Gap Authentic Fit jeans: A caveat

After posting what was generally a glowing review of the Gap Authentic Fit jeans a little over a month ago, the honeymoon period has ended and I would like to follow up with this caveat/complaint/advice. If you are thinking about purchasing these jeans, I would highly recommend going down at least one size.

I tried these jeans on in my normal waist size at the store they fit so I bought them (being a man, that is about as much information as I want to obtain in a dressing room). Upon trying them on at home (after removing the tags), I realized that while the rest of the jean fit well, the waist was actually at least an inch too big. I had missed this because all of the excess material was in the back and when I tried them on, I guess I hadn't been looking for it. I figured that the jeans would shrink a bit when I washed them and it wouldn't be a problem anymore. Well, I did wash them and they did shrink a bit, but once I started wearing them, the waist stretched back out to its original size, and since then, the thighs have stretched a good bit too. I had breakfast with my friend who works for Gap this past week and mentioned the problem to him and he did admit that Gap has had problems with their denim stretching more than they want it to. While that might be part of the problem, I think that it is also vanity sizing on the part of Gap, which I find kind of annoying. If anyone from Gap corporate is reading this and would like to provide me with a new pair of jeans, in the correct size, I'd really appreciate it.

Other than the sizing issue, I have still been pleased with the jeans after a month and would still recommend them. Moral of the story: size down. They will probably look pretty tight when you do, but don't worry, they'll end up looking alright after a couple of days.

New jeans: Gap "Authentic" fit

I bought some new jeans this weekend. Since I was still not ready to drop $150 on APCs, I decided to go with Gap's (relatively) new "Authentic" fit in the Resin Rinse color. I'm quite happy with these jeans so far. For the Authentic fit, Gap combined the narrow leg of their Straight fit with the higher rise of their Standard fit. In doing so, they created the Goldilocks of jeans that have a narrow thigh (Gap calls them "slim") but come with a decent rise. In other words, they created a slimmer jean for those who don't want to (or can't) wear skinny jeans. The color is very dark blue with no artificial wear marks (whiskering, fading, etc.) on them. They also have back pockets without any stitching on them, and the only label on them is "1969" painted on the band right waistband, easily covered up with a belt.

While it would have been nice to get the selvage version of these jeans (my friend who works at Gap corporate fell through for me on this--bad job, Matt), they're not sold in most stores, and the $55 price tag for the regular version is hard to beat. If you are in the market for a new pair of jeans, and aren't ready to take the step up to "premium" denim, I would highly recommend these. I think that these are just as good as any of the jeans that J. Crew is selling--in cut, color, and quality--and cost half as much. After all, if you're going to buy a pair of jeans non-selvage made in China, why spend 100 bucks?

GAP Mens Club

Are you a guy between 25 and 35 years old? Are you cooler than me? If you are reading this, then most likely you are. If so, I'd like to suggest that you enter to become a member of the GAP Mens Club. A friend of mine, Matt Swanburg, works for GAP Corporate, and I figured I'd help him promote this. If you are one of the 30 people selected, GAP will send you a $250 gift card every quarter and then you get to go spend it and report back about your experience. I'm planning on entering myself, though considering my current employment status (that is, "un"), I'm not sure if I'm exactly what they're looking for. Anyways, details are below:

Earn $1000 in Gap giftcards for your time and feedback about our product.

Gap is recruiting 30 males between the ages of 25 – 35 from all across the country to share their shopping experiences with us. In exchange for your time and feedback, you will be given 4, $250 Gap gift cards throughout the year (a total of $1000) to be used on your new wardrobe.

If you fit our qualifications and are willing to put in the time commitment, please download and complete the questionnaire found at http://bit.ly/AAt3Z and submit your application.

We look forward to hearing from you.

QUALIFICATIONS
1 Male shopper between the ages of 25- 35
2 Not related to or living in the same household as a Gap Inc employee
3 Great communicator
4 Tech savvy – must be able to e-mail and take and send pictures electronically
5 Willingness to commit time and energy to the project
6 Desire to participate and give valuable feedback

TIME COMMITMENT
Initial questionnaire and pictures: 30 minutes
Quarterly Shopping Trips: 4 times per year (with gift card), 3 hours each
Monthly visit to store and post-visit feedback: 12 times per year, 1 hour each
Weekly Survey: 10 minutes to answer questions or give feedback
You Decide: Logging in to Google Group to leave feedback, ask questions, contact HQ employees

All applications must be received by Sunday, August 16th and we will send out notifications to those accepted by Tuesday, August 25th.