Abercrombie Fitch

ACuriae

500+ Posts
As with some of my other posts, I actually considered putting this one on Esther's Follies first, but it's a semi-serious question.

A lot of us did it in high school or college, outgrew it, and are not proud of it. Others never outgrew it and still see nothing wrong with it. I'm not talking about wiping your nose goblins on the wall of the bathroom stall or asking your girlfriend to hook up with her best friend while you watch. I'm talking about shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch or wearing Abercrombie & Fitch clothing.

Some of us wore A&F stuff in high school and ditched it in college. Some of us continued to wear A&F in college and then ditched it in grad school. Some of us never outgrew it despite noticing the fact that there is never anyone over the age of 16 in an A&F store.

Chances are good that you have a friend who still clings to his A&F gear. You know the dude--he's the guy moping at weddings talking about how the dumbass groom is ruining their friendship by getting married, sneaking a draw out of his flask during the wedding vows despite being a part of the wedding party and in plain view of everyone, hitting on college freshmen, working in the same starter job as when you all graduated...and still wearing A&F stuff.

Maybe he reads HornFans. Help me tell him that 36-years-old is too damn old to be buying anything at A&F for yourself. Or maybe I'm wrong. Either way, let's hear your opinions.
 
I'm 34 and one of my favorite ballcaps is an A&F hat I bought long ago. I"m really picky about my hats and this one fits perfectly. I don't wear it all the time like my Horns cap, but it is definitely in the rotation.
Can't think of any other article of A&F clothing I own, but that hat ain't going anywhere.
 
My first time in Abercrombie & Fitch was with my mother and older brother. We were buying him a sleeping bag for a big camping trip his was going to take with his classmates. (The Pecos)

Abercrombie & Fitch was basically a safari supply store. Brass telescopes, sleeping bags, backgammon sets...

Not too much later, a store named Banana Republic opened up in malls. This was kind of a discount safari store/ place where you could buy rugged clothing like you would need if you ever traveled to a banana republic.

What was you point again?
 
ok, I am 41. Never wore A&F, never been in an A&F Store.

That being said, how different is it really from the Gap? Same basic clothes at first glance. Is what offensive the A&F logo plastered on every square inch of apparel ? Or maybe their smarmy cheesy ad campaigns? Is there a distinction between guys that wear A&F and girls?

Or is it the type of people who actually wear the stuff... do they trend douchey? And if so, why?
 
there is nothing wrong with shopping there depending on what you are getting.

okay:

hats, flip flops, belts, jeans, shirts with no decal

not okay:

tight fitting polo with a&f logo, pre-ripped hat, anything else with big a&f logo.

however, i think that is the same with any store. there is a certain age where it is not really okay to sport a specific brand. for instance, pac sun...... sure you can get a shirt or something there, but you cannot wear a big Volcom shirt like the kiddos.

IMHO.
 
of course they are a victim of their own success in that most any fad will face a backlash at some point.
having said that, i don't think it's ever been okay to shop there, and certainly not now.
 
It's perfectly ok to shop there if you are trying to pick up one of the hot chicks that work there. Remember, they think they are actual models, so you have to cater to the ego.
 
^^ They were, just pull a page from the Playbook; put on a smarmy outfit, get some douchey shades, and a handful of agency cards. You'll be in.
 
Hell...maybe I was wrong. But he does buy the stuff with big Abercrombie logos, so maybe I wasn't entirely wrong.
 
In the mid nineties, A&F sold outdoors-y type clothes. Kind of like a cross between Polo and LL Bean. It was very well made and very conservative and extremely comfortable. A big part of their advertising/story was that Teddy Roosevelt/Stienbeck/Kennedy wore A&F clothes. And I can't recall seeing the logo anywhere on the clothes besides on the tags inside. There was really nothing wrong with it at all. It was actually really nice. I still wear an oversized pea coat I bought at the AF in Fulton Street Market in lower Manhattan in 1997.

Then, sometime near 1999/2000 they basically went with the Calvin Klein/sexy advertising plan to draw in the high school/young college crowd. It worked great as an instant pick up for lagging sales but, as was pointed out in the OP, it has now slid into nothing but a niche for high schoolers. Pretty ****** slide for a company that was started in 1892. But their spin off brands still pay handsomely.

Wiki has a couple of good articles about it.

History of A&F

Main wiki entry for A&F
 

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