Ann Taylor versus Loft

[Anonymous]

It’s so random these days with mid priced clothing. I have a few AT items bought in the last few years that are great for work and have held up really well but I also try on tons of I tend there with strange fabrics and cuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ann Taylor-->Loft
Gap-->Old Navy
Gymboree-->Crazy 8

Crazy 8 hasn't existed in about a decade.

[Anonymous]

I bought a beautiful summer dress a couple of years ago from AT. I do remember ordering a bunch of dresses and most of them either fit weird or hung weird on me. Now, I am a curvy short girl so it's hard for me to find dresses that are flattering so I wasn't surprised most of what I ordered did not fit well.

AT and Loft used to be my staples in the mid to late 2000s because they had pants/jeans tailored to petite curvy women and fashionable petite clothes. But the quality went down and I found myself returning stuff more and more. Recently I wanted a pair of nice navy pants...I was going to order from Loft but then I found a pair from Amazon for 1/3 the price. I figured the quality would be similar, and since I wouldn't be wearing them a lot, I went with the cheaper option.

[Anonymous]

I stopped shopping at Loft mainly because of the quality. I recently started shopping at Ann Taylor again. It seems like they’ve improved the style and quality over the last year. I’m back in the office and I’ve been able to find good basic pants/jeans, tops, skirts, and dresses. I do mix AT pieces with higher end clothing.

[Anonymous]

The bridesmaids' dresses for both my and my sister's weddings were bought off the rack at Ann Taylor! Pretty, silk knee length cocktail dresses that all matched and worked for all sizes. Ahhh, memories. For my wedding they were red silk, crossover top. For my sisters they were pink floral with ruffles. I bought other wedding guest dresses at AT as well as some nice workwear. I never really shopped at Loft.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think of Loft as clothes for middle aged and/not body perfect and/or non trendy women.

I think of Ann Taylor as classic not super high or low quality work clothes (altho I think the quality has dropped below that in the past few years)

I think the differing viewpoints on this thread in part explain why both retailers are failing- neither did a great job at branding!

You may be onto something. Twenty years ago, Loft was where I bought my first work wardrobe post-college. In those days, they had a buy $50 of clothing today, receive a $25 off coupon for next week promo. My 22 year old self would have been horrified to learn it was a brand for middle-aged women!

On another note, they seemed to go downhill a dozen years ago but have been better for the last couple of years. Agree about Ann Taylor having weird cuts. Even at 5’6” and 120 lbs, nothing looked good on me.

Many brands have started following their clientele. When you began shopping there you were a young millennial, now millenials are middle aged.

Loft is a casual brand whereas ann Taylor is for work clothes. I think the quality has gone down.

[Anonymous]

Loft clothing is cut HUGE.
Ann Taylor is far smaller.

I'd say a current (2025) size 8 in Loft is a 4 in Ann Taylor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Loft clothing is cut HUGE.
Ann Taylor is far smaller.

I'd say a current (2025) size 8 in Loft is a 4 in Ann Taylor.

OOPs. I wrote this completely backwards.
8 Ann Taylor = 4 Loft

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Loft clothing is cut HUGE.
Ann Taylor is far smaller.

I'd say a current (2025) size 8 in Loft is a 4 in Ann Taylor.

Ann Taylor’s clothing is also huge. I’m a 4 or 6 in most brands but sometimes AT’s 0 is too big for me.

[Anonymous]

With e around on Ozempic these days, what is the point of cutting the clothes so big?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:With e around on Ozempic these days, what is the point of cutting the clothes so big?

“e around” = everyone on