Okay, so picture this: I’m at some fancy fashion event in downtown Austin, wearing this absolutely gorgeous brown silk skirt I’d thrifted from M&S when I was visiting my friend in London last year. Like, this thing was £35 and looked way more expensive than half the designer pieces floating around the room. I’d paired it with this oversized sweater and my trusty Doc Martens, going for that whole “effortlessly cool” vibe that fashion TikTok is obsessed with.
So I’m talking to this influencer who has like 2 million followers and works with all the major brands, right? She literally stops mid-sentence, stares at my skirt, and goes “Wait, is that from The Row?” For context, The Row is like… stupid expensive. We’re talking $800+ for a basic skirt expensive. I could’ve just nodded and taken the compliment, but honestly? I was way too excited about my find to lie.
“Actually, it’s M&S,” I said, probably grinning like an idiot. “Got it for like forty bucks when I was in the UK.”
Her reaction was priceless. Instead of being all snooty about it, she got super interested and started asking where exactly I found it and if they shipped to the US. Turns out she’d been secretly shopping their website for months because “they have some genuinely good pieces mixed in with the mom clothes.”
And that’s the thing about M&S that nobody talks about on social media – yeah, it’s where British moms buy their sensible knickers and work blouses, but they also randomly drop these incredible pieces that look way more expensive than they are. It’s like fashion roulette. Most of their stuff is pretty forgettable, but when they nail something, they really nail it.
I’ve been creating content around fashion finds for a few years now, and some of my most popular “where did you get that?” moments have been M&S pieces. Not the obvious stuff – nobody’s asking about their basic t-shirts or whatever – but those random gems that somehow made it through their design process looking actually chic.
Take their cashmere, which is like fashion people’s worst-kept secret. Every time I post a cozy outfit video featuring one of their cashmere sweaters, my comments blow up with people convinced it’s from some expensive brand. I bought this oversized cream cashmere turtleneck last winter for like $90, and it’s been in so many of my videos that people recognize it. But the quality is genuinely comparable to sweaters that cost three times as much.
I wore it to this brand event a few months ago, and the PR person – who was literally surrounded by $500 sweaters from the brand she was repping – asked where mine was from. When I told her M&S, she immediately pulled out her phone to take notes. That’s when you know you’ve found something good – when people whose job it is to know expensive clothes can’t tell the difference.
Their leather boots are another thing that consistently surprises people. I have these chunky Chelsea boots from them that I bought for like $80, and they’ve become my go-to for literally everything. Grocery shopping, coffee dates, even fancier events when I want to add some edge to a dress. The leather actually looks and feels expensive, not like that cheap stuff that starts cracking after two months.
I was doing a collaboration with this other creator last month, and she spent half the shoot asking about my boots. She was convinced they were some expensive Scandinavian brand she hadn’t heard of. When I showed her the M&S label inside, she made me send her the link immediately. “They look way more expensive than they are,” which is honestly the best compliment any affordable piece can get.
But here’s what’s really wild – I’ve had some of these pieces for years, and they still hold up. That brown silk skirt I mentioned? I’ve worn it probably fifty times, washed it carefully, and it still looks brand new. For something that cost less than most people spend on brunch, the cost-per-wear is insane.
Their knitwear game has seriously improved too. Like, they used to make these really frumpy, shapeless sweaters that screamed “middle-aged mom,” but now they’re doing more interesting silhouettes and better fits. I have this ribbed merino wool sweater with slightly puffy sleeves that I got last winter, and it’s been in rotation constantly. The subtle design details make it look way more thoughtful than a basic sweater, you know?
At this dinner party I went to (okay, it was just my friend’s birthday, but still), another content creator there was examining my sweater like she was studying for an exam. She works with luxury brands all the time, so when she asked if it was from COS or Arket – both brands that are significantly more expensive – I knew I’d found a winner. Her reaction to finding out it was M&S was this mix of surprise and respect, like I’d pulled off some kind of fashion magic trick.
Summer pieces are where they really started to impress me though. I grabbed this black linen shirt dress during that brutal Texas heat wave we had, and it became my uniform. Pure linen, properly cut, with actual good buttons – not those cheap plastic ones that look obviously budget. I wore it to work, to events, basically everywhere air conditioning existed.
