Ann Taylor

Full review
If my fashion history were to haunt me, I’d be overwhelmed by nightmares of big hair, baggy jeans, neon plaid blouses, and chunky jewelry. Teenage shopping sprees would circle back into memory—oh, those illusive searches for the perfect pair of Capezio shoes and Cavaricci pants to match! Let’s face it, when you’re an adolescent, the only thing that matters more than the opposite sex is your trendiness quotient (TQ).

As I’ve gotten older, my TQ has declined from a soaring high score in the late 80’s to a much cooler, calmer grade in the 2000’s. I’m no longer a slave to fashion, in fact, I now guffaw at the belly shirts and hip huggers hanging in the window of Wet Seal and Express. I race right past the platform sneakers and leopard-skin boots to the classic styles and timeless looks offered at Talbott’s and Brooks Brothers. So what happened to being trendy? Well, the trendy and classic meld perfectly at Ann Taylor, with clothes that look tailored and modern without the potential to appear ludicrous in photographs a mere two years from now. Ann Taylor takes the best of current fashion styles and translates them to fabulous clothing for women who have learned that being trendy is certainly overrated, but not totally forgotten.

When I can’t make it to the mall…

…Ann Taylor’s online site at AnnTaylor.com offers to crave my need for fancy blouses, trendy twin sets, and finer work casual clothes. I’ll most often venture over to AnnTaylor.com when I receive their emails alerting me to a special sale—if you're an AT fan, be sure to sign up for their email newsletter, you won’t regret the influx of discount offers! However, I almost always visit AnnTaylor.com after I have already seen, touched, tried on, closely examined and scrutinized the real thing at the retail store, namely because the presentation of the AT web site pushes full outfits and additional accessories in a manner more tempting than the craftiest salesperson.

Ann’s Home

The home page is set up very simply without an overwhelming number of links. On this day, an attractive 30-something model adorned with a classy AT blazer encourages you to click on “new looks for the office.” Other graphical links tout the current 40% off sale (winter clearance) and Tortoise shell accessories. Drop-down menus on the home page allow you to “Shop by Occasion” (work suits, work casual, weekend casual, and special occasions) and “Shop by Item”. This selection includes sweaters, dresses, casual/denim, accessories, petites, and sale items, to name a few. There is also a fast and easy “Quick Shop” wherein you can enter a catalog number to easily find your desired pick.

If you click on the “Wardrobe Advisor” from the AT home, you’ re taken to a page that asks you for information on the occasion for which you need an outfit: a formal evening, a casual event, a professional meeting, or a weekend away. Or, if purchasing a gift, the advisor asks for your price range, the category of gift you’d like to purchase and the relationship you have to the gift recipient. I tried the following criteria:

Within what price range?
$50-$100

What type of outfit?
A complete outfit.

For whom are you shopping?
Colleague.

Unfortunately, no results were found. Those who are knowledgeable AT addicts know that finding a complete outfit for less than $100 is a little unrealistic. However, when I changed my “type of outfit” answer to “shirts” instead, guess what? Again, no results were found! In fact, on this day, I could not get the “Wardrobe Advisor” to suggest anything for my colleague. Or my friend. Or my family member. Here’s a strike against this online venue.

So I utilized the “Shop by Occasion” link instead and decided to look for some weekend casual wear, which from AT, means it will also be suitable for my work attire. Four full outfits are shown and clicking on one of the outfits will take you to a page that breaks down the look into the functional pieces from top to bottom—including accessories and shoes. For ladies that stress out over arranging an outfit, AT takes all the guesswork out of looking polished and pulled together. Does this feature encourage you to purchase more than you had anticipated? You bet it does, so be cautious and stick to your budget!

If you want to look at one piece at a time, then “Shop by Category.” Today I was looking for sweaters, and the main sweater page offered three different selections: casual, silk, or twin set. Alternatively you can “view all” sweaters available.

Clicking on “twin set” only shows two selections (thumbnail pictures with pricing), but at the bottom of the page there’s a “view all” button that then brings up a fuller selection of shells and cardigans. If you then click on a particular item, a new page with a larger photo, full description, price, laundering care, and available colors is presented. Click on a color and the larger photo will reflect that choice, a handy feature. You can also zoom in to see the product’s full detail, helpful because AT often embellishes clothing with unique stitching and subtle beading.

Watch Your Pocketbook

But watch out ladies, because Ms. Taylor doesn’t want you to leave the site with just one item. Each product page includes suggestions for other products that would coordinate or alternate with the item you have selected. Recommendations for the $39 sleeveless silk shell I’ve chosen include a silk cardigan, $59; classic silk turtleneck, $49; silk scarf, $29; and wool crepe trouser, $89. What’s more, I can place my shell in the “Wardrobing Room” to mix and match with other AT pieces. A virtual changing room, the Wardrobing Room further allows you to mix and match your selection with other AT offerings. Again, without having a salesperson to grab complementary pieces off the racks for you, the site has made every effort to push you towards purchasing multiple items.

To Purchase

To purchase an item, simply choose a color, size and quantity on the product detail page and add it to your shopping bag. Once added, red text announcing “1 item” will be seen at the top right of your screen, near the main navigation buttons. You do need to register at the site to purchase, a convenience if you want to come back frequently. Your name, shipping address, telephone, and credit card number(s) are saved.

It’s easy to make your purchase a gift, just check the “gift box” option to the right of each product on your checkout page and fill out the four lines of the gift card message at the bottom of the screen. But note: it’s impossible to redeem your gift certificate. If the certificate was purchased through the retail store, it is not honored at the online site!

Standard shipping is five to eight business days, and I’ve often received my purchases in less time than that, so I feel it’s unnecessary to opt for third business day at an additional $6.00. Next business day is available for an additional $12.00, but this is wholly not recommended because the price to ship a single sweater via standard delivery is already $10.00.

The site does load fairly quickly, even for slow dial-up connections. The interface remains fairly simple, offering approximately four or five product views per page, with photos large enough to be seen clearly. However, AT has not made the simple adjustment of showing sale items in their proper categories. For instance, a wool snowflake sweater I’ve had my eye on since December is not shown when you click “sweaters.” Instead, it’s listed under a single category: sale. Moreover, I was surprised that in mid-January the site is already pushing Spring sweaters, with a photo of a woman standing beside an open window, green leaves shimmering behind her. I’m sorry, Ms. Taylor, but winter has only just begun! I’ve only seen one snowfall!

Tough Rating

Now for the tough part: my rating. While I am enamored with Ann Taylor’s mix of classically versatile, modern clothing, I much prefer the experience of shopping at the store to the online venue. I will recommend the site, however, because when a size has been sold out at the store, I’ve always been able to purchase it online, which has happened numerous times. Shipping is fast and the site is well organized--if you know what you want. But because of the small glitches with the “Wardrobe Advisor”, the difficulty finding my desired snowflake sweater in the “sweater” category, and the inability to redeem a store-bought gift certificate, this site gets only a three. But hey, a three is certainly better than the rating I’ll give my wardrobe from the 1980’s! Please, if you have my high school yearbook picture, burn it!