FASHION BUSINESS

Ready To Wear Project The Striped T-Shirt ( Breton Stripe)

Meghan Allen

5/15/2013

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Contents

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………………………… 2

Retail Environment of Guess …………………………………………………………………….. 3

Retail Environment of Gap Inc…………………………………………………………………….5

Retail Environment of Forever 21………………………………………………………………. 7

Striped T-Shirt at Guess …………………………………………………………………………….. 9

Striped T-Shirt at Gap Inc………………………………………………………………………….. 11

Striped T-Shirt at Forever 21…………………………………………………………………….. 13

History of the Stores ………………………………………………………………………………...15

History of the Striped T-Shirt ………………………………………………………………….. 17

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Introduction

For this project I decided to pick a striped t-shirt to look at as my ready to wear item. I

thought that a striped t-shirt is a very classic piece that many people have in their wardrobe

and no matter what season, you can always pair this garment with something, there are always

striped shirts in different colors, sleeve length and strip size. The stores that I wanted to look at

was a store that I don’t usually shop at, one store that I occasionally shop at, and one store that

I always shop at to see the difference in store set up, along with price and to see if I would want

to continue to shop there or start shopping there based on the criteria the project gave me and

the experience I had. The store I chose to look at are, Guess which is a classified as a better

price range, The Gap which is a more moderate price range and Forever 21 which is a budget

price category. All of these stores are very different from their look and what types of clothes

they sell, which is something I wanted to look at.

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Retail Environment of Guess

When I walked into the Guess store the first thing I encountered was a sales person

standing by the door waiting to greet people as they walked in. the store is set up with girls

clothes on one side and boys clothes on the other with the cash rap in the back of the store.

There were many mannequins that were dressed in the spring trends with signs in the windows

showing they were having a sale. The dressing room was tucked away behind a wall directly

behind the cash rap area, and it was very small, but it was neat and organized. There was a rack

for clothes that a customer didn’t want and there was not much on it. The rest of the store was

pretty organized, the store layout was small and it was hard to move around the racks and the

walls with clothes on them. Since the store was small, there was not a lot of merchandise in the

store to show off, and there was not a lot of variety with color.

When looking for my striped t-shirt it took me a while since they were tucked away in

the very back of the store on the bottom of a clothes stand. Many of the clothes were hanging

on the rack and there were some folded jeans and t-shirts on the walls. When I was walking

around I noticed that the store tried to keep everything very neat and organized, but if the

clothes were not hanging then they were messed up on the table from people trying to pull

their size. The only time I encountered someone was when I was greeted at the door, it looked

like there were only three people working, and I know it was a small store, but they needed

more customer service since there was not anyone in the dressing room to help me, I just

walked right in.

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My overall experience of Guess was that it is a very organized store that had many cute

clothing options for the spring and summer. The vibe I got from the store and the people who

worked there was that they might have been a little stuck up, or they did not really care about

their job or the people that were in the store. The store lighting was slightly dimed inside

making the store seem less inviting, and almost intimidating to come in, because it just seems

like if you were on a budget that this store would be out of your price range. The clothes are a

bit over priced for what they are in my opinion and I probably won’t be buying anything from

there anytime soon.

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Retail Environment of Gap Inc.

When I walked into Gap, the first thing I saw was the brightly colored pants that were to

the left hanging up on the walls along with the on the tables. The store was laid out with girl’s

clothes on the left side and boys clothes on the right. In the windows there were mannequins

with many spring dresses and bright colored pants for the girls and shorts and t-shirts for the

boys. I thought the visual merchandising was put together well with the outfits in the windows,

there were very minimal extra items in the windows which was nice and less distracting so I

could just focus on the clothes that were on the mannequins. Throughout the store there are

many racks and wall hangings with different clothes on them. There were also, outfits put

together hanging on the wall to give inspiration to the customer when they were shopping,

along with mannequins in the middle of the store with different clothes and looks on them.

