Abercrombie & Fitch

It's been a hot topic lately: the Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries has made the highly controversial statement that he doesn't want "fat" kids in his clothes. Only the "cool" kids can wear the A&F symbol. 

Jeffries has been quoted to say: "We hire good looking people in our stores. Because good looking people attract other good looking people, and we want to market to cool, good looking people. We don't market to anyone other than that." 

In my experience, Jeffries is completely correct in what his company is doing. In high school, I was far from stick thin. I was healthy enough, had some meat on my bones, but honestly, I just wanted to own a pair of Abercrombie jeans, or even Hollister for that matter. But there was no chance I'd ever fit in those comfortably. Now I see why.

The A&F CEO has also said, "In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. We go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don't belong in our clothes, and they can't belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely." 

Rude, right?!

And they clearly advertise that way don't they? 

And remember that song by LFO back in the day called "Summer Girls." Their chorus starts with, "I like girls that wear Abercrombie & Fitch, I'd take her if I had one wish."

I, myself, am a fan of American Eagle Outfitters. They cater to the widest range of body types, and their clothes--especially their jeans--seem to fit every body perfectly. Abercrombie only makes jeans up to size 10 (the average American woman is size 14) while American Eagle goes all the way up to size 18 jeans. 

I hate what this man, Mike Jeffries, has brought to light and promoted. Young girls, especially, are bombarded with enough imaging of what a woman "should" look like. They don't need some MAN, who is only in the business of MONEY, telling them what they should look like. 

You are BEAUTIFUL. You were created in the image of God. Your body is a gift and the most beautiful creation on Earth. Don't let someone make you feel otherwise.

And honestly, with advertising like this, I wouldn't want to shop there anyway.