Contrary to popular belief, Abercrombie is not a preppy store. Its patrons may choose to say otherwise, but its display of cheaply-made clothing and provacative advertisements all point to the opposite end of prep spectrum.
When the true definition of Prep is thought of, it is not usually connotated with a thin t-shirt that has blatant innuendo written across the chest, which is what Abercrombie excells in. Abercrombie is, in summary, a sad excuse for a Prep store where those who desperately want to be the epitome of Prep spend their money which they, in most cases, got from their parents.
It is important to remember, however, that Abercrombie was not always in such ruin. When it first started in 1892 and before it became, essentially, a place for sexually-repressed teenagers to buy conforming (in both senses of the word) clothing, it was a "store that outfitted wealthy businessmen for their outdoor pursuits". In just a little over a century it has a gone from businessmen pursuing the outdoors to teens pursuing the fastest way to be considered cool by their peers.
When Abercrombie is thought of as preppy, it makes the true preps shutter.
Even the children's version, abercrombie sic, albeit not as sexual, is just as shocking. abercrombie sic which carries Girls' sizes 7-16 and boys 8-20, has shirts with messages that are so rude and egotistical it is not unusual to want to smack the kid that is wearing it. An example would be "The party starts when I arrive" (a Girls t-shirt) and "Once a winner, always a winner" (found in the Boys' section) make the adults of our society involuntarily gag. This spoiled attitude is what they fought for in 3 wars? It's truly enough to make anyone vomit, or as The Official Preppy Handbook puts it, yawn in color.
It is an insult to prepness when Abercrombie is ranked along the likes of Ralph Lauren and LLBean.
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