Review of recent Gap purchases - YouLookFab Forum

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Review of recent Gap purchases

April

Veteran

High Rise Skinnies
I know that some of you were interested in the High Rise Skinnies that Gap introduced recently (online only). I went up one size to counter the recent trend toward skinnies-that-are-snugger-than-your-own-skin and am very happy with the fit. I am high-waisted and don't have much waist definition -- if that's your silhouette too, give these a try.

1969 Legging Cords
I had a lemming moment after seeing everyone's fab outfits with the BR cream cord skinnies, but nothing close to my size was available, so I tried these:
http://www.gap.com/browse/prod.....=599385112 Fail. I sized up TWO sizes but they were still skintight and the fabric is very thin. Returned them this morning.

Chambray Shirt
While in the store, I noticed a wide range of chambray shirts. I loved that there were choices between washes, buttons vs. snaps, one or two or no chest pockets. One of these came home with me so I can experiment with the outfit Angie describes in this post.

Annoyance
Since my resolution was to shop more in stores, it was kind of annoying to come home and start looking up these links, only to discover that the Gap website is offering 40% off all full-priced styles. Come on, retailers!

Shopping

22 replies

Latest reply was from Gigi

Anonymous

I'm finding Gap sweaters inconsistent in sizing and fit even in the same size and style like last year. I wondered about the high rise skinnies. Thank you for these reviews.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I found the legging cords (in python print) quite snug, but I was looking for that skinny fit. I was actually happy to find them not vanity sized, as Gap had gotten really bad with in the last couple of years.The material was thinner than most cords, almost a thin velvet with how narrow the wale was.
I agree with the annoying sales in one place but not another.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Excellent reviews, April. I agree about the legging jeans at GAP - I dislike that fabrication and fit for myself. And no wonder you are annoyed about the online vs. in-store thing. Very frustrating.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Sheesh, now I'm debating going back for those pants!! thanks They are now only $17 out the door including shipping.

merwoman

Veteran

I feel your pain regarding pricing April! I tend to try things in in B&M stores and then order on line. In fact, I would advise you to order on line now, and when you receive the shipment, return what you purchased in the store.
In fact, keep watching the site, and hang on to all receipts, because if there are further price reductions, I will re-order again and return the newly delivered merchandise with the 'higher cost' receipt.

April

Veteran

Happy to be of service, Mo...

Suz -- yes, it definitely makes me feel like my resolution to shop in stores was of questionable value. If I don't return this shirt and buy it online, I'll feel like I'm wasting money, and if I do return this shirt, I'll feel like I'm wasting time.

Suja

Veteran

The differences between online and in store pricing are so non-customer friendly. I want to buy more in b&m stores but can't justify it if I see a large percentage off online. I understand retailers want to operate online and b& m stores as seperate businesses but they also need to make it a better experience for the customer.

Linda

Laughable story related to B&M versus online shopping:

We adore the little plush "donut" pet beds that Petco sometimes sells. These are simply a bolster of fake fur attached to an oval of the same fur with a quilted non-slip style bottom. We've fostered tons of neonatal kittens and washed and washed these, plus, our senior pet cats love them.

I spotted a sale on the beds online -- these sales are kind of insanely good. The beds usually sell for around $10, and on sales they're $4 to $5. We have always bought them at the local stores. So we were shopping near a Petco later that week and I mentioned to DH that there was a sale. We went in, picked several of the beds, and began to check out. Only to find we were charged the $10 rate. The cashier called her manager, who said the most they could do was to offer us an adjustment, I think DH got like $5 off on 4 of the beds, so we paid $35. The store staff are very nice and have always been helpful, and we felt like we would be almost dishonorable to cancel the transaction (I guess DH did, I might have well just told them to return the beds to stock). Lesson learned -- I will ALWAYS check and verify prices B&M v. online.

I also got burned with EXPRESS merch, where I ordered at sale price and in order to exchange, I've been assured I would have to pay the difference to the current regular price. NOT a happy shopper.

April

Veteran

It is really customer unfriendly, isn't it? Why not just have the same pricing at all times, in store and online? It seems like the sort of thing that computers would make easy to do.

