Joules, read closely: the country-show brand has gone preppy, and the polo shirt is still the point
Joules began on a stand at a Leicestershire country show and now sells through Next’s tills. The prints have quietened, a cowboy has wandered in, and the best things are the oldest ones.
Published October 2026·Last reviewed October 2026
The short answer
Yes, for the staples. The Woody Polo and the rugby shirts are well made and fairly priced, the raincoats are properly seam-taped, and the delivery and returns network borrowed from Next is one of the most convenient on the high street.12 Be more careful with the new season. The autumn collection leans into tweed and cowboy embroidery, and the lower-rated reviews describe knitwear that bobbles after a single wash and wellies that do not keep out the wet.
The case for
Start with the Woody Polo, which Joules says it has been refining for more than thirty-five years and describes with a precision usually reserved for engineering. It is a heavy tight-knit cotton piqué, given as 240gsm, pre-washed with softener to limit shrinkage, finished with twin-needle hems and side vents reinforced with bar tacks.3 Very few brands at this end of the market publish the weight of their cloth at all. The claim that it stays opaque after repeated washing is exactly the right claim to make about a polo shirt, and it is the kind of thing a shopper can check on a second-hand rail in five seconds. It is a quiet garment, made seriously.
Very few brands at this end of the market publish the weight of their cloth at all.
The second argument is the plumbing. Since Joules came into the Next group, an order placed by eleven at night can be collected free the following day from a Joules shop or from any of the much larger number of Next stores, and online orders can be returned free to either with no label.12 That is an unglamorous advantage and a large one: most towns have a Next, and very few have a Joules. There is also a telephone number on the help pages, listed above the chat and the contact form; in this sector a published number is starting to feel like a period detail.1
Where it falls short
The brand has changed its mind about what it is. The Joules of the school-run years was bright floral wellies, stripy tops and a slightly mad print on the inside of every coat. The autumn collection is called Preppy Takes the Reins and features an Embroidered Cowboy Cardigan, a Knitted Horse Cape, Western Style Barrel Jeans and a great deal of brown check.4 Some of it is handsome. Some of it reads as a brand imitating Ralph Lauren after a weekend in Rutland. Longstanding customers who came for colour will find less of it, and new ones may wonder why a cowboy is involved.
The lower-rated reviews are a second caution. Trustpilot scores Joules well, but the one-star minority is consistent: a jumper bobbled after one wash, colour fading despite following the label, a polo arriving with a hole, and orders sent to a Next store that then could not be found.5 One long-term welly customer reported that, across several pairs, they had never been completely waterproof. Joules has not recently invited reviews, so the profile is less groomed than some, which makes those complaints worth reading rather than dismissing. The gift-receipt rule, which allows exchanges only, catches people in the weeks after Christmas.
Line by line
The Woody Polo and rugby shirts Our choice The best thing Joules sells and the easiest recommendation in this piece. The Woody Polo’s published specification (heavy piqué, pre-washed, reinforced vents) is better than most polos at the price, and the colours run from navy to cheerful without straying into novelty.3 The rugby shirts are the same idea in a heavier, louder form. The weakness is that the polo is offered constantly on multibuy, so the single price is the one to avoid, and the stripe and colour-block rugby shirts are the pieces of this season most likely to date.
Raincoats: Portwell, Warmwell and Holkham Our choice Joules’s raincoat guide is clear and useful, explaining the difference between water-resistant and fully seam-taped coats and describing three styles properly: the Portwell with its storm flap and half lining, the borg-lined Warmwell for winter, and the Holkham, which packs into a hidden pocket at the back.4 All three are described as fully taped. What is missing is a number. Joules publishes no hydrostatic-head rating, which makes comparison with outdoor brands impossible, and suggests these are town-and-dog-walk coats rather than hill coats.
