5 Costco Clothing Items You Should Grab — and 5 You Shouldn’t Touch

Walk into a Costco, and the clothing section barely looks like a clothing section. No mannequins. No mood lighting. No salespeople hovering to ask your size.

Just displays piled high with T-shirts, jeans, and pajamas.

Don’t let the bare-bones presentation fool you. Costco sold roughly $9.7 billion in apparel in 2024, up from about $7 billion five years earlier, according to CNBC. That’s more than Abercrombie & Fitch or Old Navy.

But here’s the catch. Not everything in those folded stacks is a bargain. Some of it’s the best deal in retail. Some of it will be wadded up in your return pile by next weekend.

I’ve watched plenty of shoppers torch cash on Costco clothing they didn’t need. So let’s save you the trip.

Here are five types of clothes worth grabbing — followed by five you should walk right past.

5 Costco Clothing Items Worth Buying

1. Kirkland Signature Merino Wool Socks

If you’ve never tried these, you’re missing one of Costco’s most reliable sleeper hits. A four-pack of Kirkland Signature merino wool socks runs around $13, or roughly $3.25 a pair.

Specialty brand-name merino socks typically cost $15 to $25 — per pair.

The blend is similar across the category: about 57% merino wool, with nylon and elastane for stretch. Outdoor publication GearJunkie has highlighted them as a standout everyday pick, and lifestyle site The Kitchn has compared them favorably to higher-priced Smartwool.

If you wear boots, work outside, or hate cold feet, buy a stack. Done.

2. Kirkland Signature Cotton Crew Tees

Costco’s Kirkland Signature men’s six-pack of 100% combed cotton crew tees runs about $27. That’s roughly $4.50 a shirt — for one of the most-reviewed clothing items the warehouse club sells.

Costco’s own product page lists more than 8,000 reviews and a 4.7-star average rating.

Combed cotton is sturdier than the rough-spun cotton in cheap pack tees from drugstores or big-box discount aisles. It also softens with washing instead of pilling into oblivion.

Wear them as undershirts or as yardwork shirts. Either way, they’ll outlast the off-brand competition.

3. Pajamas and Loungewear

This is where Costco beats the department store. Eddie Bauer, 32 Degrees, Carole Hochman — these aren’t no-name knockoffs. They’re real brands, sold for around $15 to $25 a set.

Comparable pajama sets on those brands’ own websites typically run $40 to $80.

Even the kids’ and family holiday pajama sets — the kind you’d pay $40 a head for at a department store — show up at Costco for under $10 each, especially during the holiday season.

If loungewear is now half your wardrobe, this is the aisle to camp out in.

4. Kirkland Signature Men’s Cotton Jeans

The men’s Kirkland Signature 100% cotton jeans sell for about $17 a pair. Costco’s product page shows nearly 12,000 reviews.

That’s not a typo. Twelve thousand.

For basic, no-frills cotton jeans in standard cuts, that’s the most-reviewed pair you’ll find anywhere short of Amazon. Reviewers regularly compare the cut and weight to Wrangler or Levi’s at half the price.

Just don’t expect distressed washes, designer pockets, or stretch denim. These are old-school work jeans — and many Kirkland Signature items are actually produced by major brand-name manufacturers, though Costco rarely advertises it.

5. Cold-Weather Outerwear

Costco carries real coats from real brands — Eddie Bauer puffers, 32 Degrees lightweight down, Andrew Marc, Gerry — usually for half what those brands charge on their own sites.

A 32 Degrees women’s tech jacket at Costco recently sold for around $27. The same kind of lightweight, packable jacket from a major outerwear label typically retails for $80 to $100.

One caveat: Check the fill on the tag. Some of Costco’s cheaper “puffer” jackets use polyester fill, not real down, which won’t hold up in serious cold.

Stick to the down-fill options and you’ve got a coat that’ll last seasons.

Quick aside — most internet financial advice comes from people who weren’t alive during the last recession. I’ve been writing about money for more than 40 years. Want rock-solid advice? Sign up for the free Money Talks Newsletter. Takes 10 seconds. No fluff. No spam.

5 Costco Clothing Items to Skip

1. ‘Designer’ Jeans and Brand-Name Collabs

When Costco stocks designer-label jeans — True Religion, Lucky, Calvin Klein — the prices look great. But buyer beware.

Much of the brand-name clothing sold at warehouse clubs, outlets, and off-price stores isn’t leftover main-line inventory. It’s manufactured specifically for the discount channel, often using cheaper materials and lower-grade construction. Vox and other outlets have reported on this practice for years.

You’re not getting $200 jeans for $40. You’re getting $40 jeans with a familiar label sewn on.

If you want real designer quality, wait for sales at the brand’s own store.

2. Athletic and Performance Shoes

Costco’s athletic shoe section is one of the riskiest spots in the warehouse. The selection rotates, the sizes are scattered, and there’s no fitting room.

Worse, the off-brand running shoes at warehouse-club prices typically lack the cushioning, support, and tested durability of established brands like Brooks, Asics, or Hoka.

If you walk 20 miles a week, you don’t save money on a $40 pair of shoes that destroys your knees. You spend it later at the orthopedist.

Specialty running stores are worth the markup. Stick with name brands where fit and biomechanics actually matter.

3. ‘Designer’ Dress Shirts

Same problem as designer jeans, but worse — because dress shirts depend on fit. Costco occasionally carries dress shirts from brands like Calvin Klein at prices that look like a steal.

Then you take one home, put it on, and notice the seams puckering or the collar sitting strangely on your neck.

Without a tailor, dress shirts need to fit right off the rack. And without a fitting room, you’re guessing on size, length, sleeve, and shoulder cut every single time.

Buy these from a men’s store where you can try them on and exchange them easily.

4. Trendy Pieces and Limited-Edition Hauls

A few years ago, Costco’s Kirkland-branded apparel went viral on TikTok. Teenagers descended on warehouses, sizes vanished, and then — predictably — a mountain of returns followed once the trend cooled.

Reader’s Digest interviewed a Costco employee who confirmed clothing is already the warehouse club’s most-returned category, partly because shoppers buy multiple sizes to try at home.

Don’t use the warehouse as a fitting room. Buying clothes at Costco hoping the trend lasts is one of those classic warehouse-club shopping mistakes — easy to make, expensive to undo.

For trendy pieces, shop retailers with real fitting rooms and easy online returns.

5. Bras, Shapewear, and Anything Fit-Critical

Bras and shapewear are the worst possible categories to gamble on without a fitting room. Sizing varies wildly across brands, and a half-inch off on a band or cup measurement turns a $25 bra into a drawer ornament.

Same problem with shapewear. Even from a familiar brand, the fit at Costco may not match the fit you’re used to from the brand’s main retail line.

These are categories where in-person fitting matters more than the bulk discount.

A specialty store with a fitter — or an online retailer with free returns — is worth the extra few bucks.

The Bottom Line

Costco’s apparel business didn’t grow to nearly $10 billion a year by accident. The brand-name basics — socks, tees, jeans, pajamas, real outerwear — are genuinely competitive on price and quality.

But Costco isn’t a clothing store. It’s a clothing department in a store that’s mostly selling tires and rotisserie chickens.

So shop accordingly. Stick with the basics where bulk pricing makes sense and brand reputation handles the quality control for you. Walk past the rest.

And remember: Costco’s return policy is generous, but treating it as a fitting room is a tax on your own time. For more on shopping smart at the warehouse club, see 10 Things Every New Costco Member Should Know.