Thistle

Veteran

Excellent reviews! Thanks for letting us know the skinny, so to speak

Anonymous

Their costs online are so much less they can afford to have perpetual sales.

April

Veteran

So is it a dumb idea for me to make a resolution to do more shopping in stores and less shopping online?

Maybe my rule should be more in-store shopping at retailers who don't have these price disparities. Nordstrom, here I come...

Aquamarine

Veteran

Thanks for the reviews...I shopped brick and mortar today and did not check out the Gap, right next door to Old Navy. I have those skinnies and have been very happy with them. I also sized up.

Linda

April, that sounds like a good way to go, to me!

doubleh

Veteran

Gap, BR and ON ALWAYS have some sort of online deal going on 30-50% typically. I never buy anything in stores (well, B&M BR, but not gap and hell's no to ON) bc they are always online better deals. In fact, I generally stopped shopping at the gap until I got lured back in by the intranets...

The gap guy at the store hates me.

DonnaF

Veteran

April;
Even Nordstrom has price disparities, particularly and especially in their San Francisco Centre store. I have found things full price there that have been discounted online for awhile. They will make an adjustment to what they charge if you ask them, however. Of course, you have to be aware of the price online.

Gigi

Veteran

I think that Ceit is right about the price discrepancies--it costs much less to operate an online store. You're not paying SAs, and all you have is a warehouse instead of a store where everything has to be hung up and folded, etc. I bought a sweater at Express today and had to pay full price for it; I haven't checked online but assume that it is cheaper there. But if I return it to the store only to buy it online, the B&M store sales numbers go down, and the employees get a talking to--and it might not even be their fault. I view paying more at the B&M store as paying for the benefit of being able to try the stuff on in person and chat to an SA about fits, styles, etc. It's a value-added experience. And the employees should be rewarded for good service in the form of seeing the store sales numbers go up.

Lisa

Veteran

Great review on Gap, thanks! How annoying to find thin weight bottoms for winter, hello retailers, it's cold out there! And double annoying that prices are not consistent. I'm not sure why retailers do this. I still like to shop in person, but now I preshop and if I see it in the store and remember it was cheaper online, I go home and order it.

Jules

Veteran

They drive me nuts. I stayed out of the stores for years due to quality control & stocking issues. YLF got me interested again, but I still find it so frustrating to shop there. I do understand B&M is going to be more expensive, but service, which would make the difference, is poor or nonexistent. Then there's stocking issues - often they have 10 pairs of x jeans in size 33 but none a size down or up, for example. To get my DH jeans for his bday I made one in-store trip (almost nothing in his very normal size), then an online order to size up from what I bought (the pair that came was so huge it seemed to be a whole different cut), and finally a second trip to B&M together to finally come up with a couple of pairs (but we had to dig around, try different cuts etc to find 2 pairs that worked).
So I've given up for now. I had decided to shop primarily on line but I'm just not interested in making tons of returns on things I could have identified at a glance IRL as not for me. Doing recon in store and then ordering doesn't work either because of inconsistent sizing and availability. I'll be back in the spring for some sexy BFs but I'm definitely taking a break.

April

Veteran

Gigi, that makes total sense. If the policy was "B&M purchases will always cost 10% more than online", I would understand and could make a choice. It just seems extreme that things can be full price in store on the same day that all "full price" items online are 40% off.

Feels like kind of a shell game.

Jules

Veteran

Yes I also hated feeling manipulated by the sales emails (one day 35% off, the next 40%...). Also, how they would include pics of cute stuff, with click through to something else entirely because that item wasn't actually in stock yet in Canada.
And periodically they sent me coupons for in-store 50% off one item, etc. Limited to certain dates and full price items. The dates always coincided with store-wide sales so the coupon was useless. How stupid do they think we are???

Gigi

Veteran

Jules, they get their money one way or another, don't they?

I see your point, April. I think that the whole point *is* actually that it's a bit of a game. They want to make sure that you never know what's going to cost what (or where), so that you either buy the thing now regardless of price, or else you keep coming back to the website or store to check the price and hopefully spy a few other items that you "need" at the same time. What I find interesting is that I don't think that the SA's know what the promotions are going to be in advance either. They are just as clueless as the customers.