Posts filed under 'Kids Clothes'
Origins
The company was established by David Abercrombie in 1892 and New York lawyer Ezra Fitch was one of his regular customers – buying outdoor clothing for shooting and hunting. At the turn of the century Fitch bought a major share of the company, thus becoming co-founder and in 1904, Fitch’s surname was incorporated and Abercrombie & Fitch came into being. It was a stormy relationship - Fitch saw value in taking the company in the direction of general apparel, while Abercrombie wanted to continue selling professional clothing and accessories to professional outdoorsmen. Finally, after many arguments, Abercrombie sold his share in the company to Fitch in 1907 and returned to manufacturing outdoor goods.
Signature style
The A&F brand is defined as using ‘the finest cashmere, pima cottons, and highest quality leather to create the ultimate in casual, body conscious clothing’. Along with ‘implementing and/or incorporating time honoured machinery and techniques in order to produce the most exclusive denim ever created’, these two statements define how Abercrombie & Fitch sees its place in the market.
Why we love them
There is something quintessentially American about the brand. See a ‘Crombie from half a street away and you know the style immediately. It’s not just in the distressing, although that often makes the clothes look like comfortable things you’ve had for months, even straight from the shelf, it’s in the detailing: the flat turned seams and the dropped shoulders, and the careful attention to decreasing/increasing American teen sizes that allows everybody from the skinny chick to the fat kid to find a polo-shirt that feels just right.
They even have their own slang:
- An Abercrombie zombie is a man or wom an, boy or girl who only ever wears their clothing
- An Abercrombie & Fitch witch is a woman (often a bit older than the average buying age for their lines) who wears t he brand all the time because she’s scared she’ll lose her looks and popularity if she doesn’t.
Dissenting views
They have often been criticised for sexualising young people and children, for the levels of music in their stores (it’s supposed to be 80 decibels, tests in the USA in 2006 found thirty stores playing it at 90+ decibels, which causes permanent damage to the ears) and their All-American styling which has led to discrimination cases being brought against the company by non-white, non-American people who believe they have been refused employment or promotion because they didn’t fit the brand ‘style’. So far, all cases have been settled out of court.
Abercrombie & Fitch billboard courtesy of daniel spils
August 15th, 2008
There’s been a public statement about schoolwear … in the Philippines. Students in elementary and high school there no longer have to wear uniforms, but after this relaxation of the dress code, the Education Department has found it necessary spell out what ‘proper attire’ actually is.
In a circular letter distributed to all schools, the Education Secretary has spelt out and appropriate dress code. For boys, that’s a polo-shirt or T-shirt with sleeves in a plain colour and either long trousers or shorts. For girls, a dress, skirt or trousers, and blouse in any colour will do. No footwear is prescribed: slip-ons and shoes are both allowed as long as the student doesn’t go barefoot to class. The students’ attire ‘should reflect respect for the school’, the letter says. Why has this statement of clothing been necessary? Because there has been an outbreak of: ‘flashy outfits’ including tight-fitting trousers, mini-skirts, and tops with plunging necklines for girls and the boys have apparently been coming to school in hip-hop pants and, believe it or not, their pyjamas!
Schoolchildren courtesy of Tajai
June 19th, 2008
Most British parents have to endure the horrors of shopping for school uniform, whether its in a high street shop, via the school’s own shop, or even online, and the necessity to purchase ‘branded’ items can be expensive, especially if they have taller or larger than average children, because only school uniform items that are sized for age fourteen and under are VAT exempt. This means that for most parents, there are at least two years, and in many cases, nearer six years, when they have to pay full Value Added Tax on items that are only used at school, such as PE kit or school jumpers.
The School wear Association is campaigning to change the law, so that parents can pay only 5% VAT on all school-specific items, rather than the zero VAT on school-specific clothing up to age fourteen and the current 17.5% charged on clothes aged fourteen and up. An early day motion is to be proposed by Nigel Evans MP and it has the support of MPs across party boundaries. In the meantime, an increasing number of schools are turning to wholesalers who can produce small (under fifty) quantities of school branded wear in larger sizes in an attempt to stave off parent criticism of the high price of uniforms and the limited range of outlets that are enabled to sell school specific clothing.
March 6th, 2008
School-wear retailers in the UK are expanding – and so are their customers. With children growing larger every year, parents struggle to find uniform components that will fit them. Peter Crouch has to have his Liverpool kit specially made for his long arms and legs, but he’s no longer exceptional. When Sir Steve Redgrave appealed for ‘tall people’ to take part in training for the 2012 Olympics, one young hopeful was seventeen-year-old student Chris Gregory, who is 6-foot-9, and now training with Britain’s volleyball squad! In fact more than fifty young athletes over 6-foot-3 for men and 5-foot-11 for women have been found as a result of the initiative.
