Ok - I’ll give you that

I’d agree - not ponte. The feel Is more like a crepe that has stretch added to it. It’s heavier weight than a typical ponte.

Gretchen, exactly. A fab quality woven crepe with stretch. It’s glorious fabric. The matching jacket was sublimely sharp - although quite severe. Ponte knit pants tend to cling like a body con fit. There don’t cling at all - because they’re woven.

Definitely not ponte. Agree with others that the fabric is fabulous. I am really pleased with those Boss pants, especially with the matching jacket. The jacket is gorgeous and fits like it was made for me. It's also more than I should spend and yet...somehow it is hanging in my closet, lol.

Once again , I intended no disrespect toward those who loved these pants and found they worked well for them .Ponte or not , and I do know my fabrics ( which I know sounds defensive and obnoxious ) and of course they aren’t a true ponte as we know it . They simply aren’t what I expected , and are not what makes me feel authentic and stylish . It was my mistake for not paying closer attention to specific style details . Thanks all for your feedback

Back to the idea of paying for shipping and returns...the cost doesn’t particularly bother me if it’s the only way I’m going to be able to try out an item. Yes it’s technically money wasted but so is a meal out that I don’t enjoy, or a bad movie. And it’s kind of fun to get a parcel in the mail!
As far as your purchases are concerned, send the jacket back too unless you love it. You don’t want some ho-hum item giving you the side eye every time you open the closet door.

missvee, that is basically how I look at it. I factor it all in. For me NAS isn't really a sale. Even if I manage to get my items without duty, which I often do, given current exchange rates, I'm still, essentially paying full price. (I.e the difference between the CAD and USD means I'm paying the equivalent of the US regular price for my so-called "sale" item.

But if I'm paying for an item I otherwise wouldn't be able to get, that I love, and getting a jump on my plans for the coming season, that makes it all worthwhile. Of course, living relatively near a border makes it easier again, since I can take items across to ship them back for free if they don't work out.

With online ordering generally, and especially from locales like the UK and the US where I may end up incurring delivery fees and/or return fees and/or extra duty -- if I feel extremely doubtful, I won't order. I rarely order from brands whose stuff I have never tried on in person at least once. I hesitated for two years to order from Boden for that reason. Once I bit that bullet, I was overall pleased with my choices and got a few good dresses out of the deal, but I still had to pay about $50 in return charges for stuff that hadn't turned out as I'd hoped. C'est la vie. I just added it to the cost of the (mostly sale) items I did keep. In that case, the dresses were still a bargain in CAD.

Fits are not necessarily consistent across a brand and fit models can change from year to year -- but at least if you have tried something by that company you have a general idea of size. If I plan to order online, I read reviews of the item and product descriptions really carefully. And I still sometimes strike out. I made a really stupid decision recently, giving in to the insistent FB ads of a small "independent" company that supposedly sold the best raincoats ever. TERRIBLE waste of my money and worse customer service -- I can't even return the thing. Oh well. Lesson learned.

ETA -- I want to clarify -- at the most recent NAS, some of the items I purchased would have been bargains at their CAD equivalent price, too, and since I wasn't paying duty (and paying less tax) it worked out really well. Items that really were bargains for me included the EF jeans, the 1 State jacket, and the Paige jeans.

Yep - you’re much more experienced at this than I am , Suz. Factoring in all costs has to be part of the equation , and for that reason , a few of these pieces are going back because they simply don’t meet any real need nor are they particularly a good investment , if you will . I agree that it takes time to experiment , and one has to decide for themselves if this is all important enough to spend time and money on . I’m still finding my way. There is a personal threshold though , and I’ve hit it for now .

Makes sense, Lisa. Honestly, if I didn't live close to a border (and have a US bank account) I don't think I'd ever have ordered online from Nordstrom's. It's different now that I live in a city that has a B&M store. They don't stock everything I want, but the shopping experience is very nice and it also makes me feel more connected to the sale excitement. And since I'm still close to the US border, I've got it quite easy -- ordering from the US and/or buying in the US and then crossing back to send something back for free only takes about an hour and a half of my time.

It's really easy to get caught up in the forum frenzy and feel left out if you are not participating, which is why it's great that Angie has separated off those posts so people can avoid the whole thing if they like. I overbought my first years on the forum and made some mistakes but I did return almost all that stuff. You'll feel better sending it back if you don't love it.

Lisa, I am really sad to hear that these items were not what you expected, at least the shoes are good. So often when I buy online I get the item and feel a sense of disappointment - it is just not what I hoped for or it just does not look particularly good on me.

I got some great advice from Gryffin, which was unless I was 100% thrilled with any purchase, to send it back. I have way too much in my wardrobe that I only should be adding items that I love.

Of course I still slip up!

To end my NAS experience : Boss pants went back , as did the jeans , and I’m keeping the boots and the grey jacket . I’ve already found versions of the jeans and pants that work much better for me , and are also ( coincidentally ) much lower priced