With the clothes hanging on the walls, there were more selection of colors and sizes that are

folded underneath. As I walked through the store I noticed that there were many items on sale

and that their newer items were up in the front of the store and towards the back is where the

sale items and my striped t-shirt was at. The only employees that I saw were at the cash

register and some working on the floor. There wasn’t anyone in the dressing rooms or at the

door when I walked in to greet me, like more stores usually do.

There was definitely a lack in customer service, I guess the employees thought that they

didn’t need to really walk around on the floor since there were not a lot of people in the store

to help out or talk to. The fitting rooms were clean and small. When I walked in there wasn’t

anyone in there to take my clothes or show me to a room, they were all just unlocked and open

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so I walked in. there were outfits hanging on the outside of the doors to give customers ideas of

other outfits they could try on or buy, which I thought was a good marketing tool.

My overall experience of Gap is that there store is very clean and organized and laid out

very well with their use of color to bring the customers in. The store did have some sales which

I thought was good, but their prices were pretty reasonable for even a college student like

myself. The style of clothing at Gap seems very clean and playful with their different prints and

bright colors, which is something that I look for when buying clothes. Even though there were

not a lot of people in the store I still think that they could have had better customer service, but

I will most likely go back and look around at their new clothes again.

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Retail Environment of Forever21

When I walked into the store there was a center display with a table and many racks on

the side walls, with one of their new collections featured. There wasn’t anyone at the front of

the store greeting us as we walk in, which proves that there is a lack in customer service.

Throughout the store there are a lot of racks and table displays with many new summer and

spring arrival pieces. When I was looking through the racks, many of them are piled up with

clothes that it is hard to even pull an item from the rack without it getting caught on another

item. It makes it hard for the customer to really look at all the clothes that are on the racks

since everything is so piled together. When I was looking at the tables and the folded clothes on

there, they were all unorganized and sloppy. I hear many people complaining how the store

was not neat and it was hard to find their size. I heard one mother say that it looks like a garage

sale in here with all of this stuff so packed in.

When I walked into the fitting room, there was an employee there to help you to a

dressing room and to take your extra clothes. When you looked around the dressing room, it

was very cluttered with rack of clothes that needed to go back on the shelves and many of the

dressing rooms were dirty with dust on the floor and the doors did not close properly. The

dressing room size itself was a decent amount of space for you to try clothes on, but it would

help if all of the hooks were on the wall to hang out the clothes, but it might have just been the

room I was in that the hooks were broken.

With the rest of the store, I saw many other workers putting out new clothes on the

racks on the walls and the freestanding racks in the middle of the floor, so it was a little hard to

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look at the clothes that were around where they were working without getting in their way.

There were many mannequins in the windows and on the floor with their new spring items and

they really made me want to come into the store and look around. The only down fall to that

was that the items in the window I could not find on the floor which made me a little

disappointed because I really would have liked to try them on.

My overall experience at Forever 21 is good. This is really the only store I shop at for all

of my clothes so no matter how messy or unorganized the store is, I will continue to come back

and shop there. There are always unique styles of clothing and the prices are always right for

what they off and my budget. One of the things that I like about the store is that it can be

stuffed with clothes because when you are looking through the racks, sometimes you might

find an article of clothing that is not like the rest or there are any left in the store, which always

makes me feel like I found a hidden treasure within the racks.

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Striped T-Shirt at Guess

At Guess, the target customer for their store is men and women in their late teens to

middle thirties. In this case with the women’s striped t-shirt, in many brighter colors is targeted

towards late teens to middle twenties. With this brand the designers and founders are the

Marciano brothers. The founded the brand and came up with the different looks for the

different clothing lines within their brand. The striped t-shirt that I found at the store was made

in Peru out of 100% polyester material. On the tag it says that to take care of this garment

properly wash in like colors in warm water. The different colors options for this shirt were pink

and black, green and black, and the classic black and white.

