I Feel Your Pain
In the aftermath of the tumult and glory that is the Thursday Thirteen, I found myself wondering about what I would post on Friday. The TT is a difficult act to follow, especially when one considers that it gifted me with over 100 unique visitors between late Wednesday and Thursday. To all who viewed and posted, thanks, even though some of you may not return until next Thursday. And thanks, Carmen, for the link to the little boxy thingy at the bottom. It was worth the effort.Meanwhile, I scoured the news in search of a muse when, to my amazement, right there in my e-mail box was an ad for Abercrombie and Fitch, a store that I shop in when either drunk or stupid, since the prices of the clothes are way too much for my meager income and tastes. [My preference is the clearance rack at American Eagle or Aeropostale]. Sometimes the most obvious place becomes the last place we look.
The ad I received was for the new Abercrombie shirts for men and sweaters for women. I like shirts, so I'll take a look. The shirts for men looked reasonable enough, with the big stripes, big sleeves (big price tag) and phony collar to make us look as though we dressed up for a night of binge drinking. The illustration bore me out:
Then, at the bottom of the e-mail was the accompanying ad for the women's sweaters. Take a second and compare the men's shirts and the women's sweaters. I have not doctored or otherwise manipulated the images.
You already figured it out, right? The men's shirts look like they could wrap around a small car, while the women's sweaters appear waif-like, and look like they would be baggy on the hanger - or a stick.
Girls, I sympathize. I realize now that you cannot possibly conform to the impossibly high standards set for you by (a) corporate America or (b) the fashion industry.
Somehow, I think Abercrombie is saying that it's OK for guys to be fat and gooey, but girls, you'd better be thin and look like a number-two pencil, or else the gooey guys are going to look elsewhere.
Well, take it from me, a single guy who wants women to take care of themselves, but who also looks beyond the impossible standards set by the fashion Czars: Stop worrying so much.
I think regular readers know me well enough to know that I am not saying this to garner phony compliments from my female readers. I say it because the standards are ridiculous. So, if the purpose of this Blog thing is to gather and share ideas about life and its many twists, then allow me to share these words of wisdom, garnered from nearly 5 decades on this dying planet:
It's OK if you're not a size Zero. We'll like you if you are a regular person with thoughts and feelings, and not necessarily a stick-figure who disappears when turned sideways, Abercrombie and Fitch notwithstanding.
Maybe Eddie Bauer makes something for normal people?
Comments
And have you ever been in one? Apparently you have to be a MODEL to work in one!! Check it out sometime....scary....
I don't know if their hiring practices have changed, but it's for sure that their fashion trends have not.
did i just say that? in all honesty, make-up kara used to shop there, way back when...
i have to say, it's refreshing to hear a man validate what swims around in my head on the off days that i see these ads. it just ain't right. and i maintain that these images do have an effect on women's psyches - though men have other levels of ridiculous standards to comply to - viagra, anyone?
make-up kara? do tell.
I'm a clearance rack shopper myself. Too bad my kids weren't.
I'm sure my daughters will be horrified by me some day.
And how about the arms on those sweaters?
As far as sizes, AE isn't much better, but they are generally less expensive. I've been shopping there for about 10 years, and they just changed the sizing! Bastards!
I love the clearance rack. I can buy clearance shorts and put them away for next year, but kids can't. Luckily, I'm not growing much anymore!
I agree with your assessment of the fashion industry these days. Trust me, I don't worry much about their opinion of the ideal. I'm a size 10 and folks tell me I m too skinny.
The way I see it is I have daughters to raise and it is my intention to live and look healthy rather than obsess over an impossible ideal.
As far as a size zero....I honestly never believed that such a lady existed until my three older girls made the young woman scene. Of course I playfully tease them about my "disgust" over their size.
make-up kara also only shopped at the gap, etc - even if it meant spending her rent money. and she went out every night and got tanked. she was pretty miserable. then she read howard zinn's book that she found through an ani difranco c.d.
changed everything.
if i can ever figure out our scanner, i plan on scanning in one of my old acting headshots to show her around. the response is always pretty funny. ;)