I'm just fascinated that there is a Cardigan bay. I can picture it right now.

we love reading all the posts on here about howies. regarding faulty products we have a simple policy, send it back and we'll take a look at it and do what we can to remedy the situation. We pride ourselves on good customer relations. Our customer service number is 01239 614122.

Guybrush, we have sample sales and sales all year round if you register for a catalgue with us we can email you when we have specials and your willy wont have to shrivel.
Regarding comments about price odanny, our organic tees are £25. And the HMD jacket is made in the UK using organic scottish tweed from the isle of mull for the liner and ventile (waterproof cotton) for the shell. It's an amazing £400 jacket made by hand and is sold out. a taiwanese frame on a mass produced bike can retail for as low as £99.00 and hand made euro frame up to £1800. both frames may last as long as the other but the manufacturing processes, material costs and labour will vary. you have to make choices and we made a choice to make the jacket. Not everyones cup of tea but someones. howies customers are a varied bunch, we like that and we try our hardest to make stuff for all of them. have a good christmas out there and keep your eye on the blog if you want to keep up to date with what's going on.

keep on posting and letting us have feedback

OK, stop sending me so many emails reminding me to buy your stuff, you sound *a bit* desperate.

I'm a howies customer.
Their logo on a t-shirt is enough to get anyone laid.
FACT.

I got

BFJ jacket, merino v neck, merino polo, 2X plain t shirts and a hat for £125 at the sample sale

Pretty pleased with that. Wouldn't pay RRP though

Super-slick branding, but then from retired ad execs, so it should be. If mugs will pay £140 for a hat and scarf, then who can blame Howies for charging it?

Most of the stuff Ive bought or Mrs B has bought have got holes in. Not with in weeks but in less than a year. Why not send it back? Well its a year old so hows that going to stand up as a complaint? Though I have T shirts that are decades old.
Yes their stuff is right on and in principle its a good thing to buy it, but to me it seems there is a hefy 'right on tax' on the price.
Without getting too northern I think they are taking the piss

Isn't most the clobber made in China, Portugal and Turkey? Jeans are good if a little odd in sizing; everything else has gone downhill in the last 2 years.

I used to think it was pretty cool stuff, in fact I think they were once voted the coolest brand of the year or something similar.

However, I once saw a chubby guy in his 50's, wearing a leather jacket and a Howies T, oh he must of though he was so 'cool', 'hip' and 'down' with it…

However, I once saw a chubby guy in his 50's, wearing a leather jacket and a Howies T, oh he must of though he was so 'cool', 'hip' and 'down' with it…

do you propose a set of scales and an entrance exam for all prospective purchasers?

i like some of their stuff. i have jeans n tshirts n merino

i`d never buy full price. and the ethos branding is a bit iffy.

@ Stoner, no I don't. If my dad walked in wearing a Howies T I'd tell him take it off! 😉

I used to be a massive fan, but in the last two years or so prices have massively gone up and quality has gone down, hence now they are just another overpriced fashion brand and offer nothing different from your YSL's and Ben Shermans.

I've got a few Howies things and though they are on the expensive side, I'm not sure it's fair to single them out for that- I don't think their jeans are that much more expensive than, say, a pair of Levis. The stuff I have is on course to last a good while and since I don't buy many clothes I suppose to a certain extent I subscribe to the "buy better, buy less" thing.

It's also a bit too simple to say "Aha! But how can you be all ethical when your stuff isn't made by craftsmen in Wales from locally-sourced materials?" Inevitably ethics have to be balanced with reality- at least they're trying.

That said, the relationship between the ticket price and the extra costs involved in using organic stuff etc. could maybe be a bit clearer. And I'd have to say that in the last couple of catalogues very little has appealed to me.

hey tim! how come all your adds with bikes in never have the cyclist in a helmet? (in your catalogue… just out of interest)

Possibly because it is a fashion clothing catalogue and not a leaflet produced by the Department For Nagging and Bothersome Tedium. Anyone who makes their decision not to wear a cycle helmet based on the fact that a Howies jeans model doesn't is beyond worrying about. 🙂

hey tracknicko! I ride my bike while wearing Howies jeans and no helmet!

I bought my first ever full price Howies stuff recently. A pair of ethnic peace trousers, sorry jeans. Worth every penny.

