Abercrombie & Fitch dig at W Virginia again
 

i think the shirts are pretty funny even if i do ridicule the people that actually spend their money to buy them.

Abercrombie & Fitch pokes fun at West Virginia, again

Wednesday, August 25, 2004 Posted: 5:55 PM EDT (2155 GMT)


CHARLESTON, West Virginia (AP) -- Abercrombie & Fitch is poking fun at West Virginia with a T-shirt again, this one reading: "West Virginia: No Lifeguard at the Gene Pool."

Gov. Bob Wise called the slogan cruel and said he would fight back.

In March, Wise sent a letter demanding that the chain of collegiate-style clothing stores dump a shirt that read, "It's All Relative in West Virginia."

"It is unfortunate that Abercrombie & Fitch continues to perpetuate stereotypes rather than positive things like the number of residents serving in the military or the state's PROMISE scholarship program," Wise spokeswoman Jodi Omear said Wednesday.

Other Abercrombie & Fitch T-shirts lampoon Kentucky ("Electricity in Almost Every Town") and Wisconsin ("Wisconsin Cuts the Cheese").

Abercrombie & Fitch, based in New Albany, Ohio, earlier defended its shirt slogans as lighthearted humor.

Spokesman Tom Lennox did not immediately return a call Wednesday

They had to pull shirts that were deemed "racist" a year or so ago, as I recall.

Yes, against Asians, IIRC.

I have lots of A&F crap. I don't know how I've accumulated so much of it. The pants make my ass look good. I don't buy shirts with the logo all over them - most of them just have a tiny little tag sticking off the bottom of the side or something. I will say that A&F and American Eagle clothes last longer and wear better than any other brand I've ever bought.

I find the West Virginia stuff kind of funny, but I can understand how some people might be offended. I have lots of family there and it doesn't really bother me. Most of the towns I've been to have been exceptionally picturesque, but my dad travels there often for business and says some of the old mining towns are like stepping back in time about 75 years.

I'm not a big fan of overpriced products of any sort.

I've always ranked Abiguous sexuality Bitch clothes with Gay And Proud products.

actually, i think MadTV has A&F down perfectly in their ongoing skits. they make mre laugh every time.

I never saw the point of paying what companies like Abercrombie&Fitch ask for their shirts. Same thing with companies like Fubu and all those others with the $25-$30 Tshirts. You can buy the exact same quality shirt, minus the logo and with a bigger color selection, from Foot Locker and get 3 or 4 shirts for that same $30, up to 6 if there's a sale.

Okay, I admit it, I'm just a bit of a brand whore. However, I don't wear the flashy "A&F" logo all over everything, just the ones with little tiny, hardly visible tags. My old man buys the Foot Locker tees when they're on sale too, both the short and long-sleeved ones. He's had better luck with the long-sleeved ones, but his shirts don't last nearly as long as mine. And neither one of us is digging ditches or anything, it's not like he's working in his and I'm eating bonbons in mine. I have shirts that are four or five years old that are still presentable, and his are toast after a year or less.

I have sale shopping at Gap and J.crew (and Pottery barn kids) down to a science. Gotta know the the right time to buy things, and when to resell them on ebay.... I keep us clothed for nearly free (minus my time of course). Before Bush fucked the economy all up, I was making enough to keep us in clothes and pay for vacation.

Hell yeah. I am all about a clearance rack. Last year after Christmas I got a really cool pair off blue clogs with wooden bottoms at Gap Kids on clearance for $6, and they had been $45. I have little feet.

Those asian shirts were pretty funny, actually (although pretty offensive). And that was nearly two years ago, btw.

"Wong Brothers Laundromat: Two wongs can make it white!"

"Wok-n-Bowl: Let the good times roll"

"A&F Buddha Bash: Get your buddha on the floor"

Wow, here's an old quote:
"We personally thought Asians would love this T-shirt," said Hampton Carney, with Paul Wilmot Communications in New York, the public relations firm where Abercrombie referred a reporter's call.

Astonishing. Who pays these people (at A&F)?

That's kind of interesting, because my story is the exact opposite, and I wear my shirts pretty hard.

i agree. i used to think AE shirts (and other stuff) were great, esp when on sale 2-fers, but a few years ago they (and others, like polo) went to this totally thin tshirt type material. haven't bought there or gap or polo etc. since. IMHO, Eddie Bauer is about the only name brand Co. that hasn't gotten cheaper quality wise as their products grew in popularity. Their outlets (where I shop for my EB goods) have some really spectacular deals, and their stuff actually does hold up. Target has some really cute stuff for reasonable prices, but a lot of the time it fits weird, so you really have to be careful. I hate shopping for clothes. I have been known to buy 3-4 different colors of the exact same things when i find something that fits AND looks good.

I loooove those really thin T-shirts. I have a really killer one that has a mostly-naked chick in a huge martini glass that says "Bottoms Up Club". I only bought it because that's the name of our local strip club. It's not A&F, though, it's American Eagle. I don't have any of the thin A&F ones.

Am I the only person here for whom the majority of clothing is either:

A) Kitschy Hawaiian shirts and things bought from street vendors

or B) Shirts purchased at concerts?

I really only ever shop for pants, unless I'm hitting the thrift store...then everything's game.

I buy a lot of my tee shirts at gun shows. They don't all have logos from gun manufacturers on them.

My two most recent purchases are of Albrecht Durer's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (wearing as I type this) and a medieval woodcut called "Death and the Halberdier"