buyers don’t seem to have any idea on how to put together materials and colours that make an outfit smart and elegant.

G. SULLIVAN, Rotherham, S. Yorks. I AGREE 100 per cent with Muriel Conway’s criticism of M&S. The women’s clothes are a disaster: illsized, poor fitting and necklines too low. I’m 5 ft 2 in and size , but find it almost impossible to buy ‘short’ in trousers. The standard suggestion when I ask in store is to order online. This entails extra cost and, almost inevitably, returning the items as they seldom fit. How on earth has M&S come to this? It insists on chasing fashion and has abandoned what was once its strong point — style. Stop trying to be Primark, it doesn’t suit you.

ALICE FOX, Gatley, Cheshire. i DEPLORE the sensationalist criticism of M&S clothes. Mrs Conway is stuck in a time-warp. Far from being crude, vulgar and cheap, M&S provides a wider range of prices and designs than ever before, competing with high-end retailers. The mid-to-high price range is wellcut and the materials of good quality. The vast majority of High Street fashion is not to my taste but i realise i’m not everyone. M&S is often featured in fashion magazines and the featured clothes sell out before you can get your hands on them.

CATHERINE DACK, Fleckney, Leics.