Never 21 Again: Why You Need to Stop Shopping at Forever 21

Questionable business practices and factory conditions aside, there is a bigger reason you need to stop shopping at Forever 21: You’re too old. And I mean this in the nicest possible way. Even shopping there at 20 is cutting a little too close to “get away” with buying your clothes from there.

The ominous countdown to the opening of the Times Square location that tragically replaced Virgin.
The ominous countdown to the opening of the Times Square location that tragically replaced Virgin.

It’s not’s just that every garment comes undone at the seams about a month after you get it or that handbags fray and accessories leave you with gangrenous skin. It’s that, at your age, you deserve better. You’ve put up with enough bullshit by the time you’ve graduated college or worked a menial job instead of going to school. It’s time for you to invest in quality. Not necessarily Tom Ford, but at least something in between the middle class steez of Michael Kors and the high-end impossibility of Givenchy.

Don’t get me wrong, making the pledge to stop shopping at F21 isn’t going to be easy. Especially when you’re trying to go out at night after work and don’t want to go home to change. Or you’ve stayed out too late and need to use it as your closet again to change before you go to work. Forever 21 is always there for you when you’re in a fashion bind. But it’s not worth your pride.

You should also be wary of the fact that Forever 21 is all too happy to knock off your favorite brands so you can get a cheap imitation. Now why would you want to do that to the designers you love (apart from the price point, obviously)? Quality-lust aside, at least have some respect not just for yourself, but for the artistry of fashion. Forever 21 is not fashion, it’s the fast food of the clothing industry in a bad, stolen disguise. Like fast food, it’s a quick fix to your appetite that seems mildly fulfilling at first but then ends up making you feel empty (though, in fast food’s case, that emptiness usually stems from needing to take a gargantuan shit after consumption).

Genna Rivieccio

Genna Rivieccio writes for myriad blogs, mainly this one, burningbushwick.com, missingadick.com, airshipdaily.com and behindthehype.com. Feel free to e-mail culledculture@gmail.com.

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    Forever 21 Pulls an Urban Outfitters-League Move With “Don’t Say Maybe If You Want To Say No” T-ShirtCulled Culture | Culled Culture

    […] It’s always evident that “I’m sorrys” like these stem more from being sorry about not being able to get away with it rather than actual remorse about the content of the clothing itself. All Forever 21 is really iterating is that the type of women who shop there have conflicting feelings about just how much they want to slut it up–yet another reason the female gender should avoid patronizing the chain altogether. […]

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