Old Navy Sample Share - Shorts!

It is possible to have a crush on a website? Cuz I have a little bit of a crush on Crowdtap, a site that allows you to interact with brands, where you give them feedback on their products in exchange for free stuff and gift cards (I always redeem my points for Amazon cash!).

The latest Sample Share I got to participate in was for Old Navy's shorts collection. I got coupons to go with a friend of mine to try out any shorts we wanted (shorts being anything that is too short to cover my stupid looking knees).

I think between the two of us we tried on most of the different pairs! The first ones I tried were the Printed Canvas Shorts, which were super cute (unfortunately you can't see HOW super cute they were, since I'm a terrible photographer - trust me, there was a neat print on them!). I didn't like the way they were SO short - I really wish that Old Navy offered patterns like these on their longer shorts, though. Probably the best part of the photograph is that you can at least sort of see how high on my leg my tattoo "WIP" comes - a little bit above my knee! Love it!!

Our Old Navy was recently remodeled, and these fun labels were in the dressing room - I just wish that the middle one said "Try It On!" or something like that, so I would definitely-for-sure remember which pieces I hadn't tried yet!

Anyway, the shorts on the left are the Perfect Khaki Shorts (5" inseam) and the ones on the right are the Ultimate Bermudas with stretch, which I wasn't able to find on their website. The problem with both pairs was that the legs were too tight on me in my regular size, but when I went up a size, the waist was WAY too big.

Because of that little bit of disproportionality, I ended up choosing the Relaxed Chino Shorts (9 1/2" inseam) in Rifle Gray.

I like them because, as you can juuuust barely see, they have buttons at the waist. These buttons go with little tabs that remind me of the tabs on my BDU pants from the Air Force - you can make the waist just a little bit smaller with them! Hooray! Unfortunately, I still had to go up a size for my thunder thighs I mean powerful legs to fit properly...and as such, will have to adjust the positions of the buttons. Oh well - better that than legs that are suffocating, right??

My friend (who's apparently pretty camera shy!) had similar thoughts about most of the shorts. She liked the chinos I got, but she's a bit shorter than me so they were way too long on her! She picked the Cuffed Twill Shorts (7" inseam) in Tree Frog - she liked the length, the front accent pockets, and the fun color!

Overall - definitely a fun afternoon! It was a great break from work, as we hit up the nearby KFC for chicken afterwards. Delish!

Thank you so much, Crowdtap, for another great pair of summer shorts from Old Navy! Click the Crowdtap link to sign up and you too could have a chance at free stuff! ;)

Old Navy Sample Share - Tees and Tanks

Through the website Crowdtap, every so often I get the chance to try out free stuff from my favorite place to buy clothes - Old Navy! The best part about these opportunities, called Sample Shares, are that I get to take a friend along for free stuff, too! In the past, my friend Tamera and I have gotten to try out a free summer outfit and even these awesome winter coats. I've also gotten (but not blogged about) skinny jeans. Other shares have included fitness gear and dresses.

This time, though, the Sample Share was for Old Navy's new tees and tanks. I was super excited about this one because, well, pretty much my whole dresser is full of Old Navy basics like these. The coupons were good for two tops (any combo of tees and tanks) with the eligible product numbers listed on the coupons and the letter that came with them.

Those little product numbers were awfully tricky. Yes, they were on the price tags on every item, but they were awfully small (I circled it in red using MS Paint so that you could see it!). After hunting around the store for a while, we were able to locate most - but not all! - of the eligible shirts.

The ones that were the most appealing to us were the Soft Vintage tees, which come in both crew neck and v-neck styles. We really liked the impressive array of colors and, true to their name, these tees are really soft!

Unfortunately, the tees are also really thin. It quickly became clear to both of us that Old Navy's goal is to get everyone who comes in to buy a "top" part of an outfit to actually buy two shirts to fulfill the same need.

Without even trying to get a photo of how thin the shirts were, you can tell from Tamera holding up this tee that they're pretty thin - definitely not the sort of thing that you'd be comfortable wearing to the office *without* another layer underneath! (Look how well it matched the little yellow bubbles on her skirt, though, without even trying! Too cute!). She went with the crew neck vintage tee in a very pretty shade of blue, and I got a dark purple one.

The other top we both ended up getting was the Jersey-Stretch Tank. Made out of a thicker sort of material than Old Navy tanks usually are, these are clearly the shirts that Old Navy intends for us to wear under their new, super-thin tees. They're also very soft, but the thing I liked most about mine is the length!

