Before we realized that clothing did not need to cost a ridiculous amount of money and that polos did NOTHING for our hot bods, there was Abercrombie & Fitch. There were other places too (Hollister… American Eagle… and um, yeah that was pretty much it), but for some unknown reason, A&F was number one.
Here are 20 things from Abercrombie & Fitch that you either owned or wanted to own in the 2000s.
SHOW ME THE MOOSE…
1. Ripped denim jeans. Flared out at the bottom and faded. Bonus points if the jeans had writing on them. Bonus BONUS points if they were *Ezra Fitch.*
2. Ripped jean skirts. The shorter the better. You were only cool if your pockets showed at the bottom!
3. Ruffled cotton skirts. Cotton skirts were like the yoga pants of the early 2000s. So much comfort, so much fashion. Tennis match anyone?
4. Ruffled knit skirts with a pattern and/or bow on it. These were not as comfortable as the above cotton skirt, but they were trendy AF. Note the disproportional bottom. High on the right, low on the left. Why? No one knows.
5. The infamous polo. But why…
6. Zip sweatshirts. A basic 2000s b*tch staple.
7. Zip sweatshirts with FUR on the inside. Overpay and then overheat. Sounds like a great plan to me.
8. This epic winter jacket. That’s me and a friend in the below picture, btw. I cropped out my face because #privacy. Also, look how happy I was in that thing. I loved it. I also matched the brown moose to the brown tank top I was wearing under it on purpose. Yas queen.
9. Belts that you wore over your t-shirts that you wore over your tank tops because … no one knows. Belts should never go anywhere except under belt loops. May this trend rest in peace.
10. Ribbed tank tops, preferably with lace at the top or the bottom. Even Summer Roberts – I mean Rachel Bilson – was doing it. And with a ruffled cotton skirt! FASHION FASHION FASHION.
11. Thongs with ribbons on the side. My first thong was from Abercrombie & Fitch. Horrible flashbacks of me giggling and buying thongs from A&F with friends at the mall while rocking braces are happening right now. These thongs also sucked. The ribbon wasn’t stretchy. Why would anyone want these? Oh right, the moose. A branded vagine. Sigh.
12. Any t-shirt that mentioned “Abercrombie” or “A&F.” If it talked about something random like being on a “sailing team,” you didn’t even care. You loved and needed to own all of these overpriced graphic tees.
13. Any t-shirts that you knew would piss your parents off. Or scare your teachers. Or both.
14. This classic jean jacket. Quite possibly the only A&F item you can still get away with wearing. And hopefully the only item on this list that will ever make a comeback.
15. The world’s shortest shorts. Oh, you have thighs? Sorry, these aren’t going to fit you.
16. Cargo pants. WHY.
17. ARMY cargo pants. This girl is selling hers on Poshmark. Gurlllllllllllll.
18. Corduroy pants. Thus proving we would literally wear anything as long as the moose was visible.
19. Sweaters that we could find literally anywhere else for less money… but this one had a moose on it, so we had to get this one.
20. Plain white t’s… FEATURING THE MOOSE!!! Because you even needed your plain white t-shirts to be branded… which kind of made them not plain anymore but SO WHAT.
21. These pajama pants. These were for men, but the girls pants were basically the same thing.
22. This moose sweater. This wasn’t an ugly Christmas sweater. This was a way of life. I owned a moose sweater back in the day. Not this one, but ‘tevs. Ariana Grande owned this one. BALLER STATUS.
23. This skirt that has been eaten by a plethora of moose. “We takin ova.”
24. Sex. Arguably their best item. A&F sold sex to teenagers like no one else could. See this below picture for their 2002 Christmas issue. Damn.
What were your favorite items from vintage Abercrombie & Fitch? Leave them in the comments!