I get frustrated about the blokes v. girls range…. Lots of cool outdoorsy ruggedy stuff for the guys and flowery skirts for the girls. I want outdoorsy ruggedy stuff too 🙁

I have bought some howies stuff over the years, first piece was a H logo t shirt from bike 99 i think which i still have, got an outback jacket and a base layer. jacket is good but stitching issues. I also had some of the merino boxers that fell apart after litle use , need to get the Gf to send them back actually. For the last three years they have not offered any technical or innotive clothes, just jeans , t shirts and jumpers etc. There seams very little creativity in this department and I believe this has caused the move towards the fashion market. Everybody says that they would ever buy howies at full price, which I think best demonstrates that it is over priced. In summary I was once a loyal howies customer , I no longer buy their stuff.

Howies have had their 'niche' day and now they're just another overpriced label

Make some nice gear… Think they need to go back a little as to what made them different and it wasnt just save the whales.

Their jeans are really nice except they are not made for me, my large thighs mean that even with a waist 3" to big they are tight round the top of my legs and arse! Not Howies fault I know but if other makes fit seems strange that they are miles off.

Oh and 18mths and STILL leaking dye so cannot wash them with anything else which kind of makes a mockery of the whole eco thing?

Oh and yes cost does seem a little prohibitive at least at the moment… Surely with the financial clout (spelling) of Timberland behind price should come down even with fairtrade stickers all over them.

you realise the MASSIVE irony of what you are saying there big dummy?

do you?

Too expensive… simple

Who care where its made, I Don't 😯

they should do a "value" range like Tescos.

No tracknicko, not really. Why don't you tell me all about it? 🙂

Wear Howies if you want to look like a child!!! 😈

But the expensive range is nothing special!

As for the casual clothing, it looks like stuff from Top Man. 🙄

maybe ill leave you to it dummy. have a little think eh?

Can't be arsed, sorry. I bet it's jolly clever though. 🙂

actually their base layers are really very good! Much better than the Nike one I have and the karrimor one.

I have bought the odd merino top. Lots of money but its good. The fashion items like jeans i can leave to people with more money than sense. Their catalogues are ace though, if I could buy a catalogue without having to buy an item of seperate clothing i might well consider it.
All round a very clever marketing company. Nothing matters now though cos they are owned by Timberland

Used to like there stuff, haven't seen much recently that I've liked, academic really though as they are now so expensive I can't afford them anyway.

Trousers are too long. They need to do a short in more than just one pair. IF ANYONE IS LISTENING TIM.

And I have normal length legs..

Nothing matters now though cos they are owned by Timberland

How's that then?

Timberland are planet rapists of the first order, busy trying to buy themselves a green veneer.

Howies have gone the same way as TNF, sold out, still make the odd good bit of kit, mostly labelwhoredom and overpriced dross now IMO.

I've had a fair amount of their kit and casual clothing for the past 10-11 years, mixed bag really, some great, some shoddy.

Went to the Howies sample sale – 3 T-Shirts for £25 🙂

3 times in the last month I've called howies about a business matter and no one has answered the phone 🙄

but to me it seems there is a hefy 'right on tax' on the price.

What bollocks. We just expect everything to be cheap since manaacturing got shipped to Asia where the lack of environmental and social regulation means people are paid pennies to do what a UK workforce legally requires a minimum wage for. Sure its expensive, but as Tim's post says it is also justified. Make your choice, but there's no need to keep harping on about it.

Timberland are planet rapists of the first order, busy trying to buy themselves a green veneer.

I did some work with suppliers of Timberland store outfitters and they had a genuinely sustainable approach to their procurement and construction. A lot better than other greenwashers.

Timberland are planet rapists of the first order, busy trying to buy themselves a green veneer.

Howies have gone the same way as TNF, sold out, still make the odd good bit of kit, mostly labelwhoredom and overpriced dross now IMO.

Are they all that bad?

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/06/timberland_sets.php

Obviously that article is no more gospel than anything else on the internet but there seem to be worse people Howies could've "sold out" too.

Erm, only buy wool jumpers & jeans from them now. Reason being is soo much of their stuff shrinks in the wash – & not just a bit. Jeans seem to loose 2" on the leg on 1st wash. A fair selection shirts & t-shirts that have also shrank.

Wife reckons it's the cheapness of the cotton.