Dear Designers at GAP. Your boys collection is CRAP!

[QuintesentialShadows]

Dear Designers at Gap,
Did you know your collection is crap?

Year after year,
Skulls everywhere,
Do you really lack creative flair?

Skulls with a kite
Skulls eating tripe
Skulls on a bike

Is it all doom and gloom?
Are you celebrating the retail boom?
With snowboarding Death

You honestly need to take a hike
with this line and give it a
... Proper wreath

I'd like to see more trousers for boys that aren't jeans or joggers. Nice soft, lined cord trousers in bright/jewel colours. I like elasticated waists for DS 4 so he can manage them himself.

Tshirts and jumpers in bright colours with a simple picture and no logo - like Boden do but I don't have Boden money.

A nice jumper or cardigan that doesn't have a hood would be a novelty. Poor DS gets hood build up in the winter and looks like he has a hump.

But what I'd really like, above all else, would be nice but comfortable outfits for little boys to wear for Christmas/parties etc. There are endless party dresses for girls but for boys there is very little between the two extremes of jeans and tshirt or full scale mini suit.

Who was saying no elastic on boys Jeans waists? The elastic is on the buttons inside. I have never found a pair without it up to age 5 anyway. Only shop I've found where jeans don't have so much fabric at the waist that it bunches uncomfortably on skinny kids. Love PJs in packs although very overpriced. But yes, agree skulls are ridiculously omnipresent! And what is wrong with bright colours, why is there so much grey? But Gap is not the worst offender and at least their fit works on skinny kids. Most other places the arms/legs are way too short when it eventually fitsaround the chest or waist.

Thanks bearcrumble- i LOVE that site. Have bookmarked it.

I'm another one who used to go to BabyGap before other shops. Both kids now grown out of BabyGap and I would go to GapKids last now.

Me MumtoF, I was in store today. I have a pair already with elastic but DS has outgrown them. All of the boys ones had none (I was giving them a stretch as thought was going mad!)

I don't even bother looking in Gap anymore as I know it will be naff. Baby Gap use to have the odd item that was okay but once your children are older it either really trashy for girls and 'try-hard' for boys.

ViviPru - I absolute hate characters, slogans and logos on clothing. If anyone wants me to advertise their brand they can pay me! Also I don't feel the need to boast what brand my clothes are (or not ). I'd rather an interesting design/pattern any day. Shiny, glittery clothing for girls for day wear is cheap. Girls clothes that are pink on pink on pink or purple on pink on purple are ick! As my daughter is getting older she is becoming increasingly keen on pink, but even she prefers when it is just the highlight to an outfit. She has a beautiful grey dress with pink and white gingham trim which loves - less is more. Also we both love other colours other than pink in either pastels or bold. That's my two pence worth!

For boys - Another fan of Polarn O Pyret here and also Petit Bateau. Zara isn't too bad either. The range of boys clothes is so limited!

Oh - should mention Polarn O Pyret comes up ridiculously big - unless your child is a giant, better to buy one size smaller at least.

I am pleased to see that there are plenty of other options than just Gap and Next, provided I can order online, and get out of my own area a bit!

I like Jako-O (German) -- pretty low skull count there.

oooooh, I like them!

The only things I buy for DS in Gap are socks. the ones that fold over and are 3 pairs for a fiver. A shhame that they only come in a limited range of colours (brown, red, grey and white), but they never shrink, even in the tumble dryer, and they last well. Everything else in there for DS is crap.

I love Zara kids stuff, especially their colour choices. One of the few places where my boys aren't limited to navy or grey, and girls to tacky pink. Also fewer slogans. Their coats are good too.

Thinking specifically about placement graphics on tops, tees and pyjamas for older boys, the general consensus seems to be you don't like skulls or slogans but what sort of imagery do you want to see?

Simplistic bold Scandi graphics work well for younger boys but don't translate so well for ages 10+... Suggestions?

Personally I'm happy with plain or striped, but possibly maps/travel, science-themed stuff, music, maybe some Banksy-like images? Or a lot of the stuff that Threadless do would work well for older boys.

Something cool relating to sport?

Snowboarding, skateboarding, bmx biking, skiing. Skijumping?
Wake boarding, windsurfing, kite surfing, roller blading, roller skiing?

Heck, it is summer olympics in 2012 in the uk, celebrate SPORTS!

My 9 year old love stripes. Wide stripes, and thin stripes.
But he does not like rugby shirts. And he does not like when it looks like there is a short sleeved t shirt over a shirt.

He also likes when it looks like a sports or club symbol. Not really the numbers though, just the symbol.

Science and travel is a good idea. Also cool geometric patterns.

I think a Kandinsky inspired range for boys would be a great hit!

And here A design success from my very own little native town, in the arctic.....

My DS hasn't liked the Gap since he was about 8, or rather he doesn't like t shirts with prints on and as most of the Gap's tops have skulls, skateboarders etc all over he doesn't like them. When have you ever seen a skaeboarder in a skateboarder print t-shirt?
I think Gap is great for boys up to a certain age as its very well made and hardwearing, but once they start to care about how they look even slightly, they all seem to declare it babyish - or the boys I know do!

Herd that's what I was thinking too - something clever and interesting, Banksy-esque. Surely there are people in art schools all around the country with loads of clever design ideas.

But why not just have a plain t-shirt with contrasting stitching or a variation in the thickness of the stripes? Or is that too dull?!

My little boy is still very young so has no strong opinions on his clothes just yet.

Vivi - a bargain range of well-made pyjamas for anyone over the age of 10 would be brilliant. Jersey separates, not button-up pyjamas, with longer tops if possible. Thanks.

Iggly, inside the waistband are those bits of elastic you pull and attach to buttons....They aren't automatically stretchy like the baby ones.

I dont like those trousers - the ones I got DS from gap last time had elastic at the back of the waist and a normal waistband at the front - much better.

I will have a look again and see if I can find the ones you describe though!

"Surely there are people in art schools all around the country with loads of clever design ideas." - yes Doozie there are, then we become commercial designers and all of the clever design ideas get trampled out of us by the constraints and pressures of high volume value retaining

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. Opinions are being heard.

*retailing even

Vivi, I know this isn't what you want to hear because it doesn't involve design, but do you know how hard it is to find boys clothes without either pictures or words at all? Plain, stripes, checks. No skulls, no guitars, no sharks. No cartoon characters. No slogans. No designer labels on the outside.

My DS (now nearly 12) has refused to wear anything not meeting these specifications since he was 2. Pyjamas are a particular problem.