American Apparel

I don’t know why people hate this store so much. It seemed fine to me.

While American apparel itself has many problems, this particular store is just awful.
I never buy anything from AA that’s not on sale and so I went in to look for some good deals in the back. As soon as I walked in, I saw all the employees huddled around the cashier and they looked at me and then away again; they didn’t even bother to say a welcome or offer any help. I looked around and as always, AA clothes were overpriced so I decided to leave. Again, not even a look or «thanks for stopping by!». Rude, snotty employees and overpriced clothes.

The absolute worst return policy of any retailer out there. I highly recommend researching in detail the return/​exchange policy before making any purchases, especially online. I sent back an item in the mail to the online return center (since it was not carried at this store I had to mail it back), one month goes by with absolutely no communication via email/​call or ever letter saying they received it! I called their customer service only to find out their returns usually take two weeks but have been pushed back to 6 – 8 weeks… Completely absurd. Never shopping here again.

I have no idea how anyone can dislike this store or staff. I know that I’d be a lot meaner than them if I were in retail.

There’s never anything new at American Apparel. It’s all simplye clothing from hoodies, shirts, tights, pleated pants, etc…
They are made in US, which is the only reason why everything here is expensive. Normal hoodies from $ 45, and you can find the same exact one someplace else for like $ 15 or so.
Their circle scarf is about $ 28 and it’s awesome and warm. It’s multiwear and long enough to be a dress.
I’ve bought a couple of things here, plain things like hoodies, scarves, beanies and shirts.
This is more hipster and if you’re looking for anything high waisted, US made, or something you see your dad wear, like an old jean jacket.
Even though the hoodies are pricey, I LOVE the fuzzy feeling inside and their wide selection of them.

This American Apparel is located on a busy corner on 6^th avenue.
I’ve been here twice and I’ve always thought that the location is a little on the small side. It is pretty narrow and there is not a whole lot of room to wander around. When you walk in, on your right there are the male (but can be unisex) shirts. I like the shirts that come in sealed packs.
For women I see a lot of socks, leotards, tanks, dresses, and some tshirts. I want to say that their sizing can run pretty small. If you can, definitely try on items beforehand in the fitting room.
For men I saw lots of plaid and stripes, and surprisingly boxer briefs in packages.
For unisex I see the very comfortable hoodies, that often come in neon colors.
If you need basics in outrageous colors (or just neutrals), American Apparel is usually a good place for it.
They also had an impressive collection of hipster watches here.

My boyfriend and I walked into American Apparel (my second time in the store, his first time), he was looking for a headband (for working out) and found that American Apparel carried them. While excited that he finally found some headbands, he wasn’t really excited about the price, but he bought them anyway. While walking two stores over, I suggested we go into the Nike Store since they may have headbands that are better quality. After he bought the ones from Nike, we decided to go back to American Apparel to return them.
Little did we know he couldn’t return them, even after purchasing them 10 minutes ago due to their no refund policy. The girl behind the counter said that they don’t do returns on accessories, then showed us the receipt which just plain says no refunds ON ANYTHING. I asked her if this is why American Apparel went bankrupt and she quickly responds with, «we got bailed out». What store gets bailed out? Especially with rules like this.
The sweatbands started stretching out after the 3^rd use and they also don’t dry quickly after washing after every use… mainly because they aren’t made of cotton! What type of sweatband is made of polyester?

Really bad customer service. The two girls working were unfriendly and stared me down from the second I came in, instead of saying hello. It was completely unsettling.
One asked me why I came in the store and then walked away laughing. She seemed confrontational.
Take a queue from successful chain clothing stores and hire and require really welcoming and professional staff, it will pay out in the end.

