Absolutely Against Fatties (Abercrombie & Fitch)

Member Name: plipplop

Product:	Abercrombie & Fitch
Date:	10/09/09 (294 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good quality, mid-range prices, long-lasting

Disadvantages: Rather self-important, not very daring, restrictive in cut and style

A review of Abercrombie and Fitch (A & F) menswear only.

It may come as a surprise to learn that the A & F brand has been around since 1892. Originally, the company manufactured high quality sporting goods, but financial problems reached a peak in the late 1980s when the company was taken over and re-positioned by the chairman Michael Jeffries as a casual clothing brand.

A & F's target market is the 18-22 age range, or simply speaking 'people who are at college'. It's a curious market choice, given only that said demographic has limited available cash to spend on casual clothing, but it's now a force to be reckoned with and certainly ranks as one of the more popular mainstream designer labels in the UK.

You can only buy A & F clothes from A & F stores. In the UK, this means the one physical retail outlet in London or via the official web channels. Given its limited presence on the high street, the brand is surprisingly common on members of the public, notably, of course, in London and isn't so well known outside the capital.

Marketed as luxury casual clothing, A & F has a distinct and consistent look. Seasonally, there are only moderate changes in the overall look and feel of the range, unlike other brands such as Diesel where the range effectively re-invents itself from one year to the next, with subtle design consistencies carried through. There's something distinctly North American about the overall look; lots of checked fabrics, sporting motifs and influences from the USA abound. It's very typical of teenaged US dramas; the sort of thing that would prevail in The O.C., Gossip Girl, Dawson's Creek and the like. Ironically, given much of the marketing and advertising content, the look is a fairly classic one and there's not a whiff of homoerotica about the cut and style. Indeed, surprisingly, this brand isn't actually that popular amongst gay men. These are men's clothes for men, who like men's things and look manly when they do it.

A & F are particularly keen that you 'layer the look' so it's recommended that you start with a classic T-shirt, overlay it with, for example, a lumberjack shirt and finish it off with a jacket or cardigan. There's certainly nothing very dressy about the style and while any of the looks might complement a visit to the diner, or beers with friends, it wouldn't cut the mustard in your average UK nightclub or wine bar. It's all very casual and much more suited to days out or relaxed evenings at the pub, albeit in a slightly smarter fashion than other casual brands. A & F jeans, for example, don't work well with shoes or formal boots; the cut, styling and finish is more suited to more relaxed wear, maybe with trainers or flip-flops.

It's worth bearing in mind that A & F style caters to a defined, classic body shape. Menswear is targeted at a sporty, fit physique. The T-shirts are sold in what's called a muscle fit and therefore expect to hang around a well-developed chest, good biceps and a slim waist. Many buyers are fooled into thinking that the clothes can 'disguise' rather less-toned physiques, but this isn't true. Certainly, very slim men can look a little more developed with these T-shirts, but a beer belly will stretch the T-shirt terribly and won't look right at all. Don't blame the brand for this guys - if you look like a bag of shit, it's because you eat too many doughnuts! For this season I've got my eye on the long sleeve T-shirts that carry the design through into colder months. It's hard to find long sleeve T-shirts that hold any kind of shape and the A & F ones are looking good.

A & F uses good quality fabrics and the finish on their stuff is excellent, particularly for the price. Their suede-cotton T-shirts are absolutely gorgeous. True enough, they need to be washed cold (even 30 degrees is possibly too hot) and therefore a serious stain will almost certainly see the end of them. But washed and cared for properly, they will retain their shape and their finish well into the next season and feel warm and soft to the touch. A & F hoodies are legendarily soft and warm and work really well under a bomber jacket throughout the colder months. The lumber shirts are nicely finished and again the fabrics and colours wear well (with similar washing temperature issues). Arguably, it's the lumber shirts that suffer most by comparison around the high street, with the likes of Top Man and Next doing something similar that seems to be an awful lot cheaper. You *are* paying for the brand here, but you're also paying for quality and the A & F shirt will outlast the Top Man one three times over. The jeans are less inspiring. They're a fair bit cheaper than Diesel and lack the personality and presence of other brands. Current trends seem a bit behind the times -A & F still cling onto ripped fabrics and an overall slouchy look that's not in keeping with general European denim fashions.

Pricewise, A & F is often criticised for being expensive but actually, they're reasonably moderate when you look at the bigger picture. £30-£40 for a t-shirt may be way above what the Primark crowd is prepared to pay but compared to the likes of Ed Hardy and Y3, where you can easily fork out £100 or more, prices are reasonable for the quality. At around £15 a pop, the underwear is in line with Calvin Klein and belts and accessories are way behind even the likes of Diesel and All Saints. Whether the price matches the target market is perhaps less clear, but in the UK, it's fair to say that the main buyers are probably in the 25-30 range anyway, where disposable income is higher. They do some nice fragrances, too. 'Fierce' is their best known Eau de Toilette, given only that it's continuously pumped through the store's air conditioning system and you can smell it from about a 100 yard radius around the premises. At £40 for 50cl it's in line with the competition.

The retail experience is 'interesting' to say the least. Their enormous premises off Savile Row in London are impressive and unlike any other shop in town. The store is dark and moody and the affinity with a night club doesn't end there. House music is pumped throughout the store at a significant volume and if there were a bar at the end, you could be forgiven for thinking you were on a night out. There's always at least one topless male model in the entrance along with copious amounts of brand-friendly staff members who occasionally smile, but generally just stand there trying to look pretty (and generally succeeding.) A recent discrimination case ruled in favour of an assistant with a prosthetic arm who was kept out of sight, which seems unacceptable but I still think the store has right to promote itself how it sees fit. I actually find that the staff members are pretty cool; friendly(ish), helpful(ish) and there are plenty of them. Things dry up a bit at the till, where they always keep you waiting but when there's somebody half naked waiting there next to you, you tend not to object.

A & F is a definite case of 'don't believe the hype'. The nudity and sexual imagery prevalent in the marketing and advertising is betrayed by relatively staid, undemanding clothes that are more comfortable than cool and, often, more sensible than sexy. There's nothing edgy about A & F. They have a recipe and stick dutifully to it, but this means you never really expect to go in the store and be surprised to find exciting new things. It's also not the high end brand that many will have you believe because it's not actually that expensive. There's nothing that A & F sell that I'd wear for a special/cool occasion - it's daywear (nice daywear, but still only daywear) and post 19:00 I want something more stylish and more daring to accompany me on a night out.

Summary: Just accept you're probably too old or fat or both