To debunk a myth is like pie in my belly - Fredrickville.com

What's better than three hundred lbs of mayonase shipped directly to your door on christmas morning? Yeah, that's right, two posts in two days on FV! It's like christmas in August! (Edit: two posts in three days.. took a while to gather data. Still better than what you found in your stocking last year!)

I originally wanted to debunk a myth that girl clothing must cost more than the salvation army takes in on a good sunday disguised as santa clause.. (another christmas reference.. what's up with this?), but after doing a little research, I realized that maybe there is more to this than I thought.

It all started when a girl I know told me she had been shopping and was looking at a pair of pants. What kept her from buying them? They were damn near 80 dollars! Of course that would be crazy paying that much for a pair of pants, she usually doesn't go above $60.

$60!? I feel like I've lost the game of life when I spend $20 on a pair of pants! Is it really true that girl clothes are this much more expensive? Let's find out...

If we were to shop at Aeropostale, or American Eagle, maybe clothes would be expensive because they are the definition of trendy. It's a small price to pay to look exactly like your idols on tv! But what if we were to shop at.. JCPenny's? A small comparison says that JCPenny's has just as trendy clothing. And of course, it's cheaper, it's JCPenny's yeah?

But JCPenny's doesn't have my size! Only American Eagle's trendy designers could make pants the way I want them...

Another myth? JCPenny's sells every size and style (be it long, petite, or regular) as well. In fact, JCPenny's supports more sizes than our trendy stores as we get towards the bigger end of things.. So do we have an argument here? Is it true you could just go to JCPenny's and be happy for less?

After a bit of research online, I discovered I couldn't find a single pair of pants on AE's or Aeropostale's websites for more than $49. That's right, even the longs and petites.. not one pair of pants more than $49! Now I am not totally familiar with the stores, but I'm pretty sure Aeropostale has more than 3 pairs of pants, and American Eagle must be hiding something.. but their websites are pretty dead set on only showing a few articles of clothing. The cheap ones. So here we've got $30 girl pants at JCPenny's.. and $40+ at AE & Aeropostale. Seems like you could save $10-15 but.. that's not such a big difference. Where are these $80 pants I have heard so much about?

There was only one option left - It was time to pay our dear friend (the mall) a visit. And this time, it was personal.

So I grabbed my side-kick, and together we frolicked all the way to the mall. Listening to the best music available, of course. What we discovered when we arrived at our destination could have gotten us the nobel prize if it weren't for the invention of the smart bomb (Damn, those things are smart.)

All the pants in the united states were missing.

Well no not really. But I fooled you didn't I?

We visited each of our favorite stores in search of some hard facts to help debunk this myth. Was it really true girls have to pay through the roof for a pair of pants? Was it true that Aeropostale carried only 3 pairs of pants? Was it true that late at night midgets visit my house and help me go potty?

No, No, and.. Maybe.

After visiting American Eagle we discovered that these alleged $80 pants didn't exist. Truth is, the most expensive pants were $48.00 (and that's not with the sale applied.) Could this be true?

Old Navy? $39.50 Bon Ton? $36.99 Aeropostale? $49.50! Where were all the super expensive pants that I was told about? True, these pants were more than I'd ever spend on a pair of pants.. but seriously...

At first I suggested shopping at a cheaper place such as JCPenny's ($19.99, and yes they do carry longs). But seeing the actual data, you could afford to shop at these snob-good shops almost as easily! There's no need to spend $50-$60 on pants! We couldn't find ANY pants that expensive! NONE! Unless... we shopped.. G A P.

That is where the fit hit the shan. That's right folks, $58 for a pair of jeans. My goodness. This is where all of our youth's money is going: into this $58 dollar pair of jeans. Surely people would be smart enough not to shop there? But what started this entire article was the idea that somewhere out there, there are girls spending over $50 just for the right to wear pants. (It's funny, it costs even more for them NOT to wear pants.. ever try to buy the pants off a girl? Costs a lot.)

It wasn't until we visited our last target on the list that we blew our loads. Abercrombie & Fitch: $148 for a pair of jeans. What?! Are they insane?! These were jeans comparable to a $36.99 pair of jeans we saw at Bon Ton.. the only difference? $110.01! I saw you checking that on your calculators. You're right. It's actually $111.01 difference. Just making sure you were awake.

$148!!!!1!1!1!1 HOLY CRAP! You could buy a house with that. Well not really.. but you could feed over 100 people at Mc Donalds for that much. Mmmmm Mc Donalds. Gotta love the Mc Chicken, eh?

So here you've got it. A clear display of who over charges, and who really over charges.. and your true options. I'll list them out for you:

Bon-ton: No Longs. Max $39.99 Jeans (Regular)

JCPenny's: $19.99 Longs (on sale from $34).

