Branded by Brands

I went up to Eugene today, since we had the blessed day off from school. I was on mission to find a dress and a swimsuit. The swimsuit is for the graduation ceremony. Oh wait. You don't believe me? Ok, so it's the dress. Anyway, the point is that I went to Eugene to the mall. I had Marez with me, and being the clothes horse he is these days, we visited Hollister and American Eagle. A thought struck me.

Everyone looked the same.

In Hollister, the girls all had straight, straight hair, low jeans, and tight shirts. I'm not kidding. Both the employees and the shoppers looked like this. Identical. Everyone was either wearing Hollister, American Eagle, or Abercrombie. How do I know this, you ask? Because they made sure that everyone knew it. The labels were plastered across their chests, their butts, and their bags. They were walking billboards.

Now, I realize that in writing this, I am coming down on myself. And that's okay, because it is a time of realization. No, I wasn't one of the clones in Hollister. But I was wearing An AE shirt, jeans, and flip flops. It was a discreet AE shirt, with a simple Eagle as the only identification, but still, why do I feel the need to buy those brands? Why does anybody?

American Eagle was swarmed when we entered. Little teenybopper girls weaved in and out of the ailes, picking up a pair of shorts, shirts, sandals, whatever. And underware! Who buys American Eagle underware? As my mom always says, the only reason you would buy underware like that is because you want someone to see it. Haha. There is some truth to that. In AE, the clones had followed us across the mall. However, there were a smaller number. Most of the girls were soccer players picking up some not-so-soccer-like outfits. As I was waiting in line, with Marez who was getting a shirt, I noticed the girl's waistband in front of me. She had rolled down her waistline so that the Abercrombie and Fitch tag showed. That way, I would KNOW she was cool.

I'm guilty of getting caught up in the brand name game. It's part of being a teenager, wanting to fit in. However, it all seems silly to me in retrospect. It's conformity at its best, and not at the best price. People feel the need to shout to the world that they shop at American Eagle or Hollister or Abercrombie or wherever. It's the cool thing to do. You will be liked. Abercrombie has actually gotten out of control. The prices are skyrocket high. The quality is nothing to jump up and down about, people who work there are all the same, and I could barely fit my arm into some of their pants. It's amazing. I have stopped even going in that to store to look.

And another thought: Who decided these brands were cool in the first place? How do things like that get popular? I'm thinking I'll start my own clothing store, play some loud music, dim the lights, go around spraying cologne, and put pictures of naked guys on the wall. That should do it. Excellent.