I know I know, you’ve heard me talk about it non stop and you’ve seen me rock this brand over and over. So why am I finally dedicating an entire post to this? Because I have officially turned not one, not two, but SEVERAL friends back onto this favorite high school brand. Can you guess what it is? Abercrombie & Fitch. But here’s the reason why I’m writing this post. I’ve received dozens of DM’s and comments about fit, quality and is it really true that it’s that great. So I’m here to dish on all things Abercrombie & Fitch as a 31 year old coming back nearly 20 years later to the once beloved store. And damn, that made me feel REALLY old. But here goes.
The Fit
For size reference, I’m 5 ft 5 inches and usually wear a size 4 in just about everything. I usually pick up size 27 jeans at Madewell, but also get into 28’s no problem in other brands. Depending on top styles, I’m either a small or medium (I’m a 32DD so this can require me to size up depending on the style). In A&F I’ve been doing a small in just about everything from dresses, tops, jackets, you name it. For bottoms, I’m usually a 28. I feel like the bottoms run true to size and Madewell just has a bit of vanity sizing. So I’d say, overall, it runs just about true to size. I’ve also found myself buying the medium top even though the small fit, I just wanted a more relaxed fit.
The Quality
So far, it’s okay. No it isn’t amazing, but it isn’t crap by any means. I will say that I have a few of their cotton burnout tees that have been worn to death and look it. But they were also $12 and I feel like that’s totally normal. The fabrics are pretty good and the denim is still great like you remembered.
The Price Point
The new norm it seems like with stores these days, don’t ever buy anything full price. It seems within a couple weeks of new arrivals there’s some insane 50% off promo happening. I refuse to buy anything at A&F at full price. I’ve seen everything I own at A&F go on sale and then back up to full price. So stake out your favorites, and check back often.
Join The Club
Many stores have club perks like discounts and point accumulation systems. The A&F club is great and has helped me get items at a discount when I wasn’t willing to wait for it to go on sale. It’s free to join and they don’t bombard you with emails if you don’t want them to.
Returns & Shipping
Anyone else NOT shop at a store because they never do free shipping? I’m one of them. I feel like if you can’t get on the free shipping bandwagon something is up. A&F offers free shipping on orders over $75 which is usually easily to get to. They do not offer free return shipping, but you can always bring the items in store. PS have you been in store? They are TOTALLY different!
Are you turned back onto this brand? I’d love to know if you’re a second round A&F fan like myself or maybe will be now after today!
Photos by Hannah Michelle
