Fall Out Of It

After spending some time on The Gap website the other day, looking at their denim tuxedos, I've figured out The Gap Conundrum.

What is The Gap Conundrum? It's deceptive in its simplicity. Basically, it boils down to the question: why is The Gap so terrible, when so much of what they sell are basics?

I almost feel bad posting about The Gap. It's like picking on 9th grade me for wearing a denim tuxedo - it's just too easy. Their declining sales have been widely publicized for years. They clearly can't figure out who their market is, or what they want their niche to be. More often than not, their styling choices lean more toward "wrinkled and ill-fitting." And that is the problem.



This does not look appealing. I do not want to wear this shirt. It does not look like it fits the model right. I don't care how happy she is while wearing it, there's no reason that the arm holes should be so low that they create that kind of pulling and folding through the chest.



This is a t-shirt from J.Crew. It's $6 more, but look at the difference in fit. See how it looks crisp? That is because it fits, and that is what The Gap fails at. None of their womenswear looks like it fits.



This is another shot of their "Favorite Stretch T." My only thought: If I wanted to buy a shirt that's not fitted, I'd shop at Eileen Fischer.

I've bought perfectly fitting t-shirts from Forever 21 before, and those were $5, so this isn't a case where price determines accuracy of the fit. No, this is a problem with The Gap.

What's interesting is, from what I can tell, their fit on men's clothing appears to be fine. It's hard to say for sure, because they seem adverse to posting pictures of male models wearing their clothes, but from the few pictures I've seen, the clothes seem to fit the men better.

So, where's the disconnect? Why is J.Crew capable of making a t-shirt that, at least on the model, appears to live up to the title of "perfect T", while the Gap struggles to make the style work on women who exist solely to look good in clothing?

It's too bad. I remember the Gap heyday, when people would randomly start swing dancing in the streets while wearing khakis. That was the influence of The Gap.

Now, I can't remember the last time I bought something from The Gap. Okay, I take that back. I think I bought a belt from them once.

Maybe I'm misguided here. Maybe the problem with The Gap isn't in their ill-fitting staples and unappealing styling.

But honestly, I don't know a single person who isn't always looking for a good basic t-shirt. If they could fill that niche - if they could get back to the clothes that fit right and look sharp - I'd start shopping there again. And given how many t-shirts I have in my drawer, my business would probably help a lot.

The Gap Favorite Stretch T - $16.50 $10
J. Crew Perfect Fit Short-Sleeve Crewneck T-Shirt - $22.50 or 2 for $30

Mid-Rise Cowboy

I think it's time to disown The Gap.

They're trying to make the denim tuxedo happen.

I get that The Gap's trademark is their denim. And don't get me wrong, I love jeans and am vehemently anti-imitation denim.

However.

I made the mistake of wearing a denim jacket with jeans once in my life. I was in 9th grade, I wore it to school, and the minute my mom dropped me off, I knew I had made a terrible error. Because I am not, nor will I ever be, a cowboy, and those are the only people who can make this work.

So I stood there, frozen, in front of my high school. For some reason, the simple solution of "take off the jacket" didn't occur to me.

There are no pictures of this day, so I asked Matt Damon to re-enact it for me.



Yeah, that's pretty much the expression on my face when I realized that what I was wearing was not okay.

For some reason, they're only inflicting this trend on women, possibly because we're more susceptible to the whims of the fashion industry. The men get to escape with your standard denim shirt/jeans pairing. It's not great, but at least it's not a full denim suit.



It took me a couple minutes to figure out whether your western shirt was dip dyed. If that were the case, I would rescind my statement about the men escaping relatively unscathed.



Anyone else think this model studied the Old Spice commercial in order to master this expression? I feel like he's about to offer me tickets to that thing I like. If only he were on a horse, I might have given Gap a pass entirely. Yeah, I am that easy.

The Gap Fit Together Denim Women's Shop
The Gap Fit Together Denim Men's Shop