I experienced fine customer service (dealt with one woman in particular who was friendly, chatted with me while ringing up my purchase, etc) — but am not thrilled with the store in general. Why? Easily the most clausterphobic clothing store I’ve been in — and that’s even with the massively vaulted ceiling. There’s a bunch of racks shoved so close to each other that it’s like a constrained maze walking around.
Beyond that, I was surprised at how few ‘basic’ types of clothing there were. Lots of stuff I’d expect at a normal retailer, but I always assumed American Apparel would excel at having lots of colors of really basic stuff — for example, long sleeved women’s shirts in a variety of colors, plain t-​shirts in a variety of colors, etc. There was ONE option of a long-​sleeved black shirt (which is what I went in for). Sure, there were plenty of other types like with poofy sleeves, half shirts, weird lengths, etc, but not much that would be considered standard/​staples.
Plenty of accessories adorned the walls, but I don’t know, I just wasn’t feeling it.
And yes, expensive — that simple, plain black cotton t-​shirt cost $ 26 bucks. I expected affordable basics, that’s not what I got.

Don’t come here looking for good customer service. I totally felt judged by the girls working the dressing rooms and that I was inconveniencing them to help me. For what they clothes are, they sure are pricy. $ 20 for a plain, paper thin tank top? W/​E

In an epic twist of fate, today I found myself back at a store I oppose (American Apparel) looking for an item of clothing I despise (leggings). Yes, Halloween sent me on a journey for yellow leggings and I figured if anyone would have them it would be American Apparel. And I was right. I did not leave empty handed this time. But I am docking a Star anyways because:
– When I walked in the first time the girls standing at the counter looked at me and then went back to their conversation. This happened more than once while I perused the store. And when I came back later to get rung up I heard the cashier apologize to the customer in front of me because no one helped her either.
– One of the employees was literally just wearing (sheer) tights and a shirt. Not even leggings! The shirt was *almost* long enough to cover her ass, but I could see the reinforced band at the top of her thigh. I’m sorry, but any company that permits (encourages?) its employees to dress like that for work is just disgusting.
– With tax, the stupid leggings were about $ 32. Plain and simple, cotton/​Spandex blend, crappy construction. There’s nuthin to em! They should be $ 20 at the most.
Thanks to American Apparel I will be a candy corn for Halloween, but I really hope to never step foot in one of their stores again.

I would give a normal American Apparel 3 stars, mostly because I look awful in almost all of their clothes, but love 50% of their designs… However, this one is small (go to capitol hill if you want a close alternative with more selection) and a couple employees there were busy chatting with each other instead of checking us out even though we were right next to them at the register. Literally, we had to interrupt them… It was weird.
I love their tights and hoodies though!

So I bought a few hoodies and less than three months later the zipper just flies off of one of them. No biggie, I will take it in and exchange it, right? Wrong. First I have to argue with the guy that there is no way that it’s normal wear and tear because I have three other hoodies and none of which have had a problem with the zipper AND I didn’t wear it every friggin’ day of the three months I owned it.
Once I get him convinced it is a defect he then calls the Alderwood store to pull up my transaction. He gets off the phone and informs me that he cannot return it because they cannot locate my transaction and how does he know I didn’t steal it. WTF? I asked for his manager’s info. He gave me that and the corporate number and stresses that they’ll tell me the same thing. After being unsuccessful getting his manager I try corporate. The man I spoke with explained that when a customer purchases something at American Apparel it is the employee’s job to input the name. After I pull up my bank records and give him the exact date and amount he is able to locate my transaction. Apparently both times I was at American Apparel Alderwood they never put in my name (and the employee wouldn’t tell me what they did put in lieu of my name).
In the end corporate called the store and the dbag that was assuming I stole a hoodie and told him to exchange it. This zipper gave me problems in the first week but I don’t dare try to take it back. Next time I will get a hoodie made by foreign hands, at least they know how to double stitch and it will cost half as much.

American Apparel is one of my favorite stores to shop at. I know there are people out there who think their stuff is overpriced. However, I buy stuff from American Apparel because I find many ways to wear their items! I love getting certain items here. My favorite item to shop here are their cardigans. I love getting mens styled cardigans and American Apparel has several styles of them in assorted colors. I currently own 1 regular heather grey cardigan, which I wear with almost everything and 2 double breasted cardigans in sahara and black.
Other items I like here are their basic short sleeved tees (especially in grey), the le sac dress and the bandeau dress. I have my eyes set on owning a circle scarf from here someday.
As for customer service, the downtown branch is by far the best out of the other two locations (Capitol Hill and U-​Dist). Every time I shop here, I am always greeted and get help when needed. Last winter, I purchased a le sac dress and a few tees with a groupon voucher and I thought I lost the dress on the way home since my tote had a hole at the bottom. I came back to the store yesterday to see if it was were and lo and behold, the same guy that helped me had the dress waiting for me.
It’s also a great place to look for last minute items for Halloween costumes.

