"Fitch, Please"

Ellen said that on her show when she was taking Abercrombie and Fitch to task for the comments made by CEO Mike Jeffries.  If you don't know, he said there are certain people who shouldn't wear A&F clothing and made distinctions between "cool" and "uncool" kids, implying anyone above a certain size isn't "cool."

So, obviously, this guy's kind of a dick.  Skinny does not equal cool.  A LOT of athletes are not "cool" for the pure reason that they, often, are also complete dicks.  Not all of them, I don't want to be making any grand generalizations here.  But most people have a particular image of what the "cool" kids were like in their high school days and for most people, cheerleaders, athletes, etc. were not friendly or, indeed, "cool."

But I digress, because actually, I wanted to give props to an argument I read in the comments section of one particular online article.  Someone made the "joke" that they were going to boycott Lane Bryant because they didn't carry extra-small clothing.  Then they pointed out that if A&F didn't want to market toward a certain demographic they didn't have to because, hello, capitalism.  And using this logic, we can make the argument that Lane Bryant is also "exclusionary" and, therefore, "discriminatory."  And while I don't know if I agree completely, that's a totally logical, intelligent argument.

Do I shop at A&F?  No, it's way too expensive and the employees have always been complete dicks to me when I walk in.  Because they assume I'm not their demographic.  (Which, while I am a bit older than their target consumer, I am also almost universally an XS - S in clothing.)  But do I agree that they should expand their clothing sizes so "everyone" can fit their clothing?  NOPE.  Here's why:  that's impossible.

I work in a clothing store, as you know.  Our "core" sizes start at a junior XS (size 0) and run to a junior XXL (roughly size 17/18).  Then we have our "plus" sizes which start at 14 and run to 24.  For the most part, we do not have the same clothing on both sides.  It is getting better, because one of our biggest customer complaints is finding something on "the other side."

But it isn't as simple as just making a shirt bigger and bigger.  A lot of fashion designers say that for "plus" sized women clothing has to be re-imagined, re-shaped, etc. because their shapes are just plain different than the average shape of a woman who wears a small.  Sometimes, when our store does have the same shirt on both sides, it might be more fitted in the "core" sizes but have a band at the bottom in the "plus" sizes.  This is because for many "plus" women, bands at the bottom prevent the shirt from just hanging and looking sloppy, or exposing their stomachs.

But I also can't tell you how many times we have a woman who is a size, say, 28 come in and complain to us about our store not catering to her size.  I don't know what to tell these women because most stores can't carry every size conceivable.  So that's why I'm not totally on the bandwagon about A&F needing to expand its sizes.   Could their CEO have made more intelligent comments?  Absolutely.  He could have just talked about the image for their company being young athletes or something.  Which is fine.  Tommy Hilfiger had a particular image for his company:  yuppies.  He was actually aghast when rappers started wearing his clothing and said that if he'd known that was the image his company would be associated with, he wouldn't have ever gone into business.  Yeah, a lot of rich people say stupid things, huh?

And to the people who say that if you want to fit into A&F clothing you should go on a diet:  you CAN'T be serious.  It IS NOT that simple for most overweight people.  A lot of people are overweight because they eat unhealthy food, and a lot of it, sure.  But a lot of people are also overweight because they have some kind of injury that prevents them from getting proper exercise, or they have a health condition, or their medication makes them gain weight, ETC.

By the way, right now we have a woman working in our store who is too small for most of our clothing.  She takes a lot of abuse at the hands of customers (and, sometimes, employees who need to get over their own self-image problems because they're a medium and she makes them feel "fat").  She holds her own pretty well, pointing out that she has an equally hard time when she's forced to buy kids clothes and then she's at the mall and realizes the 10-year-old girl next to her is wearing the same shirt.  But the point is most clothes aren't tailored to her body-type either, and she'd gladly trade with the medium-sized employee.  But it also isn't as simple as eating more food.  Just as it isn't a simple as eating less food.

So, as mean as this sounds, to the people boycotting A&F because they need to expand their clothing sizes:  get over it.  Shop somewhere else.  If you're boycotting them because their CEO is a bully, more power to you, continue with your peaceful protests.  Teach your children that the image A&F sends is one that condones bullying and discrimination.  Or, grow a spine and tell your children NO when they want to shop there. (Too many times I hear parents say, "she won't wear anything that isn't A&F.  It's so expensive but I don't know what to do."  And I want to scream, "Tell her NO.")  But they don't have to carry clothing to suit everyone's needs.  They do need to reevaluate their values, though.

P.S.  Yesterday I had a customer who saw a shirt in the "plus" section and asked if it was in "regular girl" sizes.  I corrected her, right there, and said, "You mean in the junior sizes?"  She kind of stared at me for a second but then she apologized.  First of all, she was a small on top and a size 3/4 for bottoms.  That is, in no way on Earth, "regular."  The average size is between 11-14.  I know not only because I read that in an article recently but also because those are the sizes we sell out of first.  We also have to correct customers who say, "normal girls sizes," "real girl sizes," and others.  I don't expect them to know that our store is divided into "juniors" and "womens" sizes, but I do expect them to say something more like, "do you have this in a medium" or "do you have this in my size?"