Abercrombie and Fitch, Shame on You.

All this Abercrombie and Fitch hoopla is pretty upsetting.  I have never, in my life, heard any CEO speak with less class.  Speak with less regard for how impressionable young kids are, and how vitally important it is to nourish and nurture their differences as they find their way in the world.

Abercrombie, you make very cool clothes.  Albeit a little too "sexy" for my taste these days, they are cool nonetheless.  I give you that credit.  When I was in high school, I loved shopping in your store.  I was small in stature, and I still am.  I'm guessing I was exactly what you were looking for as far as clientele goes.

Small.  Blond.  Money to spend.

What you don't understand is that by what you have declared, you are losing the very clientele you desire in your store.  I haven't shopped in your store in years, but that is because I see no reason to spend $100 on a pair of jeans.

I grew up.

Now, I would never shop there because I can't imagine feeding into your "image,"  and I would never let my small stature-d kids feed into it either.  You see, my kids may be the right size for your clothes.  They may even be the "athletes" or the "cool kids."  They may not be.  It doesn't matter.  Kids are kids, and mommies look out for all the kids the love.  Everyone is "cool" in their own right, and shame on you for publicly trying to say size makes you cooler than someone else.

You have just contradicted, on very public and impressionable platform, what every good parent spends countless hours trying to teach their kids.  Size doesn't matter, be yourself, don't be a follower.  The list is endless when we are trying to instill a strong sense of self in our precious children.  

Thanks for sh*tting all over our hard work.

Character makes someone cool.  Being an individual makes someone cool.  Having a good heart and passion for what they love makes someone cool.

An "A&F"  label on a tee shirt does not make anyone cool.

I am a firm believer that you are permitted to sell any size you like.  If you cater to larger people, sell larger sizes.  If you cater to smaller people, sell smaller sizes.

That is not my issue.

You have labeled large people and labeled small people.  And we don't appreciate labels.  We are who we are for what is underneath our clothes, and underneath our skin.  And a large, popular retailer should know better than to say it doesn't want certain people wearing its clothes.

Let this mommy of four give you some business advice.  Don't piss off mommies.  You make kids feel badly about themselves because they aren't "cool enough" or "rich enough" to shop in your store, and we don't give our kids money to shop in your store.

We don't buy our kids birthday gifts in your store, or Christmas gifts in your store.

Cheers to all the mommies and daddies out there who know that "cool" doesn't come from a label.  And keep teaching your kids the same, while you shop in American Eagle.