I’ve never heard of the term “ethnography” until the assignment was given in my English 101 course at Bristol Community College. I thought to myself, “maybe it has to do with the word ethnic?” or “maybe it has to do with some kind of geography?” I was wrong and learned that an ethnography is an explanation of observations of a certain kind of people or cultures. I was so lost in what I would choose to write about and really had no idea what to write about. Then it was suggested to me that I write about the group of people that shop at Baby Gap. Well, I love clothes and fashion and enjoy dressing my own daughter in the latest fashions, so why not.

So I set out on a short journey to the Dartmouth Mall which is very close to where I reside, so this made it even more desirable to scope out. I went on a Friday night around five o’clock knowing that the mall would be most likely have an abundance of people shopping. As I walked in to the mall there was the usual groups of high school kids hanging out and walking around being obnoxious. There was also moms with their children, couples with their children, and young couples walking around window shopping holding hands. I normally never step foot into a mall because I do all my shopping online due to overpriced items at the mall. As I made my way to my destination which was Baby Gap I was reminded of how well behaved my daughter is while witnessing a child throwing a fit on the quarter operated carousel because he didn’t want to leave. Probably another reason why I don’t go to the mall because I like to shop in peace.

After the obstacles of people, screaming babies and obnoxious teens, I have arrived at the world renowned Baby Gap where prices are high and clearance is scarce. This was my preconceived notion of this particular store because I usually opt for The Children’s Place or Old Navy to shop for my daughter. I never really understood why people choose to pay such high prices for children’s cloths when they are inevitably are going to get filthy and grow out of the clothes within months and sometimes weeks. The store was brightly lit, with current songs from the radio playing. The outside window had advertisement of children wearing Baby Gap clothing and a sign that said “SALE”. I thought to myself, “Psshh, yeah right. A sale? Probably ten dollars for one t-shirt.” I tried not to be so negative about this store and tried to be optimistic on this trip to Baby Gap.

As I walked in I was greeted by a young girl, who was probably in her early twenties who most likely had no idea what it was like to have a child let alone cloth a child with these designer duds. She informed me that they were having a sale which included tops starting at seven dollars. Seven dollars? I laughed to myself and smiled at the girl and said “thank you.” She also informed me that if I needed help finding anything that I could ask her. I thought to myself, “Yeah, can you show me where the clearance is?” I knew the clearance section was towards the back but I just was being sarcastic in my head, as I always am. I poked around at the regular priced clothing and noticed that the jeans for children are priced from $24.95 to $34.95. My jaw dropped a little bit and I folded them neatly and put them back where they belong. On the display table. As I looked around at the people shopping, I noticed a few moms with a couple things in there hand that they were considering to purchase. They didn’t have their children with them so my sarcastic mind thought, “their kids are probably with their nanny at the house.” With the prices of the clothing offered at Baby Gap, you would have to be rich to cloth your child at this store.

As I made my way to the back of the store I sighed a sigh of relief. I had found the clearance section. As I rummaged through the lonely, single rack of clearance I was actually pleased with what I had found. I had discovered reasonably priced clothing that should be the regular price of what is being sold at Baby Gap. It is undeniable that the quality of the clothes sold at this store are top notch, but are also made for a top notch wallet as well. Even the clearance section was a little pricey but was doable when buying a few things. I had just reminded myself as to why I never come in here and choose to shop elsewhere that has more reasonably priced clothes for children. I walked out empty handed and headed over to The Children’s Place store.

After doing this observation at Baby Gap, I had sticker shock as to how these clothes were priced. It’s all about selling a certain kind of lifestyle and portraying a certain type of status symbol to the strangers that pass by that you will probably never see again. A lot of parents think that if they dress their children in the highest quality clothes that it makes them a better parent. This is as far from the truth you can get. I think that parents that spend outrageous money on these kinds of clothes should take a step on over to The Children’s Place or Old Navy and save the ten dollars they just saved at other comparable stores and put it towards the child’s education or first car. This observation has just confirmed my beliefs that I will never be “Falling into the Gap”.