For the design elements of this garment, there isn’t a logo or anything special on the

shirt to let other people know that it is a Guess shirt, the logo is on the middle of the shirt in the

inside where the size is located at. This shirt was retailed at $15.50 plus tax and it is in sizes

extra small to extra-large. This striped t-shirt would be considered a classic piece in the black

and white color; with the pink and green striped shirt it would be considered a trend, since

these colors might not be popular in the next season.

This striped t-shirt is part of this brands more casual collection and it was found tucked

away in the back of the store next to the other t-shirts and jeans. When I was looking around

for the garment I almost thought that they didn’t carry it because the way it was presented on

the floor and where it was located

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Striped T-Shirt At Gap Inc

Gap Inc has a target customer of both men and women; they also have a line for

children and babies as well. Their age range goes from late teens to late twenties, but I have

seen customers in their thirties shop there as well. As for the striped t-shirt, the target

customer would be women in their late teens to early twenties. The striped t-shirt came in the

classic black and white, but there were also every other color in the rainbow that a customer

could possibly want. The shirt has a long v-neck with a pocket on the left side. The stripes on

this shirt are about an inch wide and they alternate in colors. The t-shirt was all the way in the

back of the store next to other t-shirts and their jeans. This relates to the brand because they

put together like garments and pair it with something casual like a pair of jeans in one section

of their store. Gap has various styles within their brand; they have their casual look, which the

striped t-shirt would fall under, along with a business casual wear and everyday wear. As for the

striped t-shirt Gap does not have any logos on their clothes, but their signature element is the

different color options that they offer in the store, especially with the t-shirt I was looking at.

This t-shirt is a classic piece in the black and white color, but it goes with an everyday

pair of jeans or shorts as a basic piece in a wardrobe. Every year I still see the same V-neck black

and white striped shirt no matter what season it is. For this spring season there are many bright

colors in the stripes which I would consider a trend since these colors might not be popular for

the next season.

For this t-shirt they offer size categories in regular, tall and petit. Within those

categories they have sizes from extra small to extra extra large. The price for this t-shirt was

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market at $19.50 but was on sale for $10.00, which I think is a reasonable price for the

garment. The t-shirt is made out of 100% prima cotton and it says to machine wash cold with

like colors and it is imported from Vietnam but designed in the USA. The garments at this store

are manufactured and designed by Rebekka Bay for the Gap brand, and she also designs for the

other stores that Gap is affiliated with as well.

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Striped T-Shirt at Forever 21

Forever 21’s target customers are men, women, children and they even have plus size

and maternity wear ranging for various ages. They have clothes for just about every age with

their different sub-brands within the store, like Heritage, Love 21, Love +, Forever Men and

Forever 21 girls. With this striped t-shirt that I found I would have to say the target customer

for this garment would have to be middle teens to mid-twenties. This shirt would be considered

a classic piece of clothing because it is a black and white striped t-shirt that you can pair with

any kind of bottom no matter what season it is. The t-shirt was also offered in other colors like

red, and I would consider the red and white striped t-shirt would be more of a trend for this

season because the customer never knows if the same color stripes will be in fashion for the

next season. This striped t-shirt relates to the brand as part of their casual basic wear line,

which also covers their tank tops, other basic t-shirts, and their lounge wear and it was found

next to other t-shirts and tank tops hanging up and also folded underneath a table.

The t-shirt doesn’t have any logos or brand names on the shirt; the label of forever 21 is

located inside the shirt. Another element of this t-shirt is that it has a thicker rounded color

with a solid black strip around the neck. Forever 21 have many sub brands within its store, this

t-shirt is part of the Heritage brand that they have and it was made overseas in China. The t-

shirt is made out of 100% cotton and the instructions for proper care is that you should hand

wash in cold water and then lay flat to dry. For this t-shirt it is retailed priced at $9.80 which I

think is pretty reasonable for the Heritage line at Forever 21, since their clothes can be priced a

little higher than just the Forever 21 brand. The sizes that are offered in this shirt are small to

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large. Many of times if you wanted to find a garment in an extra-large or bigger size the

customer would have to go to their plus size brand.

