After trying on shirts at Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Gap, I found the most expensive items weren’t worth the splurge

My next stop was at Banana Republic, which has over 400 stores worldwide and feels like the most upscale of Gap Inc.’s brands.

I visited a location in Midtown Manhattan — a two-level store where plump, low-slung couches, elegant finishes, and well-tended displays gave the feel of a higher-end retail experience.

Looking for something that might appear a bit more refined than Old Navy’s polo, I found the luxury-touch pique polo in black, which, at $40, was almost double the price of the Old Navy option.

However, the difference in quality was evident by touch alone. The 100% cotton fabric was more silky than the coarser cloth from Old Navy, a difference the store attributes to mercerization, a way of treating cotton for a more lustrous look and feel.

Last, I visited Gap, which has over 700 locations across North America and Asia. When I walked into the Manhattan store, I found this Gap location was smaller than the ones I’d shopped at before.

I typically find Gap’s products fit me pretty well, and the brand offers a good mix of quality and affordability.

Despite the store’s small footprint, it was bright and efficiently organized, and I had no trouble finding polo shirts on display. When I noticed that none of the pique polo shirts on the floor were available in my size, a sales associate happily went to the basement to find one for me.

The store I visited didn’t have any black polos in my size, so I tried one in navy blue.

I didn’t buy any of the shirts I tried on, but to me, the combination of value and fit made the Old Navy option by far the most compelling.

However, I’d recommend the soft feel and higher quality of the Banana Republic shirt to those more fashionable than me.