BABY GAP CLOTHING

STORE VS. OUTLET - WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

There is an abundance of Baby Gap clothing on Ebay which are outlet items yet the sellers conveniently forget to mention that little detail in the item description. While some buyers may truly not care, I believe many are simply unaware of the difference, so I thought it would be helpful to summarize the main things here.

First off, let me admit my own love and addiction to Baby Gap clothing for my girls. I don't really know how it happened, although I clearly remember the crazy stripes collection of a few years ago when my first daughter was born and how I thought to myself that those were the cutest baby clothes ever...Well, fast forward a few years, and now it's the same, except the addiction had been muliplied by two with the arrival of my second girl.

I am sure, though, that I am not alone in my love for Baby Gap clothing, nor am I the only mom finding herself browsing ebay in search of the next size up in that adorable shirt or sweater that we so loved last year...And that's when the difference between Baby Gap retail and Baby Gap outlet becomes a significant one.

Baby Gap, as many other retailers, tends to remake certain clothing lines/collections a year after the original was sold in stores for sale at the outlets. Sometimes, the items are identical in look and quality to the original, but sometimes the similarity is limited to the appearance/look of the item, whereas the fabric is different or the details are of lesser quality in outlet items. A few examples? OK, one that comes to mind is the Rose collection from Sring 2007. It was redone at the oulet this spring and while the dresses looked the same, when I actually went to the outlet in hopes of purchasing a dress for my younger daughter so she could match her sister, I ended up leaving the outlet store empty handed: the fabric in the dress was much rougher to the touch than the one from the original collection, and it was not lined....Similarly, there was a gorgeous pink hooded fairisle sweater from the "I love Cocoa" collection from winter 2006. The outlet remake was a completely different feel/texture, not nearly as soft as the original...And I could go on an on...

It is these differences that make me always want to know if the piece comes from the outlet or not. Sometimes, that's easy to detect from the picture of the item even if the seller fails to mention it. The original store tags are light yellow with a brown teddy bear in the middle. The outlet tags are while with a navy square. The actual inner tag of an outlet item will have three small navy squares. If the squares are there, the item is from an outlet, no matter how much someone may try to convince you otherwise.

That is not to say that certain items from the outlet are not EXACTLY as the original, some are, indeed! Maybe even 50% of them are. However, if you don't know before buying, you risk being disaapointed. So, personally, I have learned to always ask the seller about the origin of the item when I have doubts. And if I don't receive an answer, I assume it's an outlet piece. Sellers who only sell Baby Gap retail clothing tend to make it a point in disclosing that:)

Well, I hope this helps someone!