American Eagle: $29.99 Longs. Max (for any pants) $48.

(Wait, did he just say $29.99 for longs? Is it true that I could buy a decent pair of pants for only $30? Not only that, but those were the only longs in the entire store. You couldn't buy ANY longs for more than that.)

Aeropostale - $29 Longs (on sale from $49) Max (for any pants) $49.50

Old Navy - $39.50 max (Maybe longs..)

Gap - Stay away $58

Abercrombie - (WINNER) $148

I hope you can use this information to your advantage when making your next pants purchase.

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Kallie @ 08/28/04
"Old Navy sucks. And just because JCPenny has longs doesn't mean they fit me right. I have no ass and American Eagle is the store which best fits me. I paid 60 bucks for all of my pants there last year. The ones that I was going to buy at Abercrombie were the ones that I told you were 80, not American Eagle. I wasn't making it up, silly. Anyways, my pants from AE last year were more expensive than they are this year, but they fit so well and they are comfortable. They're doing a big promotion on jeans this year (the commercials are really annoying.) I could go on and on about this. But yeah, I will shop at American Eagle and I will pay around 60 dollars for jeans if necessary. Ended."

FredFredrickson @ 08/28/04
"And the point is lost."

Kallie @ 08/28/04
"What point?"

FreakBurrito @ 08/28/04
"I'm so staying out of this one."

Legs @ 08/28/04
"I have to pay 60-80 dollars for a pair of pants. so there. and don't give me the "they carry your size" schtick. They dont"

irisangelapearl @ 08/28/04
"I bought another pair of AE jeans today for 40 dollars, and I'm very happy with my purchase...I like showing up to a store knowing that they have the style I like and the fit I like...I don't want to go through 50 pairs of jeans at JCPennys just to find one that happens to be a deal."

stumper @ 08/28/04
"ok i have to go with the facts on this one. i dont ever and dont ever plan on spending more then $40 on a piar of jeans and to this day i havent even spent that much on jeans! its insane. but i must admit it does take a long time to look around and find the perfect pair of jeans that fit and still look good and for some ppl mostly girls it is a tuff thing to do because guys only have to worry about the length and the waist girls on the other hand have a whole list like the length and the style and the hips and waist and inner thighs its really quiet stressful for something so easy but im still stickin to the point, it is out of hand to spend an insane amount of money on only one pair of jeans"

Kallie @ 08/28/04
"I don't spend more than 60 dollars on a pair of jeans, and I think that's pretty reasonable for perfect jeans. I'm picky about my pants and that's really one of the one of the only things I am very picky about. Also, I like how I am "a girl you know" and Andy is your "sidekick." "

SpIkE @ 08/28/04
"Thank you Steph. this again, is why you rock. The facts are there, we aren't making them up. Point is people who pay over 40 bucks for a damn pair of jeans are what we call "target consumers." You are the ones who do little, to no research on products you buy and accept anything the big corperations tell you is "quality." And legs, you are freakishly tall, so you don't count."

Kallie @ 08/28/04
"It's not like I haven't bought pants in other places before. I've tried on pants at department stores and I don't like them. They don't fit me right. It's not like I've only shopped at American Eagle my whole life. It's usually pretty certain that I will find pants that fit me perfectly and I love them. Not all of us are average height, skinny boys. It's easier for you. You should've gone pants shopping with me before I discovered American Eagle jeans. It took hours. "

irisangelapearl @ 08/28/04
"Yea, I feel your pain kallie while I'm not quite as tall as you I'm not that far off and it was hard to find a good pair of fitting long jeans. And it's nice to go by one brand for something, like jeans, where you like that basic couple of styles i want to walk in and know what size fits me all the time, not loose around the hips or butt or is too short or long. "

Hauck @ 08/29/04
"Hum i spent 300(well 299.95) on a pair of pants once but they were gortex Marker pants that were water proof, wind proof, super insolated thin as paper and only weighed 12 oz. so i guess i win the most spent of pants aword but in my defence they are the best ski pants in the world and i would do it again in a heart beat that is if I didnt already own a pair. "

FreakBurrito @ 08/29/04
"Ski pants don't count. "

Hauck @ 08/29/04
"shrug ok then i dont win. i see if i get them for a perpus other than that they fit over my flat ass. "

The Mexican @ 08/30/04
"Walk around the metal detectors."

selle @ 08/30/04
"wierd, i spend about $20 tops for jeans and i find stuff that fits. i buy gap, but i buy it at the outlet on sale. or i go to marshalls."

chronic_groupie @ 03/12/05
"im cool and reading super old columns :) I dont spend more than 40 dollars tops and even when i spend that much, im pissed all day because i spent all my money. Best purchase ever: $10 pants from Pacsun, double discounted. Wore them until they started to rip and then covered them w/ sharpie"

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