I Straight Up Hate American Apparel

Preface : Please believe I have almost written this specific entry roughly 38 times. You might not think that's very much, but it's not an exaggeration- think about almost doing something 38 times. Only now have I been pushed to the veritable edge of the Blogosphere with contempt. Despite the rage, I am thankful to be so provoked, because this will be all the better for it...

I STRAIGHT UP HATE AMERICAN APPAREL

Many many many (intelligent, thinking) people also hate American Apparel. I do not want to bore you with echoes of popular criticism. Here are some reasons, in short, why I straight up hate American Apparel:

1. I do not like the style. Seriously, this IS my number one reason. I think that shopping at American Apparel spits in the face of decency, as it is cheap and bland, and embarrassing. (I'm not saying I've never bought anything from this company, because I have, about a year ago. It was a skirt, and it faded from black to gray in a few washes, not to mention the shrinking. Furthermore, I buy or receive t-shirts and hoodies from bands that are inevitably American Apparel. What can you do, it's the style of the screen-printing times, it happens. But I try boycott this company whenever possible.) To be clear, what I'm talking about here is the tight, neon, short, ill-fitting styles that AA is now churning out as fast as kids can create drool outside store fronts in every major city. I don't like it. I just don't.

2. The billboards, and other ads. This should tie for Number One Reason Why I Straight Up Hate American Apparel, but I want to be fair. If you live in a major city, especially American Apparel's home of Los Angeles, then you get to see this sort of thing, larger than life, every single day:










This company has done worse: is that a girl starved and tortured in the back of an unmarked van? No, just an American Apparel model, selling threads. I'm going to go on a photo hunt in LA to better illustrate my point, but you've seen the ads... girls in bright light, half-naked and sprawled out or dazed on a dirty couch ready to be roofied out of their leggings. Let's go shopping, ladies!

3. The obvious choice to make the Top Three Reasons Why I Straight Up Hate American Apparel. Dov f-ing Charney. Soak in the wisdom...













a. Models without headshots need not apply to work at AA.
b. Must be willing to you-know-what with you-know-who, but it's an honor, really. And it's not just hearsay.
c. Making people think that anti-sweatshop business practices are somehow a license/excuse/waiver to have completely sexist and regressive marketing campaigns and business practices. Folks at Clamor have it down.

In addition to the total backwards and hypocritical nature of this treatment of workers, it really brings up a deeper point with me, that resonates with all indie, vegan, hippy issues. Put simply: practice what you preach. There is very little I hate more than people who have these wonderful ways of being eco-friendly, DIY, totally green, and liberal, and at the same time can not be good, polite, or mature to others if their spokes/soy/canvas/whathaveyou depended on it. I am not religious in an organized way, but until people get the basics right, very little will fundamentally change in the world, and it becomes obvious that those issues are purely self-involved rebellion against the norm, and nothing to do with actual concern for the environment or animals. Sigh. Point is, I don't want to hear one more person or article tell me about the anti-sweatshop redemption of American Apparel.

4. I straight up hate American Apparel because it is so insanely popular. Yes, I of course blame consumers for this as well. I hate that this company was able to reach this point of success. It means:
a. Many women (and men) really do hate themselves, just like they've been told to do. There are really young girls (and boys) and some older girls (and guys) that think it's just fine to pose in those ads, work at the stores, suck Dov Charney's cock, because it's cool.
b. Worse, people don't care. I know plenty people who hate the ads and are fully aware of the issues and who DO NOT care. They still shop at American Apparel, because it's cool.

5. The clothes are over-priced. Obviously.

6. That t-shirt might be damn soft, but that's because it's CHEAP. And it's CHEAP because it cost about five cents to make, and you just bought it for twenty dollars. See Number Five, above.

7. American Apparel is aptly named. I think the company embodies every terrible American stereotype that sadly rings true: arrogance and cocky disregard. But don't take my word for it.
From the article in Nylon 10/06: "And in an era when cars give talking directions and apple slices come packaged in plastic, not only do we not want to look like we're trying too hard, we really don't want to try too hard. American Apparel offers something the fashion world has never seen before: It's quite literally a convenience store of cool. City-dwellers can pick up a hot little dress or a last-minute change of underwear - neatly polybagged and arranged by color - late on a Saturday night, after a movie and before bar-hopping. That, in light of the company's ethical practices, makes it the sartorial equivalent of grabbing a salad (maybe even an organic one) at the drive-thru instead of McNuggets. Charney has hit upon a significant and lucrative truth: We want life - and looking and feeling good - to be as easy as possible. That's the American, and the Californian, way." Maybe that's just what I hate, what Nylon tries to wrap a bow around: the American way of convenience and cool. I don't dig drive-thru fashion and I don't think looking good is as easy as donning a sweatband.

And I straight up hate American Apparel.