Rave for Thyme Maternity

[psophia17]

I have one in walking distance of MIL's house, and I headed over there this morning, because over the weekend I discovered wearing my ON pants from when I was pg with DS caused me to be winded every time I sat down.

The manager was just so awesome and helpful, and the clothes in the store are a ton better than what's online. Plus there's a 20% off coupon in the BRU "especially for baby" catalog, that helped me to save $14 on some tops and a pair of shorts that I can wear while I sit...woo hoo!

[NewfieNat]

Wow I'm surprised to hear this. I HATE Thyme, though I still shop there due to lack of options. Lots of reasons...

-Everytime I go I get pressured into buying everything in the store. I don't give in, lol. For instance, last week the lady was trying to sell me a swimsuit. In response I told her sorry, I just bought a maternity swimsuit in the US for $10, and it's Liz Lange.

-I don't like many of the styles. All their pants fall off me, and I've tried all the different styles except the full panel, which I can't because I'm not that big yet. Just yesterday I went there looking for a white blouse for work. The two I tried on (the only ones they had with sleeves - I can't wear sleeveless to work!) were totally see-through. When I told the saleslady this she tried to sell me a white tank to go underneath. Ummm...no! That would cost a fortune.

-That STUPID contest entry. I DON'T want to win Ivory Snow for year but they make me fill out that form anyway. And although I check I do not want to be contacted further, I know I will be.

-The sizing is horrid. Did you know that XS=size 1-3? UNREAL! I am quite average and I do not want to think I'll soon need an XL!

I better stop or I'll be here all night. Yes, I have used that 20% coupon, but the store I was in had all the coupons neatly cut out of the stack of BRU magazines. I thought that was a bit suspicious...

Sorry for the rant, I'm glad you found clothes you like there! Maybe I will too, someday...

Natalie

[EllasMum]

Natalie - just FYI, there is a Thyme outlet store in Signal Hill. It has a TON of stuff and alot of it is clearance priced. I bought a couple of tops, a pair of pants, and a bra there and it cost under $100. Plus there is a HUGE selection.

[Laundraholic]

>
>-The sizing is horrid. Did you know that XS=size 1-3? UNREAL!
>I am quite average and I do not want to think I'll soon need
>an XL!


While I agree with the fact that Thyme doesn't really carry my "style", I'm just confused about this portion of the rant regarding sizing. Isn't that what XS is supposed to be? XS is usually sizes 0 to 2, S would be sizes 4 to 6, medium 8 to 10, L 12 to 14 and so forth.


Petite women get pregnant too =)

[Piglet]

I used to consider Thyme a necessary evil. I HATED them when I was pregnant with DS1 because there was not other store that I could shop at and their quality was horrid. By the time I was pregnant with DS2, we had Old Navy and I got lots of hand-me-downs so I never shopped at Thyme that whole pergnancy! The one thing I bought was a nursing bra and it started falling apart, which was just confirming why I hated Thyme... and then things changed! For starters, I was able to exchange the broken bra no questions asked for a brand new one in a different style and it became my favourite nursing bra. Secondly, I read that they were bought out by the Reitmans Group, so their clothing is now more Smart Set/Reitmans/RW&Co quality and style, which isn't bad. I still hate their sales tactics and I do find them to be overpriced for what they sell, but at least they now carry nicer styles, more selection and better quality than in the past. Kudos to them for at least trying to improve their image. Next time I will shop there, I am quite positive. I am glad you ghad a positive experience. Please let us know how those pants fare in the long run.

[tg_canada]

I find them VERY helpful when I go in, always willing to bring me everything need....and more...which is what I don't like as sometimes I don't have time to try on everything under the sun but they keep bringing me stuff! and they always try to sell me bras, panties and creams/lotions when I am at the till.

Also, I am NOT impressed with the clothing quality. Every item I own says "hang/flat dry". EVEN THE JEANS! We don't have Old Navy or GAP where I live (unless I do mail order) and Motherhood clothes are too large for me, so I am stuck with Thyme. I wash everything in a front loader washer on cold/gentle and hang/flat dry and I have still had 2 shirts shrink terribly. There was no problem returning them, they were happy to either refund me or let me exchange, but it's a pain in the butt. I'd love to be able to put my pants/jeans/jean skirts in the dryer but I am scared they will shrink so I end up having them take days to dry in our basement and then them being crunchy when I put them on. :(

I am not sure about the XS comment someone made? Most of the XS tops there are too big for me, but I can find some that fit. The XS pants fit me fine (wearing the "before and after" at 7 months pregnant). You don't have to keep buying bigger sizes the more pregnant you get. The XS is designed to fit an XS sized woman throughout pregnancy. Some of the clothing styles fit better in early pregnancy and others for later pregnancy, but you buy the same size throughout.

