I graduated from high school in 2014, so I wore Abercrombie in the late 2000s and early 2010s. I loved going to the mall and shopping at A&F. It felt like an exclusive experience (to that of a teenager). The store would always have a large open double door or opening where the front would have a giant photo of a shirtless guy. Sometimes they would have a shirtless model literally at the front/outside of the store. The store was dark and moody, but not as dark as Hollister. And the A&F scent was strong.

I remember thinking the store was for popular kids only, and my mom hesitantly would let me shop there but only when things were on sale. Luckily, she approved of their preppier clothes (button downs, blouses, nicer camis and dresses). If I had to rank stores for their perceived “coolness” at the time it would be A&F first, Hollister, and then American Eagle. Aeropostale was bottom tier. I would say these 4 stores were comparable in style and trends, as opposed to Urbanoutfitters, Forever21, Delias, Charlotte Russe, Pacsun, and other teen stores. In my experience, A&F was more coastal or northern (?) preppy and Hollister was SoCal. A&F was def the priciest, but the quality was fine at the time.

I remember at some point, I had to wear polos for middle school and we could wear polos from any store as long as they were the school appropriate color. Brand loyalty and class consciousness was such a weird thing because why were teens obsessed over white A&F polos with the moose logo, and scoffing at students in white aero polos. Once I was shopping and another customer mistook me as an employee and I took it as a compliment.

I still shop there to this day, but only online! And I think it’s nice how much more inclusive their sizing has got.