Gap: The Dip-Dyed Summer T Review

This is Gap's Dip-Dyed Summer T (style #655031), which retails for $18.50. (At the time of this review, Gap is running a promotion on "Summer Deals", and this tee is on sale for $15.) This tee is available in petite and tall (only petite is showing up right now), and is available in a few different colors, but only cocoa is showing up online. [You will probably have better luck in-store for this tee.] Gap describes the tee as such:

Look no further for the perfect warm weather T. Ours is light and irresistibly soft to the touch--plus it comes in a rainbow of saturated shades. Each one has a unique personality thanks to the cool ombre effect.

I tried this tee on in a size small. I think it fits true-to-size, and would not have sized down in this one. I would have sized up if I were going for a more relaxed fit (my preferred), but my regular size worked out fine.

The fabric on this tee is a slightly coarser cotton (a slub cotton, they say), but it is not rough or uncomfortable. There is a bit of stretch in this tee, and it is a bit clingy, so if there are any problem areas (especially in the middle) that you want to hide, this tee is probably not the best candidate for the job.

The tee is a tad on the sheer side, but luckily, the obmre pattern helps hide most of the sheerness on the top. At least it did with the color I tried on - it may vary by color. I like the ombre/dip-dye pattern, but I wish that the transition had been a tiny bit more subtle. The shirt goes from such a saturated to non-saturated shade of blue, and it all sort of seems to transition right under the bust. I would have liked to have seen a more gradual change in color, but oh well.

I think the tee would work well for a variety of casual bottoms, and even some slightly dressier bottoms, but I would see myself mainly wearing this out and about, pairing it with jeans, shorts, or maybe a cute skirt. It's certainly more interesting than your plain old tee, and having the multiple shades of a single color allows you to be creative when pairing it with other colors (at least in mind).

I left this tee at the store because I have too many tees, and don't really need another one. I also prefer softer, jersey tees, to "textured" ones, if you will. However, I do think this is a nice way to jazz up a regular tee, and you can get a lot of wear out of this one. At $15 or $18.50, I think it's a fairly reasonable price, too. (And to be honest, if I were going to buy a dip-dye tee, I'd probably go with Express's, as I love the fabric.)

What do you think? Do you like this tee? What do you think of the dip-dye/ombre pattern showing up more this season? What colors would you like to see this tee in?