Wellies Also considered The welly is the brand’s oldest emblem and its fit guide is sensible: true to size, room left for socks, and advice to size up rather than stretch.4 It also reveals that the size chart lists whole sizes only, which will leave half-size feet either sliding or pinched. Neoprene-lined styles fit snugger than classic rubber. The prints are cheerful and the adjustable gussets help wide calves. The doubt is the one in the reviews: a welly has one job, and a minority of buyers report that it is not always done. Buy from a shop, where returning a leaky pair is a short walk.
Knitwear, including the Rafferty Cable Knit Also considered The new knitwear is the centre of the preppy push: the Rafferty Cable Knit Jumper, Fair Isle jumpers, a horse-motif knitted vest, cardigans with Western embroidery.4 It photographs well and is sold on a near-permanent two-for offer. The problem is that the Journal could not find fibre content on the editorial pages, and the reviews that complain loudest are about knitwear pilling after a wash. Check the composition on the product page before buying, and favour anything with a high wool content over the cotton and acrylic blends.
The Western and novelty pieces Not for us The Embroidered Cowboy Cardigan, the Fitted Cowboy Graphic Tee and the Knitted Horse Cape are where the new direction overreaches.4 None of them is badly made, as far as the listings show, and someone will love the cape. But a Joules shopper buying a garment that will look its age by next spring is spending money on a mood, and the brand’s strength has always been things that last longer than a season. Buy the plain Barn Jacket or a checked Oxford shirt from the same collection instead.
Ordering, delivery and returns
Joules now runs on Next’s delivery network, and it shows. Collection from a Joules or Next store is free and next day for orders placed by late evening; next-day delivery to an Evri shop, locker or home is charged, and standard home delivery is free only on larger baskets.1 The help pages are frank that next-day depends on stock and courier area, and one reviewer’s next-day collection took four days. Returns are accepted for twenty-eight days from delivery, sale items included, which is a fortnight longer than the law requires.2 Taking them to a shop is free; a home collection or Evri drop-off carries a flat charge deducted from the refund. Store purchases must go back to a Joules shop, not a Next, which is the rule most likely to surprise. Gift receipts are exchange-only. Service is by telephone, chat and form, and the brand answers most of its negative reviews.
The Journal's verdict
Joules is a better-run shop than it was and a less distinctive one. The Next network makes buying and returning easy almost anywhere in the country, and the old staples (the polo, the rugby shirt, a seam-taped raincoat) remain sound. The new preppy collection is handsome in places and costume in others, and the knitwear needs its label read before its picture is admired. Buy the classics, on the multibuy, collect them from the nearest Next, and leave the cowboy where he is.
Elsewhere
Seasalt makes the stronger case for raincoats, publishing waterproof ratings that Joules does not.
FatFace is now a stablemate under Next and covers the same relaxed weekend ground with more emphasis on menswear.
Boden kept the colour that Joules has toned down, and is the better shop for dresses.
Sources and notes
- Joules help centre, delivery options, read October 2026: free next-day collection from Joules and Next stores for orders by 11pm; next-day to Evri ParcelShop or locker £3.50; next-day home £4.95; free standard home delivery over £100. Telephone 0333 777 4560 for online orders.↩
- Joules help centre returns pages, read October 2026: 28 days from delivery, full price or sale; free to Joules or Next stores without a label; home collection or Evri return £2.50 per parcel, deducted from the refund; store purchases to Joules shops only.↩
- Joules Journal, ‘The Woody Polo: An Icon 35 Years In The Making’, read October 2026: 240gsm tight piqué, pre-washed with softener, twin-needle hems, bar-tacked vents.↩
- Joules Journal pages read October 2026: ‘Preppy Takes the Reins’ (AW26 product list), the Raincoat Buying Guide (Portwell, Warmwell, Holkham), the Welly Fit Guide and ‘The Story Behind Our Right as Rain Collection’. Product pages themselves refused automated access.↩
- Trustpilot, uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.joules.com, read October 2026: TrustScore 4.6 from about 7,200 reviews, 17 per cent one-star; company has not recently invited reviews; one-star filter read for recurring complaints.↩
Filed under the Wardrobe desk