What happened to Ann Taylor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I miss Talbots petite section. When they closed the Talbots stores at White Flint I tried AT and the quality did not compare. I miss Talbots!

Talbots is still at White Flint (for now until the mall closes entirely probably in January). I was just there last week. But, I find the same deteriorating quality there lately as with AT, Banana, Gap, and all the rest. It seems impossible to find decent quality anywhere anymore!

[Anonymous]

What is up with Ann Taylor and all of that polyester?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I still find some good pieces at Ann Taylor. You just have to be willing to try on, or in my case, order online because I wear a 00P and they don't carry them in stores (grrrr!!!) because of this oversizing they are doing, and maybe return a few pieces. But if you have the receipt they are fair. I have never had a problem with that. It goes right back on whatever card I used.
The quality has changed but I bought 4 beautiful dresses that I've gotten many compliments on this spring and summer, and also excellent quality shorts and white pants, plus several tops. You just have to try them on. when you walk in there they don't look that great on the hanger... you absolutely MUST see them on. In my case, I do that when I get it in the mail! It's so hard to find good petite clothing that I can't possibly eliminate AT!

Why resurrect this post from Feb 2012???

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I still find some good pieces at Ann Taylor. You just have to be willing to try on, or in my case, order online because I wear a 00P and they don't carry them in stores (grrrr!!!) because of this oversizing they are doing, and maybe return a few pieces. But if you have the receipt they are fair. I have never had a problem with that. It goes right back on whatever card I used.
The quality has changed but I bought 4 beautiful dresses that I've gotten many compliments on this spring and summer, and also excellent quality shorts and white pants, plus several tops. You just have to try them on. when you walk in there they don't look that great on the hanger... you absolutely MUST see them on. In my case, I do that when I get it in the mail! It's so hard to find good petite clothing that I can't possibly eliminate AT!

Why resurrect this post from Feb 2012???

Obviously someone was searching the forum for AT, found the thread and added a reply. Who cares? The crap quality of women's clothing is a timeless subject.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is up with Ann Taylor and all of that polyester?

I was thinking the same thing. Other stores are getting into polyester too. They will do anything to save a buck. Talbots has replaces AT for me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And their sizing is so off. I'm 2-3 sizes smaller in Ann Taylor than I am in anything else. It's aggravating b/c I nothing fits and I know it's just a ploy on their part to make me feel thinner.

+1. Usually, I'm a 4-6 and larger in European brands. Even the 0 at AT these days is a bit loose on me. In no real universe am I a 0 or even a 2.

[Anonymous]

Does every thread have to turn into a sizing comment, and does every sizing comment have to be about how the poster is now a 2 or a 0?

[Anonymous]

Maybe if we started buying stuff made in America (or any country with an established history of paying workers a living wage.) Then maybe those folks making a living wage would be willing to make a product they cared about. No more crappy shoes, clothes, furniture, kitchenware, etc...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Maybe if we started buying stuff made in America (or any country with an established history of paying workers a living wage.) Then maybe those folks making a living wage would be willing to make a product they cared about. No more crappy shoes, clothes, furniture, kitchenware, etc...

Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. I'm an economist. As a manufacturer, if you spend more on labor, you will need to spend less on other inputs like the fabric, design and tailoring, if you still want to make a profit. Clothing manufacturers will only charge what the market will bear. Sure, there's a market for higher-priced clothing made out of natural fabrics, even made out of organic cotton, fair trade-produced fabrics, designer dresses, and so on. But that tends to be a smaller segment of the clothing market and, as we've seen, there's apparently a huge market for polyester clothes which means you can buy 2 dresses for the same $200 you might spend on a single quality dress.

And you don't want to get the anti union poster(s) started about how unions have wrecked Detroit, public schools, and would now wreck the clothing industry. Never mind the Triangle fire.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I buy my t shirts at boden or, no joke, at Chicos. They're made for old ladies, so they are thick. Their sizing is weird though.

Chicos does have great T shirts. Nice cut (not boxy), very thick. Most of the rest of their clothes are not my style, but I love their T's.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does every thread have to turn into a sizing comment, and does every sizing comment have to be about how the poster is now a 2 or a 0?

On DCUM? Why yes... yes, it does. Land of the humblebrags.