Abercrombie & Fitch

[stilettogirl84]

Its the same thing with any company putting there logo over everything, you are basically paying the brands to advertise for them.

I agree with you on that. I buy clothes- whatever the brand- for the look, the style ect. If I am going to have anyone's initials on my clothing, it's better be mine!

 

[StrokesFan210]

I use abercrombie for my basic clothing needs.

Like there underwear..


Or plain t-shirts for lazy days like this:


I've never been a fan of the jeans, the fit is to baggy, wide and hole-y. The plain t-shirts and underwear however, I love.

Hey all, I just stumbled on this thread and was interested in it because I used to wear tons of Abercrombie in college. About 10 minutes ago my view of abercrombie would have been the same as xlevix, i.e. I love the underwear, and have a few basic items from there but would not buy much else with the moose or "A&F" logo at this point. Then I noticed that the pictures of the underwear he posted looked different from the ones I already own and love. I just checked the website and WTF!!!! they stuck a little moose on all the (once classic) boxer briefs for men. They've gone too far this time and now I am done with this establishment. This could not come at a worse time because I just lost 4 pairs of A&F boxer briefs somehow (like you know when socks mysteriously dissappear in the laundry?)! Anyways I am going to go to a few stores in my area and pray that they have some of the old styles in stock. AHHHHHHH!!!!!!

 

[americanhearts]

buying into an identity -- remember that it's no different when you open up a magazine and roll your eyes at the latest celebrity who's draped himself head-to-toe in dior homme. it's "fashion" at its basest, laziest level. it's essentially purchasing a costume.

go easy on a&f, though. sure, it comes with a frat-boy stigma but only because the company's been so successful in it's branding. please excuse the crassness of my next statement, but in that sense a&f and dior homme have both succeeded on the same level. hardly any other designer label carries with it such a strong stigma -- the image of heroin-injecting, stick-thin rockers goes hand-in-hand with hedi's brand in the same way that we have come to identify the meathead frat-bro with abercrombie and fitch.

look past the stigma, however, and consider the quality of the clothes. the construction, materials, and cuts are usually superior to all other mall-brands (if american eagle did not have bosom-buddy status due to shared clientele and an identical target demographic, it would never be mentioned in the same breath as a&f. the quality and designs of even their most basic garments are cheap, uncomfortable, and ill-fitting).

that said, i fully understand and can relate to the immediate gut reaction to a&f as a brand. i felt this all through high school, a result of identifying more with marginalized groups than with the mainstream. i went through punk rock and all that but when i pick up an a&f ezra fitch sweater today i can push past my impulse to drop it and run. sometimes, i can even force myself to let my gaze linger and consider the possibility that i might be holding something that is, in it's own way, pretty darn nice.

 

[StrokesFan210]

americanhearts, I dunno if you read my previous posts or anything but I also griped about a certain celebrity draped in all Dior Homme recently in a magazine. I will agree with you somewhat that it is lazy and close to purchasing a costume, there are some things that come to my mind that you may want to consider however:

1)celebrities don't usually dress themselves, they have stylists and may wear head to toe in any one brand or style depending on who is working for them or what is available that day. (so instead of rolling your eyes at them it may be more accurate to think: "what was that stylist thinking?") Also, while it is far less likely that everyday people dress the way celebrities do, they can serve as inspirations occassionally and there is something positive in that.

2)I think mixing and matching can work for lots of clothing brands and individual pieces but I feel that every now and then there is a virtue to keeping it all the same brand or particular style. For example, if I were to wear a pair of A&F cargo shorts, I would certainly opt for a pair of flip flops and a worn/frayed polo shirt as well instead of a bespoke dress shirt and driving loafers. On the other hand if I were to wear a Dior Homme slim black suit I would probably opt for a slim 1-2" wide plain tie instead of a 3.5" wide, flowery tie by Tommy Hilfiger, etc. I think there are definitely SOME instances where head to toe in one designer can and should be the desired look, and though this is probably rare, I would encourage looking at the whole outfit someone is wearing and seeing if it works before making any crass judgements.

