I went to the Gap yesterday since they have this HUGE sale and promotions all throughout the store and on top of that i wanted to use my 25% birthday discount.

I bought a dress and a pencil skirt. roughly $40.

But that's not what this blog is about. As i stood in line for the cashier to check me out, i realized what i don't buy from the Gap anymore.. sweaters. I have found myself very unfortunate with the sweaters at the Gap, they always tend to get some kind of hole in the neck or sleeve after the second wash.

This reminded me of the two clothing retailers i worked at before during my freshman year at UTD, and i decided to give away the secrets i learned whilst i worked there. (from personal experience-this is not company secrets by any means-)

Hollister and Express.

So here is what i can say about each:

Sweaters, cardigans: are great but they will stretch and you will find a hole eventually.
Tshirts: softest tshirts i have found in a long time, wait for the sale, because these t-shirts make wonderful sleep shirts- but i don't think anyone wants to spend $18+ on a sleep tshirt. well not a recessionista anyway.
Denim: the best jeans you will find under $50. Some are a little over that but they are relatively around $50. They last a long time, and for $50 dollars these days you can't find a nice pair of jeans that will last. This i will recommend for girls only. I don't have that much information on the guys jeans. Also if you go now, Hollister has 50% off jeans that are on sale. So they come to roughly $14. wow.. what a STEAL. (if you can find your size)
Everything else at Hollister is relatively the same or not that much different.

Denim:The only jeans that will fit you correctly are their premium jeans, the rest have always had a weird fit, you might get lucky though. ( i find that a very small percentage of people get lucky with finding a decent pair of jeans there)
Work Wear: Their suits, trousers, blouses, anything professional, they have is absolutely wonderful. I have shopped that section for years, 8 years, and all my shirts and pants are still wearable. They last a long time and compared to other stores they are very well priced. If you join their credit card points system you will get incredible discounts. You could also sign up for their emails, you can receive discounts that way as well.
Party Clothes: Most of the time their party dresses go on sale. As low as $20-$30 per dress. Typically they go on sale for $49.
Casual Wear: This is the part where i recommend staying away from. Although they have great promotions on their casual wear. I personally have not had good experience in this department. Their casual wears don't last long and aren't as high of a quality as their other lines.

Well there you have it. Those are my secrets.

I have alot more secrets from other retailers, but i will leave those for future blogs.