Is Abercrombie & Fitch Preppy?
I heard someone talking today and they were going on about how they thought that Abercrombie & Fitch was preppy clothing. And I thought about it, and I really disagree. Just because their clothing is expensive and worn mostly by rich high school and college kids, people get the impression that A&F is preppy clothing. To me though, it really isn’t mostly because of how it looks. Preppy clothing to me is well made expensive clothes, that look sharp and are often crisp and colorful. Polo shirts by Ralph Lauren or Burberry or summer dresses by J Crew are perfect examples of these. A&F clothing just doesnt have that feel. Most of it is meant to feel vintage and has enormous faded logos everyewhere. Although Ralph Lauren has begun putting large logos such as this:
The shirts still have a very crisp look and feel to them, that reeks of fine craftsmanship.
Abercrombie and Fitch clothes just don’t have this:
Maybe its the wrinkles or maybe its the faded logo, but there’s just something that makes stores like Hollister and Abercrombie & Fitch completely different from those who sell preppy clothes. Perhaps it is because companies like Lacoste and Ralph Lauren are selling mostly to adults while those like Abercrombie are selling to college kids with their parent’s credit cards.
Any thoughts? Do you think Abercrombie & Fitch is preppy?
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6 Responses to “Is Abercrombie & Fitch Preppy?”
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i agree 1,000% i can’t stand it when people say that ambercrombie is preppy b/c its not. like u said preppy is ralph lauren (my favorite), lacoste, vineyard vines, j. crew, and brooks brothers
Abercrombie & Fitch defined outdoors preppy since the early 1900s. If you don’t believe me, go grab a copy of “The Preppy Handbook” (published in 1980). Abercrombie was a failing company at that time, and the book mourned the death of such a great preppy empire. I’m not exactly a huge fan of Abercrombie myself, but I won’t deny its preppy heritage.
Touché.
I guess I should have done more research…
That’s interesting though that they started out being a real preppy company and then ended up adapting to the market. I guess if it made business sense which it obviously did you can’t really blame them.
There is no question now however that they are no longer preppy (despite what some kids think)
Thanks for the comments. Keep ‘em coming.
Kaitlin, I totally disagree.
Abercrombie & Fitch was ONCE preppy.
Then they decided to mass-market themselves, so every single high school kid could go in like zombies and buy everything.
It was a business decision, but it needs to get off the ‘we’re preppy’ bandwagon. It came to London, and people at my school were wealthy enough to afford the clothes, and thought the clothes were preppy because A&F said they were, and went in and bought everything. The real preps, knew how much of a joke this actually was, and therefore waited for Lilly Pulitzer to come to Harrods.
You think a fleece with ‘ABERCROMBIE’ plastered all over it is preppy?
Preppiness is about subtlety, investing in high quality clothes and looking well put together.
A ripped denim skirt and a slogan t-shirt that says ‘ABERCROMBIE GIRLS WILL BREAK YOUR HEART’ is in no way preppy. How is it preppy? Please explain because to me, it just seems like bad quality, trashy clothing that have no classiness to it at all.
Once being preppy, and selling preppy clothes now, is different.
I agree with the others–they started out preppy and went downhill. Too bad. Izod started out preppy, Lacoste bought it and kept it preppy, and Lacoste is obviously doing quite well, so Abercrombie had no excuse whatsoever to turn cheap and crappy, IMHO. Abercrombie is trash.
I agree with Rachael. Why did it need to go down that route? It’s almost an insult when Abercrombie call themselves preppy.