Why do people pay to be walking billboards, and other clothing rants

The BBQ Pit
1

Inspired by this thread: If the Shirt fits, read the words first: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=182453

Why do people pay $39.95 to buy a T-shirt emblazoned with “Hilfiger,” “Nautica,” “Abercrombie & Fitch,” “American Eagle,” “Old Navy,” “Gap,” or some other such clothing company. Don’t they realize they are spending way too much money on an overpriced T-shirt that just makes them a walking advertisement for the company?

I don’t even know why anyone would want to walk around with some guy’s name across their chest (“Tommy Hilfiger,” “Ralph Lauren,” etc.) Do people honestly think this looks good or is fashionable? I refuse to buy any piece of clothing that has the company’s name anywhere other than the tag (which I promptly cut off when I get home). You already paid enough for the article of clothing; should you now be expected to be a free walking billboard for these designers?

Which brings me to another big rant of mine: Has anyone noticed that clothes from the aforementioned companies all look exactly the same, and are usually way overpriced? (execpt for Old Navy, they’re cheap). All the people who wear these clothes (many of them trying-to-be-trendy teens and college students) look the same, like they were punched out of the same cookie cutter.

And don’t even get me started on the women’s clothes these companies sell. It seems their only customer base is girls age 13-22. It’s all skin-tight, low-cut T-shirts and micro-mini skirts. Have you seen these skirts? They would barely cover your crotch when you’re standing…I can’t imagine what happens when you sit down. All the pants are super-low waisted, so you have no choice but to look like Britney Spears and feel like your pants are always on the verge of falling down.

Oh and it’s shorts season now, have you seen these shorts? Bootie shorts or Daisy Dukes don’t even accurately describe them. They are so short, they might as well be underwear. It’s hard to find a pair of shorts these days that doesn’t require you to shave your bikini area to wear! (Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle are the worst offenders with the shorty skirts and shorts.)

Oh and have you tried to shop for underwear lately? It’s all thongs and G-strings. This is the new fad. What’s really trendy is to have your brightly colored thong visible above your low-waisted tight jeans. 13-year-olds are wearing these outfits. I went out to a nice restaurant near D.C. recently and nearby there was a table of 20-something nice-looking professional women sitting there, all with their G-strings visible above the waistline of their hip huggers. I thought this was disgusting!

How does a young women find nice fashionable clothes these days without looking like a billboard or a hooker? It just drives me crazy!

2

Honestly, it’s because of the fact that bootleg clothes can be made really quickly these days. So Tommy H. winds up buried in the Tommy H-alikes. However, his name can be trademarked. So he can put his name on things, and then they can’t be copied with the name without the law raining down on fire on the pirates.

Ugly, but true.

3

Unless it is free, I buy plain colored shirts. No logo, no writing, just cloth.

Yes my integrity buckles to free things.

4

I don’t understand people who buy entire outfits, thus becoming a walking commercial too. These people don’t understand me either, so we’re even.

I just buy things that catch my eye, if they follow the current fad, oh well. I usually don’t end up following the current trend. You wouldn’t catch me wearing hip huggers that show a thong ever for instance. shudder Nor would you catch me in “dirty” denim.

I buy things that look good, and are comfortable. I go for durable clothes, with good classic lines that I can wear for quite a while. Wal-mart has these things every so often. So does JC Penney’s and even K-mart occaisionally. I can’t afford to shop other places often, but when I can Lane Bryant’s usually has at least something that meets my standards. I save them for birthday treats though.

5

No, I haven’t shopped for women’s underwear lately, but thanks for the image, it’s mighty tasty (except the 13-year-olds part).

6

This is a recurring rant on these boards. But I still have a question that hasn’t been answered. Why would you cut out the tag simply because it has a brand name on it? Your complaint seems to be that it doesn’t make sense to wear somebody’s logo on your clothing. But it doesn’t seem to make a whole lot of sense to cut out a tag that nobody’s going to see.

If that makes you feel better that’s fine, but wearing a logo shirt might make somebody feel better.

7

I cut out the tag because they itch the back of my next, and sometimes stick out, and sometimes show through the fabric. It has nothing to do with the brand name.

8

Oooops, they itch the back of my NECK. Sorry.

9

I buy plain shirts as well, due to the price factor. Free stuff, on the other hand, is like the company paying me to advertise, which I have no problem with.

10

Great, now I’m confusing Biggirl and Birdgirl.

As if Spooje & Spoofe didn’t fuck with my head enough.

11

Fair enough. Some people in other threads had talked about their extreme efforts to obliterate all signs of corporate logos, so I assumed you were doing the same. Alas, my question may never be answered.

12

Is this my first BBQ post? Golly.

Who cares what other people wear?