Anyways I do feel as you do that A&F and Dior Homme both have succeeded in obtaining a brand image that is either strongly envied or disliked by people. Either way I guess that is what makes both brand so interesting. Lastly I don't know what it says about my personal style that I have jumped ship from buying mostly A&F in college to buying mostly (or as much as I can afford) Dior Homme in the past year. Perhaps I am just a young fashion victim and with any luck I will find a happy medium later in my life.

 

[stilettogirl84]

2)I think mixing and matching can work for lots of clothing brands and individual pieces but I feel that every now and then there is a virtue to keeping it all the same brand or particular style. For example, if I were to wear a pair of A&F cargo shorts, I would certainly opt for a pair of flip flops and a worn/frayed polo shirt as well instead of a bespoke dress shirt and driving loafers. On the other hand if I were to wear a Dior Homme slim black suit I would probably opt for a slim 1-2" wide plain tie instead of a 3.5" wide, flowery tie by Tommy Hilfiger, etc. I think there are definitely SOME instances where head to toe in one designer can and should be the desired look, and though this is probably rare, I would encourage looking at the whole outfit someone is wearing and seeing if it works before making any crass judgements.

I understand what you are saying, but I still feel it's more original/ personal to not wear one brand head to toe

If i wear torn up jeans from abercrombie- I like to pair them with stilettos and a dressy shirt or maybe a cami & cardigan combo

and there's no reason a nice sweater from abercrombie can't be paired with slacks and some pointy ankle boots- I think it's all about maintaining your personal identity- whatever brand you're wearing

 

[americanhearts]

alexisanass -- completely agreed with your comments regarding both celebrity-styling as well as the pros and cons of one brand top-to-toe. my own comment about celebrity fashions stemmed from one of the dh threads in which there were complaints about celebrities choosing to go about draped in DH as a personal choice that seemed disingenuous when considering the image they otherwise seem to portray.

my main goal, i suppose, was to point out that both dh and a&f attract a type of consumer whose primary goal is to purchase a lifestyle and has little to no interest in the quality of the clothes or how they contribute to his/her individual style. thus, we should be able to look beyond the crowd-mentality attached to these brands, and consider the quality of the clothes to determine the brand's worth. of my experience with a&f basics, i've found few faults with the quality and construction. let's talk about how we feel about the clothes themselves, because in the same way that dismissing DH clothing as heroin-chic for starved rockers is selling the label short, so is overlooking a label solely due to the presence of a moose (or croc, or pony, etc.)

 

[J'adore Dior 02]

i completely agree with ur theory. i had actually recently noticed that myself. take a pair of their pants for the winter season for instance. by spring the same exact print, fabric, and style, has been cut to capris, and for summer, its a skirt!

 

[finalfashion]

Fascinating thread.
A&F was recruiting at my school... I'm rather glad I didn't apply after reading all of this. The article about the CEO was especially fascinating.

 

[punky]

I think the brand you wear doesn't matter- but how you mix and match what you have that makes it yours. I think it's absurd to say that someone is any given way just because they wear clothing from brad x versus brand y.

I have some jeans from Abercrombie- I also have a prada shirt- I also have some slides from target-

So the f*ck What!?!? What does that make me? A Person, just like everyone else. Where you shop doesn't define you. Any style or personality you express through your clothing is based on how you mix and match it, how you think and coordinate. I buy things I like, regardless of the name brand on it.

well said, clothes are just clothes... its time to let go of the sterotypes

 

[coffeeandasmoke]

I personally love A&F. People who shop at any mall can make a decision about personal style. I choose to shop there, because I can actually afford it.

 

[helena]

this thread is making me sad thinking what used to be

 

[helena]

I personally love A&F. People who shop at any mall can make a decision about personal style. I choose to shop there, because I can actually afford it.

what point are you making...that people who shop at mall's have style or that wealthy people shop at ABercrombie & Fitch.