The purple long sleeve I'm wearing in this picture isn't short on me or anything - it comes down to my hips, easily - but the tank is much longer, which makes it much more appealing for layering than most of the other Old Navy tanks that I've purchased in the past. The cute teal color that I got doesn't seem to be available on their website anymore, but your local store may carry it. ;)

Of course, nothing free ever comes without a catch, right? Old Navy hadn't gotten the coupons correctly entered into their system by the time T and I went for our tees - when the cashiers scanned the coupons, they came up as being for free dresses, even though the tees we were getting were definitely ones that were listed on the coupons! Thankfully the staff was able to override the coupon and give us the tees for free anyway - always great customer service when I take these coupons to the Old Navy here in Chico, CA :) 

Overall I definitely had fun with this sample share! It was a bit disappointing that, during the Crowdtap discussion, Old Navy asked us for our opinions on a larger variety of shirts than we were actually able to purchase with the coupons - I was really looking forward to checking out the new Fitted Racerback Tanks, which look like they'd be great for the gym but at a much lower price than Old Navy's activewear line.

Thank you, Old Navy and Crowdtap, for the chance to score free gear! :)

Free jacket!? Yes!

So if you read my blog regularly you've probably noticed the referral link to Crowdtap over there in the sidebar (see it now? hehe!). Crowdtap's a great program that allows you to answer questions and get matched up with brands. The questions, called Quick Hits, allow you to earn money towards Amazon gift cards and to donate to charity - but by far the best part are the Sample Shares! All the sample shares I've gotten so far have been for my favorite clothing store - Old Navy! They advertised Crowdtap on Facebook, and that's how I got involved with the site.

The latest sample share I got was for free outerwear! What an amazing thing to get a free coupon for! It never really gets very cold here in Chico (today it's probably 75 degrees and really sunny!) but I loved the idea of being able to get a classic jacket for free. I also got a coupon to share with a friend, so I took my pal Tamera along with me.

The large fit across my shoulders, but the tummy was too much!

The first jacket I tried on was this one, the Wool Blend Toggle coat in Gray Plaid. I really wanted to like this coat, because I loved the contrasting toggles (especially on the gray one!) but unfortunately, in order to get the jacket to fit across my shoulders, it ended up huge across my belly! I joked that if I were pregnant it would've been perfect, but alas, Jeff and I aren't at the point where we can do that quite yet!




The next jacket I tried out was one of the puffy coats, the Frost Free Midi jacket. The fit was a bit more true to size, but unfortunately...

It didn't have the greatest scent. While the plasticky sort of smell would probably go away after the jacket was aired out for a while, it turned me off from wanting the jacket. I suspect that most of the puffy jackets and vests would have this problem :(

When I originally went to Old Navy I was really hoping to be able to try on the Hooded Twill Jacket. Unfortunately, my local store didn't seem to have it. They did have the Twill Sherpa-Trim Anoraks, but I didn't really like the way either the khaki or the brown color looked in person. I was bummed that they didn't have some of the happier colors (like Parading Peacock!) from the puff coats in this jacket, because that would've been a cool twist on a less-trendy look.

Tamera tried on a bunch of different jackets, including the Wool Blend Double Breasted Coat but she ended up getting the Wool Blend Toggle Coat in gray. She's a bit smaller than me, so she didn't have to go up as many sizes to make it fit across her shoulders.

She was super excited to get a new jacket - she's been working hard to get in shape since having her little girl (who is absolutely adorable!) and she didn't have a winter jacket that fit very well until last Monday! Hooray!!

I decided to go with a classic look for my jacket - I picked the Wool Blend Toggle Coat in gray, which is a longer version than Tamera's that also doesn't have the hood. While I really liked the plum color that the jacket comes in, I figured the gray would be better long-term for dressy winter parties - now if only I had some to go to! :)

I'm not a huge fan of wool, but the collar doesn't really sit on my neck, and the jacket's lined, so it's not on my arms if I wear shorter sleeves or have my hands in my pockets. I think the jacket looks pretty good with jeans, so it's definitely something I could even wear just to work on cooler days!

The best part, of course, was being able to leave the store, with over $150 in merchandise between us - with two receipts that said $0! Thank you soooooo much, Crowdtap and Old Navy!

Want the chance to get in on the great deals from Crowdtap for yourself? Don't hesitate to sign up - here's my referral link again. :)