Do you like what you wear? Decent price, eh? Nice look. No worries.

If you’re offended by someone else’s fashion sensibilities then don’t look at them. I get a kick out of some people’s choices, mind you. I just try to not let it bug me too much.

I was in the fashion industry for a couple of years. I was in accounting but I would still see all of the cataolgs and purchasing requests roll by. My favorite is the re-naming of colors year after year.

Birdie, no worries. Time flies.

By the way, I could have stopped this whole male teenager pants-down-low showing the boxers thing. I apologize. All I would have had to do is yank out a few high school pictures of me and my buds. Suffice it to say that the number of years passed since the photo was shot would have had them all yanking up their trousers!

13

Well, since you referenced Ralph Lauren in your OP, I’ll give your question a shot.

I am a larger sized woman who likes comfortable but tailored clothing. It can be difficult to find things that fit me and give me the look I want.

One day I was in a local department store trying on clothing w

14

Well, since you referenced Ralph Lauren in your OP, I’ll give your question a shot.

I am a larger sized woman who likes comfortable but tailored clothing. It can be difficult to find things that fit me and give me the look I want.

One day I was in a local department store trying on clothing when I happened to find a pair of plain blue pants that fit me perfectly. They were comfortable, nice-looking, and fit me better than any other pants I own. They also happen to be made by Ralph Lauren. About a year later, they’re still my favorite pants. But they have company, because once I realized that Ralph Lauren made pants that fit me well, I sought out their line. I now have 6 pairs of Ralph Lauren pants. And because the pants fit me so well, I tried on other Ralph Lauren clothes. I found a really nice suede vest, a blue pinstripe silk suit, and numerous other pieces. Last December, I found a good-looking comfortable velour top. The fact that it prominently features the Ralph Lauren crest on the left breast didn’t stop me from buying two of them. I don’t seek out labeled clothing as a status symbol. But I love Ralph Lauren clothes so much that I don’t mind being a walking advertisement for them.

If I could find clothes that looked as good on me as my Lauren stuff (and was as well-coordinated), but was logo-free, I’d have no problem wearing it. But I think a little free advertising is a small price to pay for looking and feeling good.

You also might want to check into other departments or other stores. Most of the designer labels like Lauren and Hilfiger produce Women’s (large size), Career, and Casual Sportswear lines that are more conservative than the stuff they sell to teenage girls.

15

<Run DMC>

…Calvin Klein 's no friend of mine, don’t won’t nobodies name on my behind…

</Run DMC>
I can feel the gray getting ready to pop put of my skull.

16

Well it’s really more about how frustrated and pissed I feel when I go shopping and there’s all this crappy ugly clothing with names all over it, and I can barely ever find anything I like when I shop for clothes. And when I look at this shit, I think “why do people wear this shit?” I can hardly find a pair of shorts anymore that has more than a 1 inch inseam, or pants without a low waist that will fall down or give me a “plumber’s crack” when I sit down. It seems that everything these days is either made for the teeny-bopper generation or old-lady muu-muu type clothes.

17

birdgirl, I fully agree. I can’t stand clothing emblazened with a name. I hate going into a store like Old Navy and seeing an item that’s seems cute, only to discover a huge name on the front. I dress like a dweeb, but at least it’s my style. I don’t need everyone knowing where I got my clothes. I’d prefer for it to be mystery. When I see people wearing those OLD NAVY t-shirts, I can’t help but think that they were too lazy (or dumb) to find a shirt just like that one for much cheaper. I know, I’m going to hell. No need to flame me.

Old Navy always has racks of marked-down items, and usually those items are the ones emblazened with names. Perhaps they wouldn’t still be sitting on the rack if they didn’t have those labels.

18

I was once walking down Chapel St, Melbourne’s main centre of trendy young things trying to look amazingly cool. I was, for some reason, clothes shopping there and happened to notice a whole rack of t-shirts that had the web address of the company emblazoned across the front. I thought to myself “what the fuck? who would wear that and literally be a walking ad for the website?”

I walk outside and see three different people wearing this shirt. They all looked like employees of the label, for cryin’ out loud. God, I hate fashion sometimes.

19

I haven’t been to Chapel street in so long. sniffs and wipes away a tear

20

Most people by clothes to say who they are (me not included, at least not as much as some). Tommy Hilfiger etc market themselves to be associated with wealth and trendiness. This marketing is based on both conventional advertising and upon overpricing their clothes (they’re expensive so they must be good, right?) Then they sell basic clothes, which for the most part would be indistinguishable if they didn’t have the brand name emblazoned.

By buying them and wearing them you can associate yourself with an image of wealth and trendiness.

If you’re interested.

If you are unconventional, you are, like me, SOL