I was it A&F for the first time last week and I saw neither style nor particular quality. I thought it was really really boring actually. I couldn't understand what the fuss was all about.

 

[northern_song]

buying into an identity -- remember that it's no different when you open up a magazine and roll your eyes at the latest celebrity who's draped himself head-to-toe in dior homme. it's "fashion" at its basest, laziest level. it's essentially purchasing a costume.

I totally agree with this. You are not being the slightest bit creative with fashion when you dress in the outfit that the designer basically already put together for you.

And just to add, I really don't think that their clothes are of good quality. When I used to buy A&F, I had straps break off of tank tops, sweaters pill, buttons fall off jeans, and t-shirts get holes in them. Personally, I think that Luella stuff from Target was of higher quality than most of A&F's clothing (maybe the Ezra stuff is better, but I never bought any of it).

 

[yourbestfriend]

this thread is making me sad thinking what used to be

Ambercrombie really upsets me. Seeing all these teenagers and college students who really go with the entire Abercrombie persona and image makes me wonder whats going on these days. People can buy A&F and mix and match, as long as they are making a style, not following the one A&F is trying to tell them to follow. Not enough people do this because all they care about is thinking that they do have style, and money just because they shop at A&F.

If you think having money gives you style, and especially A&F style, you probaly should double think what is so great about it.

It also irritates me that they are trying to expand to Canada now. I heard they opened 2 shops in Toronto and 1 in Edmonton. I can see that it is going to take over exactly what it is doing in the states and brining it North.

 

[Oliver132]

Here in sweden we don't have a&f so not many people have their clothes, only if they've been to the U.S.. All you haters have to admit though, their piques are awesome. The fit is way better than Lacoste, RL or whatever.

 

[funky_shoes]

hating mainstream style

look at this website www.drawmytee.com
it demonstrated how the mainstrain is so boring and people wear what they are wearing because the choices out there are limited

totally agree with the author of the above sites....nothing in this world is original anymore

all the products out there are crappy and boring!

 

[Casualuxury]

I used to like Abercrombie, I enjoyed their quirqyness, and I used to enjoy the apres-football romp attitude. However recently they have vered from their ivy-league rooted past to a greyed down, dying to be in with the couture crew, desperate for attention, overpriced, and slightly pretentious brand. The brand itself has become one big sueded cotton yawn. All of the clothes are the same season to season, with the colors more subdued every year. I do have an appreciation for the new Ruehl brand, mostly the atmosphere the store creates. I am an associate at a Hollister Co. store; I have found that if you take the peices and pair them down with other more fashion focused peices you really can have a slight appreciation for the mock So-Cal brand. Even turning one of the tees inside out gives you a GREAT faded or overdied peice in a pretty origional color. Abercrombie has really lost its allure to me, mostly because of the price, and the fact that you can find the same things at Hollister for about $10-$20 cheaper. And just for the record, I'm a fan of fashion satire, It's quite fun.

Jeramiah C.
Youngstown, Ohio

 

[inAbottle]

i think their clothing is overrated. i mean, they do have some interesting stuff but the person sitting next to you (from where im from which is southern california) is already wearing it so it makes me not wanna shop there

 

[justinleaddict]

I think there are plenty of things i could say about abercrombie, but what really annoys me is when people generalize about the kind of people who shop there. If you see someone draped in A&F, dont hate the store, just feel bad that that person has no style.

Their quality is not bad though, if you compare it to other suburban mall stores. Also, middle class teen can't really afford luxury brands, so go easy on them.

 

[kissablekae]

i stopped buy their logo tees after like..a month or two. it gets tired real fast so i wear them as pjs lol.

i still buy a lot of their basics..the shirts and tanks are great! they stay nice after every wash. i wear their polos,henleys,tanks to work..which are $40(polos) each, a bit much for workclothes! but it hasnt shrunk or stretch out! which is why i shop there.

i cant stand ae/forever 21 tops because its seems like it gets stretched out in hours and they never go back to their normal shape after washing.(shrink upwards and stretches in width<-ew)