[psophia17]

They definitely tried to sell me more than I was looking for, but I've never been to a store that didn't try and do that, so I wasn't taken aback by it at all - it didn't even register.

I was super-impressed with the service, though. No pg woman in the world wants to go rummaging through racks of clothes trying to find things. I walked in, the woman greeted me and asked what I was looking for, and then filled a fitting room with tops and bottoms that fit the bill.

I avoid the whole creams and skin care schpiel by being allergic to almost all scented creams - the word "rash" stops a sales pitch pretty fast, IME ;)

[Piglet]

Okay, now that would drive me nuts - they expect a pregnant woman who has only a fraction of her wardrobe at her disposal to stand around waiting to hang dry items?? That would annoy the heck out of me too. I hadn't thought of that because all they used to carry was polyester and it is hard to shrink plastic, LOL!

[EllasMum]

I LOVE their bath/shower gel - it has a great citrusy scent that is not too strong, and it lathers up nicely. Plus it is relatively cheap - I think I paid $6 for a big container of it. I got a free full-sized sample of it when I bought a bunch of stuff when I was pregnant with DD and have not used anything else since. I still use it to this day! I also tried their 'soothing legs gel' (or something like that) and found it WAY too strongly scented - but the shower/bath gel is just right.

[tg_canada]

>Okay, now that would drive me nuts - they expect a pregnant
>woman who has only a fraction of her wardrobe at her disposal
>to stand around waiting to hang dry items?? That would annoy
>the heck out of me too. I hadn't thought of that because all
>they used to carry was polyester and it is hard to shrink
>plastic, LOL!

Yup, drives me nuts. I have 1 pair of jeans, 2 jean skirts, 2 pairs cotton pants, 4 shirts and a 2 cotton sweaters. EVERY item says to either hang or lay flat to dry. Right now the shirt I am wearing is 92% polyester and 8% spandex, and even with all that poly it still says "hang dry". What's even more annoying is my cotton/spandex shirt which has always been hung is getting pills on it even though I wash it inside out, gentle, cold water.

I say, it's lucky they only make maternity wear as their clothing likely wouldn't last longer than a pregnancy.

[Neatfreak]

I am not fond of Thyme either, for reasons that nearly everyone else has mentioned. However, I did get the most awesome pair of black pants where when I was 13 weeks along. The salesperson gave me about eight pairs to try on, and one was a definite winner. I am hoping that by the time I have another baby, Gap.com will ship to Canada.

[Piglet]

Or just come back to Calgary for a visit - we now have Gap Maternity in Chinook :)

[Neatfreak]

Yeah!

Hopefully we'll be sent somewhere with at least Calgary-quality shopping next time :)

[tg_canada]

>I am not fond of Thyme either, for reasons that nearly
>everyone else has mentioned. However, I did get the most
>awesome pair of black pants where when I was 13 weeks along.
>The salesperson gave me about eight pairs to try on, and one
>was a definite winner. I am hoping that by the time I have
>another baby, Gap.com will ship to Canada.

I ordered from the Gap in Calgary. Just take a look at the web site to see what items you are interested in and call the Gap in Calgary. They will ship you whatever you want for a $5 flat shipping rate. Any item that doesn't fit can be returned at your local Gap store. Old Navy in Edmonton will also do the same. This way you can order more than one size of each item if you are unsure of what size you will wear.

They don't always have everything that is on the web site, and they often have things that are not on the web site but I've found them very helpful over the phone (at least at the Gap, I haven't ordered from Old Navy yet) and they'll recommend items and describe them to you. And since the shipping rate is fixed and returns are easy, you can go ahead and order something you've never seen!

[Neatfreak]

It's awesome that they'll do that! I was kind of sad when the Gap at Chinook Centre got the mat clothes oh, about six months after I stopped needing them. Boo. Hmm ... I wonder if they will ship toddler clothing - the BabyGap in St. John's is rather patchy in their inventory ...

[NewfieNat]

>I am hoping that by the time I have
>another baby, Gap.com will ship to Canada.

About 2 months ago I got an email from Gap saying that they are opening an online Canadian store this summer. I can't wait!

Natalie

[Piglet]

WOW - that would be amazing! I can't wait. I am such a GAP-addict and shop the clearance racks all the time. I think I have bought 2 items full price EVER, but they sure get a lot of my money at the end of the day. Keep us posted if you get any more emails.

[tg_canada]

>It's awesome that they'll do that! I was kind of sad when the
>Gap at Chinook Centre got the mat clothes oh, about six months
>after I stopped needing them. Boo. Hmm ... I wonder if they
>will ship toddler clothing - the BabyGap in St. John's is
>rather patchy in their inventory ...

Yes they will ship anything in the store.