Back in the late ’90s, I was obsessed with the Abercrombie look: the baggy cargos, long-sleeve logo tees, and all the attitude that came along with that brand. I even subscribed to A&F Quarterly for a few years – a 300-page catalog chock-full of imagery and articles that were meant to convince you that wearing their product instantly made you cool.
In all honesty, I felt like the quality of the products Abercrombie sold back then was really high. There were all sorts of little details on the cargos and shirts that they sold. In this particular Back to School issue, a group of models made their way across the pond to England, and Abercrombie did a great job of infusing the British culture into their American style.
Photographed by the famous Bruce Weber, the effortless yet mostly impractical style of the models felt whimsical and a bit far-fetched at times. However, seeing how cool the guys looked wearing super baggy pants and ripped up hoodies paired with Air Jordans made me want to dress the same way.
In particular, I loved how they paired baggy cargos with Air Jordans and other Nike sneakers. This was exactly the look I was going for. I lost interest in Abercrombie around 2002-03, as the brand struggled to embrace the oncoming skinny jean phase and also faced plenty of PR issues with their lack of diversity.
Today, as the baggy fit look is back in style, I’ve started searching for vintage Abercrombie pants and shirts to start mixing into my wardrobe. I’ve also been buying up some of the old A&F Quarterlies for inspiration on some of those late-’90s looks. Abercrombie today has really gone in a different direction if you compare their clothing to what they were selling 20 years ago. I think the stuff back then was way better, but of course I’m a bit biased.
Comments
I like their petite sizes now.