Walking down the street in Chicago every day, I am constantly accosted by the same plain sweatshirt with a white zipper. You know the one I'm talking about-the Unisex Flex Fleece Hoodie by American Apparel that comes in a multitude of colors. However, it's not just a Chicago thing. I really have been seeing them everywhere lately, from the quintessential college town of Bloomington, IN to the fashionable Avenue de Victor Hugo in Paris.
Personally, I don't see the appeal. American Apparel produces the same styles of basic clothing over and over again. The colors are plain and the material used is cheap. The items are priced high, with hooded sweatshirts going for about $40 each. This is supposedly because the clothing is made here in America with sweatshop free labor. While this sentiment doesn't necessarily entice me to pay $24 for an plain t-shirt, then the sleazy and grotesque models used in the ads are certainly enough to keep me away from the store altogether.
Another problem I have with American Apparel is that it is becoming incredibly universally recognized. While watching the recent film about an impoverished woman, "Wendy and Lucy", I was disappointed to see that Michelle Williams' character wore an American Apparel hoodie throughout the movie. If Wendy was so poor, how did she cough up the $40 to buy the sweatshirt? I'm guessing the sweatshirt was just supposed to serve as a plain, drab prop, but it ruined the movie for me in a way.
As American Apparel slowly takes over the world with its polyester t-shirts (probably, in a few the government will socialize the apparel industry and we'll all be wearing them as uniforms), I choose to not jump on the band wagon. The clothes are boring, the colors are off, and the fabric used is cheap and sleazy. What's to like?