My manager at the boutique actually asked if I was wearing something from our store because it looked so polished. When I told her it was M&S, she was genuinely shocked. “It doesn’t look high street at all,” she said, which coming from someone who sees designer pieces every day, felt like a major win.
Their silk shirts are probably what surprises people the most though. I have this dark green one that I’ve had for ages, and the silk weight is actually substantial – not that thin, cheap-feeling stuff that wrinkles if you look at it wrong. It travels well, looks professional for work content, but also works for going-out looks when styled right.
Just last week I wore it to this networking event for content creators, and three different people asked where it was from. One girl was convinced it was Equipment, which is like $200+ for a silk shirt. When I revealed it was M&S, the whole group got interested and started talking about their own secret high street finds. Turns out everyone has at least one piece they’re slightly embarrassed about loving.
The midi dresses they’ve been doing lately are honestly fire too. They finally figured out how to do prints that don’t look cheap and fits that aren’t weird and boxy. I have this navy one with tiny stars all over it that I wear constantly. The cut is so similar to this Ghost dress I tried on once but couldn’t afford, except this was like a third of the price.
I wore it to this book launch event (okay, it was my friend’s poetry reading, but there were actual literary people there), and got compliments all night. One woman who works in fashion journalism was examining the print up close, impressed that it didn’t have that obvious “cheap high street” look. Fashion people are so weird about touching clothes, by the way – they just reach out and start feeling fabric like it’s totally normal.
Their coats are where they really blow my mind though. I invested in this camel double-breasted wool coat a couple years ago, and it’s probably the most expensive-looking thing in my closet. The tailoring is actually good, the proportions are right, and it has that timeless quality that makes people assume it cost way more than it did.
I’ve worn it to so many events, and people consistently think it’s designer. This one editor I met at a fashion popup was convinced it was vintage Max Mara until I showed her the label. She admitted she had their navy version for “everyday wear,” which is fashion person code for “I secretly love this affordable piece but don’t want to seem uncool.”
Even their pajamas are surprisingly good. I know, I know – who cares about pajamas? But when you’re creating lifestyle content, you end up showing your sleepwear sometimes, and their satin sets actually photograph well. I bought the emerald green ones for a “nighttime routine” video, and the comments were full of people asking where they were from. Nobody believed they were from M&S until I showed the tags.
Here’s the thing though – not everything they make is worth talking about. Like, 80% of their clothes are still pretty basic and forgettable. You have to really dig through their website or spend time in stores to find the good stuff. It’s not like shopping at Zara where the hits are more obvious. M&S requires patience and a good eye for what works.
But when you do find those special pieces, there’s something really satisfying about revealing where they’re from. In a world where everyone’s obsessed with designer labels and expensive brands, wearing something accessible that still looks amazing feels almost rebellious. Plus, your followers love affordable finds – my M&S haul videos always perform better than designer unboxings.
The newest addition to my “people can’t believe it’s M&S” collection is these wide-leg black pants I just got. The fabric has this great weight to it, and the cut is so similar to some expensive trousers I tried on at Nordstrom but couldn’t justify buying. I wore them to this brand event last month with a vintage blazer and some gold jewelry, and the brand rep actually interrupted her presentation to ask about my pants.
When I told her they were M&S, she immediately asked if they were still available and what size I was wearing. That’s when you know you’ve found something special – when people in fashion want to copy your look, regardless of where it’s from.
I think what I love most about these finds is how they prove that good design doesn’t have to be expensive. Like, obviously I appreciate beautiful designer pieces when brands send them to me, but there’s something really democratic about finding amazing clothes that anyone can afford. It makes fashion more accessible, which is kind of what my whole platform is about.
The real skill is learning to spot these gems among all the mediocre stuff. It takes practice to recognize when something looks more expensive than its price tag suggests. But once you develop that eye, shopping becomes way more fun – like a treasure hunt where the prize is looking expensive on a budget.
And honestly? In a world where everything feels increasingly unaffordable, finding these kinds of pieces gives me hope. Good style shouldn’t be limited to people who can drop hundreds on a single item. Sometimes the best pieces are hiding in the most unexpected places – you just have to know how to look for them.
