Naked Models and Loud Music

Abercrombie & Fitch. My experience with A&F is limited to just walking by the store in the mall. But what the hell? Four big (4’x4′) framed pictures of buff male models, with essentially no clothes on. Music so loud it sounds like a dance club ten feet outside the store. What little I can see of the lighting inside seems to be exceptionally poor. People/kids shop for clothing like that?

I know, I know, you’re thinking I’m an old fuddy-duddy, and you’re probably right. But I remember being a teenager and shopping for clothes. Would I have shopped in a store like this if it existed in my day? I don’t know.

First off, the images of models — I fully understand and appreciate the concept of using handsome/pretty, buff/slender models to sell clothes—to sell anything, really. But how do naked models sell clothes? Doesn’t the potential customer want to know what the clothes look like on the models? I mean, I’m all impressed with the 17 year old’s six-pack abs, but that look requires going to a gym, not buying a shirt at A&F.

Attractive, naked models can bring eyes to the image, but usually the image shows the product, or at least the product name. Such images with no product shown, and not even the company name anywhere, seem wasted.

The music — I like loud rock music, too. Granted, my prefered rock is at least 20 years older than the stuff they’re playing in A&F, but still, rock and roll is supposed to be loud. But dear God almighty, how do the sales staff in the store talk with customers? Dance clubs are loud because people want to dance, not talk, or think, or . . . hmm. I was going to say, “shop,” but people in a dance club are, in effect, shopping.

The lighting — do teenage shoppers care what the clothes actually look like, or is it sufficient just to have something with the A&F label? Well, thinking on what I’ve seen teenagers wearing now a days, maybe they don’t actually care what they wear looks like. So maybe they don’t need to see the clothes and know whether the pants are black or blue, or the shirt is white or pink.

Actually, something that cracks me up about the clothes today’s kids wear is how identical they are to what I was wearing as a kid in the 70s and 80s. I mean, really. I could show you a picture of a kid and you wouldn’t be able to identify whether it was a 70s teen or a 00s teen. You know, I wonder if A&F stores are really just second-hand stores, selling old junk they found at the Goodwill store.

Hey, more power to them. I think it’s fine that 30 year old styles keep coming back. But it does make 30 year old movies with depictions of the predicted future look pretty dumb. If designers just keep bringing back styles from generations past, we’ll never get our plastic, color-changing, self-cleaning fashion look. Imagine if the 80s movie Back to the Future 2 showed people wearing the styles of the 70s. Who would have believed it? Who wouldn’t have laughed at the lack of imagination of the wardrobe designers?

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com