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History of the Retailers

Guess:

Guess was first founded in 1981 by the Marciano brothers, who left the south of France

to create their own fashion line. The brothers were inspired by their European heritage. The

Marciano brother’s redefined denim with a stonewashed, slim-fitting jean, the 3-zip Marilyn.

Bloomingdale's was the first department store to welcome the brand by ordering two dozen

pairs of jeans, and from then on their brand took off. With the clothes they created their look

gave off a young, sexy and adventurous lifestyle. In 2007 the Marciano brothers designed the G

by Guess line, which targeting men and women ages 16 to 23, and opened many stores across

the country. As well as their collections in the department stores, they now have over 500

stores in over 80 countries around the world. The Guess brand has become so popular they

designed a shoe, accessories, fragrance and home furnishing line, along with a Guess outlet

store. Today Guess is still continuing to market their new clothes with many celebrities as well

as opening more stores.

Gap Inc:

The Gap was first founded by Don and Doris Fisher, when Don had trouble finding pants

that fit him, so he decided to open up his own retail store to fix the problem. The first store

opened in 1969 in San Francisco, California and they got the name Gap from the generation gap

and the target market was for people ages 12-25. The Gap made history as the first chain in

retail history to use its store name as the brand name. From the success of the Gap the owners

hired Mickey Drexler who was a skilled merchant to make the brand grow even more, and what

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he did was create a two store mail-order catalogue business, Banana Republic, and a few years

later they created Old Navy from scratch. Today they have over 3,000 company operated stores

and 300 franchised stores all around the world. Their brands have grown from the Gap to, Gap

Kids, baby Gap, Gap Maternity and Gap Body, Banana Republic, Old Navy, Piperlime, Athleta

and INTERMIX. They also have a Gap outlet and Banana Republic factory store.

Forever 21:

The first doors open in 1984 in Los Angeles, California in a 900ft retail space, at the time

it was called Fashion 21, but the owners soon changed the name within the first year when the

profits rose from $35,000 to over$700,000. The owners knew that this company was going to

be a success so they decided to open a new store ever six months. In 1989 they branched out to

their first mall space in Panorama City, California with a 5,000ft retail space, from then on they

started running their specialty store in malls, and opening their first out of state store in Florida

in 1995. As the years went on the store became more of a success and they decided to expand

their stores and open XXI flagship stores with over 24,000ft or retail space in major cities. Today

Forever 21 has become one of the country’s largest privately held companies with over 480

stores worldwide. This company has become so successful that they wanted to branch out and

create different lines within their stores so they created Forever21+, Forever21 Men’s,

Forever21 Kid’s and Love21. They are currently adding over 90 stores each year and are

building stores as large as department stores with two floors and over 40,000ft of retail space.

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History of the Striped T-Shirt (Breton Stripes)

The striped shirt or the Breton strip was originally from the act of France of 1858, as a

uniform for the French navy seaman. The shirt was designed to have 21 stripes representing

how many victories Napoleon had won. Later on the shirt was manufactured by Bretagne,

Tricots Saint James in fabrics like Cotton and Wool intended for the sailors but many Breton

workers took to the shirt for its easy and practically. This shirt was made with navy and white

stripes and mainly for men in a uniform base, and the large stripes made it easy to spot the

sailors out at sea. Since then fashion has grown and many women have been seen wearing the

shirt with different size, number and colored stripes, and has made it a basic piece in a

wardrobe. This first designer to really make this garment to really stand out and be wanted by

many was Coco Chanel, in her nautical collection in 1917. Chanel designed the piece to be

paired with long flared pants, mainly for working class women during the pre-war Riviera years

and was formally adapted in the 1930’s when the upper class would pair the shirt with blazers

and shorts. Just about every designer has this type of shirt in their collection and with the help

of iconic stars like Audrey Hepburn, Marilyn Monroe and James Dean; this style of shirt has

become a classic piece of clothing.