On shopping for clothing
Is it me of whenever I walk into an American Apparel shop, I feel like I'm in a Feist or Bjork music video? I walk in, am instantaneously blinded by the super saturated candy colored spandex and cotton and then suddenly feel like I should jump onto the sales counter and sing my affections to the cashier who is wearing a striped T, electric blue leggings and over-sized sunglasses. I think the stark white backdrop of the store environs juxtaposed with clothing devoid of any sort of logos baring nothing but pure hues is what impacts me.
You find the "clean" look in many other stores. Take Apple for instance. Does a solitary iPod need a 4 ft. radius if display space? No of course not, but the vast expanse of space around the object makes it appear much more important. Same goes for clothing shops like C. Jane or Wish. These also tout the minimalist environs and display each item of clothing as if it were a work of art. Unlike American Apparel, however, these shops convey a sort of truncated color scheme when it comes down to the actual merchandise.
American Apparel, by contrast touts every possible hue known to man and some that may not even really register on the regular color spectrum. In addition, the retail space is jam packed with clothing. It's like a techn-icolor nightmare. The sales people sorta just blend into the pile of T's that resemble an acid trip. Crazy, I tell you.
I realize this place has been around for a while, but I've never set foot in one in all of my life. I realized yesterday that I was not amongst my kind when I caught site of myself in a full length mirror---an anomaly amongst the happy shiny trippy peeps wandering about with my black vintage Fender T, black rockabilly capris and black pumps.
I could just feel the stares. Your lack of color is oppressing me.... the sales people seem to say.
Well yeah, your overuse of color is giving me a migraine!
I kinda wish we had a camera with us because it probably would have made an amusing photo op. Needless to say we did not buy anything, but I just wanted to point out a great irony....the Lucid Dementia T-shirts we order are printed on American Apparel stock! That's what I find so amusing.
You find the "clean" look in many other stores. Take Apple for instance. Does a solitary iPod need a 4 ft. radius if display space? No of course not, but the vast expanse of space around the object makes it appear much more important. Same goes for clothing shops like C. Jane or Wish. These also tout the minimalist environs and display each item of clothing as if it were a work of art. Unlike American Apparel, however, these shops convey a sort of truncated color scheme when it comes down to the actual merchandise.
American Apparel, by contrast touts every possible hue known to man and some that may not even really register on the regular color spectrum. In addition, the retail space is jam packed with clothing. It's like a techn-icolor nightmare. The sales people sorta just blend into the pile of T's that resemble an acid trip. Crazy, I tell you.
I realize this place has been around for a while, but I've never set foot in one in all of my life. I realized yesterday that I was not amongst my kind when I caught site of myself in a full length mirror---an anomaly amongst the happy shiny trippy peeps wandering about with my black vintage Fender T, black rockabilly capris and black pumps.
I could just feel the stares. Your lack of color is oppressing me.... the sales people seem to say.
Well yeah, your overuse of color is giving me a migraine!
I kinda wish we had a camera with us because it probably would have made an amusing photo op. Needless to say we did not buy anything, but I just wanted to point out a great irony....the Lucid Dementia T-shirts we order are printed on American Apparel stock! That's what I find so amusing.
Labels: shopping
posted by cchang at 8:24 AM
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