ANTHROPOLOGIE - Women's Clothing, Accessories & Home
Anthropologie was coined as a French twist of the college major Anthropology. However, unlike its word cousin, Anthropologie has nothing to do with the study of humans and human behaviour. Rather, Anthropologie is a fashion and home décor retailer that (according to their mission) will surprise and delight you with unexpected and distinctive finds for your closet and home.
Anthropologie advertises as a portal of discovery, where the creative-minded woman (who is concerned about fashion but too busy enjoying life to be governed by the latest trends) can find the desired styles. Their product offering includes women’s apparel and accessories, intimates, home furniture & décor, and beauty & gifts items.
This Anthropologie review will x-ray Anthropologie to provide the information that will help you determine if the fashion and home décor retailer is legit and worth trying.
Anthropologie was started by Dick Hayne in 1992 in response to a friend who was dissatisfied with the shopping options available to her in the suburbs of Philadelphia. While many shopping stores focus on styles for young women (teens the to early thirties), Anthropologie was started to cater to creative, educated and affluent 30 – 45-year-old women. Thus, Anthropology is a store you’ll grow into.
The store was a success, and to cater to more customers, they opened up their online business with the launch of their website in 1998. As expected, more customers were reached and Anthropologie saw the need to go international. The first store outside the US was opened in London, England in 2009. Following that, other stores were opened in new markets. Today, Anthropologie operates over 200 retail stores throughout the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Product Range
The ideal shop should hold a wide product range so that you can make a choice. A wide product range is also good because it allows you to buy all your related items from one place instead of visiting different stores, and that will enable one to take advantage of bulk purchase discounts.
A review of the merchandise of Anthropologie shows that the retailer is not just a fashion retailer; there is also a strong focus on providing home collections. In the clothing shop, you’ll find fashion styles and fits that are perfect for any occasion, be it cocktail parties, weddings, or casual daytime silhouettes. You’ll find excellent party skirts, head-turning blouses, as well as the accessories to complete your look including uncommon ones such as one-of-a-kind slides and head-turning totes. In the home collections, you’ll find exquisite furniture, curtains, decorative pillows, duvets, wall art, Moroccan-inspired rugs, artist-inspired vases and glass wares and more.
The categories of the merchandise in Anthropologie as found on their website, as well as the items in each category are as follows:
Clothes – Dresses, Tops, Tees, Sweaters, Jackets, Jeans, Pants, Skirts, Jumpsuits, Loungewear, Sleepwear & Intimates, Petites, Sets, Swimwear, Kids & Babies wear, and more
Shoes and Accessories – Shoes, Jewelry, Bags & Small Accessories, Scarves & Wraps, Winter Accessories, Hair Accessories, Hats, Belts, Kimonos, Socks & Legwear, Eyewear, Travel & Tech
Beauty and Wellness Products – Bath & Body, Skincare, Makeup, Hair Care, Perfume, Mini Size, Bath Bar, The Wellness Shop, The Mask Shop, Men’s Grooming, Tools & Brushes
Home and Furniture – Furniture, Kitchen & Dining, Bedding, Holiday Décor, Candles, Room Décor, Bathroom, Rugs, Curtains, Hardware, Lighting, Wall Art & Mirrors, Wallpaper, Stationery, Tech & Travel, Kids & Babies wear, Organizing & Storage products, Paint by Farrow & Ball, Seating Collections, and more.
Prices and Promotions
The first consideration when making purchases whether online or in physical stores is price. As much as customers want to have gorgeous fashion styles and tranquil home collections, not many will want to break the bank for that. Thus, the ideal retailer should hold affordable merchandise.
Many online fashion stores promise to be affordable. However, Anthropologie does not sing the affordability chorus. Is this because they don’t want to shout their own praise, or simply that they are not affordable?
Sadly, the prices listed in Anthropologie do not fall into the affordable range. For example, you’ll be hard pressed to find a dress that is priced $100 or below. Many of the dresses are in the $120 – $200 category. Also, you’ll be hard pressed to find a top that goes for $50 or less, as many of the tops are in the $75 – $150 range. You won’t even find scarves for less than $25.00; almost every listed item under scarves and wraps was above $28.
The sales section, which is the section that usually holds discounted merchandise, also does not help. Yes, the items are discounted, but their prices still remain on the high side. You’ll find skirts slashed from over $100 to about $70, and V-Neck tops slashed from about $50 to about $30. When a heavily discounted V-Necks are around $30, there no telling you that the store is expensive. Jumpsuits and counts also have prices significantly slashed, but still, stand highly priced at $80 and above. If you want low priced items, you’ll have to check the sales section of home collections for the knobs, but even those are about $5.00 – $15.00.
We can go on and on, and only one conclusion can be reached, if you want to shop on the cheap, Anthropologie should not be where you should be coming to.
One thing that customers want to see in a review of any online shop is the promos that the shop runs. Shop promotions help to make the shop items available for less than their full prices, while some even make certain items available for free to customers. Thus, taking advantage of such promos will result in significant cost savings.
Anthropologie runs different promos from time to time. Many of the promos are time-limited; that is, only running for a specified period of time. However, you cannot combine one promo with another. At the time of writing this review, some promos were running, which included:
- 20% off full-price pants & jeans online and in US and Canada stores for a limited time
- Up to 30% off select home items online and in US and Canada stores for a limited time
- Extra 25% off sale items valid online and in US and Canada stores for a limited time
- 20% off the full-price face, hair & body masks online and in US and Canada stores for a limited time
- 25% off select full-price holiday décor online only for a limited time
- Select styles now $20 – $98 online and in US and Canada stores for a limited time
- Up to 50% off select furniture valid online only for a limited time
- Colloquial Rain Boots & Chelsea Boots by 52 Conversations by Anthropologie for $48 online and in US and Canada stores for a limited time
Bottom Line
Anthropologie advertises as a portal of discovery, where the creative minded woman can find distinctive fashion styles and home décor. First, the store is legit and has over 2 decades of seamless operation in fashion and home décor retailing. They also pledge a commitment to ensuring the security of customers’ data.