Reviewing Loft: Website Vs Reality

Back about 10 years or so ago, the Loft was one of my favorite stores. I could depend on them to have exactly what I needed for my work wardrobe. Whether that be work slacks, cute blazer options, fun statement necklaces or some pretty patterned blouses.

However, over the years they have changed. Or, I have changed. And we are no longer besties.

Sure, I’ll occasionally wander in the store when I’m at the mall. But, more than often I will leave without buying anything. I still have a few black slub tee’s from a few years ago that I wear every week, but they will have to last forever because Loft hasn’t offered them for at least the last two years. So sad.

A couple weeks ago I was in the middle of a ‘BlogHer is coming and I MUST have new clothes’ mood, when I stumbled over to the Loft website and saw that they were having a 40% off sale. I was really looking for a nice black fitted racerback tank top, so when I saw one I clicked it into my basket. Since they had the sale going on, I continued to click around and found a couple other items to try. I hit checkout and waited impatiently for everything to arrive.

And I do mean impatiently. I ordered an item from Anthropologie that same day and it was delivered three days later. My Loft items took three separate shipments and took FOREVER to come. The first dress arrived 5 days later, the second package came 8 days later and the last item came 10 days after placing the order.

Want to see what everything looked like in person?

Item #1: Hydrangea Flutter Dress (find it here)
Original price: $89.50
Discounted price: $53.70

Here is the dress on the website model:

 

Here is the dress on me:

I had such high hopes for this dress because it looks so amazing on the model. However, the second I got it out of the packaging I knew it was going to be a no-go. The fabric is TERRIBLE. It is 100% polyester, which sometimes can be totally fine depending on the finish of the item. In this case, it really feels so incredibly cheap when you put it on that I can’t imagine how they could have charged almost $90 for this dress.

Even with doing just a quick try-on the static was crazy. Oh and it looks terrible on me. I know I should have ironed it before I took the picture, but I have a thing against ironing an item that is going to be returned to the store for someone else to buy. Let the store do the work!

Item #2: Vintage Soft Racerback Tank (find it here)
Original price: $16.50
Discounted price: $9.90

Here is the top on the website model:

Here is the top on me:

This was the item I actually clicked over to Loft for in the first place. I had just bought a new skirt and thought a racerback tank would be the perfect complement to it for when I dance my face off at a BlogHer dance party. Luckily, in person this is exactly what it looks like online.

The fabric is nice and soft, and the fit is pretty spot on. It is thick enough that you don’t see bra lines, so that’s good. I am wearing a size large for reference, which is my usual size. My only concern is that I hope it doesn’t shrink too much when I wash it. I’ll try to remember to let it dry flat… but I’m sure I’m not the only one who ends up forgetting and just throwing the entire load into the dryer.

Item #3: Jungle Floral Maxi Skirt (find it here)
Original price: $69.50
Discounted price: $35.99

Here is the skirt on the website model:

 

Here is the skirt on me:

I admit this was a total impulse buy. I liked the crazy color combination and it had 38 reviews that were all for five stars. I thought it could be a nice weekend skirt that I can pair with a tank top or graphic tee and keep cool. When it arrived, I was happy that the colors were just as vibrant as they appeared on the website. This is another 100% polyester item, but the drape of the material is much nicer than the dress. The elastic waist, super lightweight fabric and side slits make this exactly what I was looking for. I bought a large, but I might have been able to size down to a medium for a better fit in the waist.

Even though I bought this for a weekend skirt, I dressed it up a little with a fitted black top, belt and sandals for work the other day. So it is quite versatile. With that being said, there is no way I could justify paying the full price of $70 for this skirt. Right now it’s even cheaper than when I bought it, so if you like it go ahead and snap it up before it’s gone!

I ended up keeping two out of three items and immediately returned the yellow dress to the store. Although I like both the tank top and the skirt, I’m not really blown away by the quality of any of the items. With the sale prices, they were fine… but there is no way I would have paid full price for any of what I bought.

Do you have luck shopping at Loft? Did you find it helpful to see comparison pictures of the clothes on the website model vs the clothes on me?

 

Disclaimer: This post is not sponsored by Loft, I pay for any clothing I purchase with my own hard-earned money. This post contains ShopStyle affiliate links. This means that clicking on a link may help me earn a small commission at no cost to you.