One Sussex mother became so disgusted by the situation that she took things into her own hands. Her fifteen-year-old-son has a forty-eight inch chest and his school uniform blazer only went up to forty. She was told she could order a larger one but would have to pay more for ‘extra tailoring’ and the VAT because it was an adult size! Undeterred, she tracked down the manufacturer herself, ordered the right size at cost, and got the school uniform badge made up by a local embroidery firm – now she’s taking orders from other parents at the school and making a profit on the deal!
Many schools have chosen to respond to this increase in child size by allowing polo shirts and white T-shirts or plain white collared shirts to be worn, with only a fleece or sweatshirt needing to bear the uniform crest or logo.
Big girls, small uniforms image courtesy of meg and rahul
March 3rd, 2008
This Wednesday (27 February) most of the students, and teachers, at Catholic schools in Vancouver, Canada, will be wearing pink polo shirts to show their solidarity against bullies and bullying. In a heart-warming story, pink polo shirts have become an anti-bullying symbol after a student in Nova Scotia was harassed when he wore a pink polo shirt on the first day of school. A group of bullies accosted the boy, called him names, claimed he was homosexual, and threatened to beat him up.
Two older students, David Shepherd and Travis Price, were incensed to hear about this behaviour and went to a local discount shop, where they bought 50 pink vests which they handed out at assembly the following morning. The bullies were never heard from again. ‘I learned that two people can come up with an idea, run with it, and it can do wonders,’ said Price who is 17. ‘Finally, someone stood up for a weaker kid.’ The ‘pink polo shirts’ strategy spread fast, becoming a feature of dozens of schools across Canada. Now a national radio DJ has taken it to heart.
Wednesday’s Pink Polo Shirts Day is part of her on-air campaign to encourage an action plan about bullying. ‘We also want parents and teachers to understand how important a role they can play in helping kids who are bullied,’ the DJ Clark said. ‘It seems everyone has a story. So many people either bear the scars of being bullied, the shame of having been a bully themselves, or are dead scared it will happen to their child. Bullying and the harm it does can last a lifetime. Getting involved in Pink Polo Shirts Day fulfills our mission to help the innocent. It also lets bullies know their behaviour will not be tolerated.’
Pink polo courtesy of sometimesdee
February 25th, 2008
One special school in Wales has seen a marked improvement in the last academic year, with pupil achievements up and exclusions down, but pupils are keen to do even better. And a large part of their desire for better performance is linked to the creation of a school uniform based on that old favourite, the polo-shirt!
As part of a campaign led by the new head-teacher, the pupils, all boys aged 11 to 16, were asked to design a school badge and given a say in the new uniform colours. A design based around the ‘G’ of Greenhill
School in a gothic cross was chosen as the winner, and pupils voted to wear black.
“The uniform will help ensure that Greenhill has an identity like all the other schools in the city,” said Assistant Head Phil Haynes. “The pupils have played their part in the design and agreeing on the colour. Now we are organising fundraising events to help ensure that we can purchase a polo-shirt with the school badge for every pupil to help families with the cost of paying for the entire uniform. This is all part of our bid to raise standards. Our aim is not just to be a good school but a great school. And we tell the pupils that while they may have had difficulties and have been referred to Greenhill, this is a fresh start and a chance to achieve their best and look to the future.” To help raise funds for the new polo-shirts, an auction will be held at the school site on Saturday, November 10.
Polo-shirt school fashions photography by laffy4k, used under a creative commons attribution licence
October 26th, 2007
In 2001, the Clarksville-Montgomery County in the
USA surveyed the local community concerning dress-code issues in their schools. The survey revealed the following advantages to implementing a school uniform:
- Stronger focus on performance rather than appearance
- Decreased opportunity for showing gang affiliation or hiding weapons (which sounds like part of an issue that’s suddenly become a newspaper headline here in the
UK)
- Reduced family tension by saving time in the morning and money on keeping up appearances
- Creates atmosphere of teamwork and pride in personal appearance and school
- Promotes safety; makes it easier to identify strangers in schools (and doesn’t that sound like something we’ve heard a lot about recently too?)
- Increased self-esteem and reduced peer pressure, more awareness of other people in the same uniform
- Reduces absenteeism by allowing students to be spotted if they leave school
- Puts students on a more equal footing.
It makes interesting reading – especially when you apply some of those ideas to other forms of community association: that’s why bowls clubs and football teams, choirs and bikers, cooks and cheerleaders all have a dress code to promote group pride and recognition – so what could a uniform do for your team?
Uniform photograph by bcmom , used under a creative commons attribution licence