My experience went something like this:
Walk into the store with a return. Sales associate takes the merchandise and the receipt, does the return. I ask if I can return nail polish. His response is «no, we’re not supposed to… did you use it? I’ll just say you didn’t» and makes the return. When giving me the gift card, he points out that he gave me more cash than he was supposed to because of a discount I had. His response is «oh, well, I don’t care».
So in this situation, I love that AA hires apathetic salespeople who break the rules because I benefit. Ha.

Had a terrible customer service experience. Was lied to by an employee, and paid the price for it. When coming into the store describing my situation and calling out the name of the employee and the mistake the other employees agreed it was a mistake and acknowledged the employee, but did nothing to offer any solution other than buying more things! Never again…

Dear American Apparel,
I am not a fan. I cannot stand your soft-​core ads or your over-​priced cotton everything. Your owner is a douche-​bag and your sales staff is encouraged to leave shoppers alone which is the opposite of helpful and doesn’t make me want to purchase anything you sell. If I am in need of any basics I would rather peruse the disastrous racks at Ross. Better yet, I will walk across the street to ANY other spot to get my basic wardrobe needs. Alternative Apparel is my go to spot online… and way better at what you guys try to do.
Not so sincerely,
Maria

I know they pride themselves in being sweatshop-​free, but seriously… when I first saw the American Apparel store that opened in U-​District years ago, at first glance, the clothing they had just seemed to scream sewing-​machine prison.
In any case, I actually found the nerve to walk into this location since I heard a lot of girls were getting their dancewear and legwear here. In particular, I was in search for a pair of legwarmers. They had the average colors like black, brown, and grey. And then I saw it. Lo and behold, there was one pair of neon yellow leg warmers. NEON YELLOW — do I need to say it again? Although there was no neon pink, neon yellow will definitely do. What better way to dance than to blind people with these babies?! Not only that, but these actually stay on my legs unlike the ones I bought at Target or Fuego.
I also browsed through their socks section. Nowhere else have I seen as wide of a selection of thigh-​hi socks than here. Definitely wanted to buy a pair that day, but I was on a budget.
However, as much as I would like to buy their whole stock of legwear and hot shorts, it seems a bit too pricey for me. When I shop for socks at Macy’s, I usually wait until there is a seasonal clearance so I can buy them for 50−75% off, but it does not look like American Apparel ever does stuff like that. So sad.

I’ll admit I was a little apprehensive when I walked into American Apparel for the first time. What if they found out I’m nearly 30? Would I be tarred, feathered, and run out on a rail? Actually, the staff proved to be very friendly and helpful (and hot of course).
The clothes are about what you’d expect, not really my style, especially not the leggings (won’t the ‘80s just die already?), but if I ever need a t-​shirt in a specific color, I’ll likely shop here first.
I ultimately got what I needed for a homemade Batgirl costume (don’t ask) and went on my merry way.

I love the leggings they sell at American Apparel something fierce. They come in a wide variety of colors, lengths, and styles, fit well, are super comfy, and look great. What I don’t always love? Shopping at American Apparel. The mostly apathetic bunch they hire to work at this location, for instance, range from disinterested but adequate service to blending into the customers to a point where I have actually almost walked out after waiting for almost 10 minutes for someone to come run the cash register. It turns out, the cashier was across the store, looking through leggings on a rack – like any customer might. I had no idea she worked there. At any rate. a few positive experiences and the fact that I love their leggings have brought me back to purchase those essentials, but I have just as often just purchased them online and saved myself the potential hassle/​annoyance of shopping at a store where the employees are inconsistent in their service.
Seriously, though. The leggings.