usvi-on-line
My ears are ringing... shopping with pre-teens
-
chicagoans
- Posts: 1586
- Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:51 pm
- Location: IL
My ears are ringing... shopping with pre-teens
The 'carry on only' thread got me thinking about this one -- clothing and kids.
Brought both kids shopping yesterday. Usually it's just one or the other, and typically very different stores. But my 10 year old son announced he likes shirts from Abercrombie. (Say what? No more Target?) Of course 12 year daughter glommed on to that even though I brought her there last week.
OK - so we go to Abercrombie, Aeropostale and H&M. Success at each place, including mostly sale items at Abercrombie thank goodness. But here's the deal... my ears were RINGING for hours afterward! Those places are so loud, so DARK (I have to carry stuff around to find enough light to see the tags) and the cologne smell is overpowering. Hollister is even worse. Am I just getting really OLD? I swear the kids working at those stores will be deaf by the time they graduate high school.
Dang... I've become my mother.
Brought both kids shopping yesterday. Usually it's just one or the other, and typically very different stores. But my 10 year old son announced he likes shirts from Abercrombie. (Say what? No more Target?) Of course 12 year daughter glommed on to that even though I brought her there last week.
OK - so we go to Abercrombie, Aeropostale and H&M. Success at each place, including mostly sale items at Abercrombie thank goodness. But here's the deal... my ears were RINGING for hours afterward! Those places are so loud, so DARK (I have to carry stuff around to find enough light to see the tags) and the cologne smell is overpowering. Hollister is even worse. Am I just getting really OLD? I swear the kids working at those stores will be deaf by the time they graduate high school.
Dang... I've become my mother.
right there with you chicagoans! I have to go shopping with my 12 yr old today and it's all the same damned uniform (abercrombie, hollister, american eagle, delias etc etc) and I Cannot cope in those stores~! I get LOST in Hollister! it's dark and noisy--i think they do it to confuse parents into paying their over the top prices for clothing made from less than a quarter yard of fabric or fabric that looks like it's been run over by a truck 7 times (ok, i too have officially morphed into my mother)
< leaving on the 22nd of march...but too lame to figure out the ticker thing again!>
-
Marcia (Mrs. Pete)
- Posts: 1576
- Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 9:40 pm
- Location: Madison Area, Wisconsin
I hate Hollister. Major sensory overload with the nasty cologne, blarring music that isn't music at all, furry couches (why do you have couches in a clothing store?), snarky sales staff who all look the same, and yes, it's pitch dark in there. And, what's with the tiki hut concept? The shirts are cheesy, the jeans are way over priced and hideous.
The good news is that your kids WILL out grow the allure of the place. My 18 year old daughter now agrees with me. She will not spend her hard earned money on that crap.
Phew, I feel better now. Thanks for letting me vent.
The good news is that your kids WILL out grow the allure of the place. My 18 year old daughter now agrees with me. She will not spend her hard earned money on that crap.
Phew, I feel better now. Thanks for letting me vent.
Marcia (Mrs. Pete)
Missing St. John. As always.
Missing St. John. As always.
Oh, good subject!
I agree!! My 18 year old was so embarrassed because I asked the clerk if I there was anywhere I could take a shirt so I could see what color it was-- it was so dark! It was white but I wasn't sure if it was pastel. I didn't know because I couldn't see it--it isn't just dark--those bulbs are tinted yellow or brown or something.
Also, I kept say "what I can't hear you". I think I heard my son groan tough!
So, I am not allowed to talk in there anymore.
My boys like to buy it online because they don't like going in there. So, it isn't just us. I swear they said that BEFORE the incidence above.
We go to Hollister and Abercrombie--not sure about the others.
I get in there and want to scream--can you turn the music down, the lights up, and get an air purifier because I can't see, smell, or hear!!
Gina
I agree!! My 18 year old was so embarrassed because I asked the clerk if I there was anywhere I could take a shirt so I could see what color it was-- it was so dark! It was white but I wasn't sure if it was pastel. I didn't know because I couldn't see it--it isn't just dark--those bulbs are tinted yellow or brown or something.
Also, I kept say "what I can't hear you". I think I heard my son groan tough!
So, I am not allowed to talk in there anymore.
My boys like to buy it online because they don't like going in there. So, it isn't just us. I swear they said that BEFORE the incidence above.
We go to Hollister and Abercrombie--not sure about the others.
I get in there and want to scream--can you turn the music down, the lights up, and get an air purifier because I can't see, smell, or hear!!
Gina
-
chicagoans
- Posts: 1586
- Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:51 pm
- Location: IL
Hey loria -- I love, love, love Delia's, only because for the first time in her life my daughter has jeans that fit. (She's tall and thin. I always had to safety pin the back of her jeans, which is way too dorky for middle school.) I always buy when they have 'buy one, get one half off' - so the jeans average $30/pair. Not bargain basement, but not a rip off since they fit.
Luckily she likes Aeropostale. You can almost always find something on sale there. Plus the lights are on, unlike Abercrombie and Hollister.
Good luck today! (Bring a flashlight?)
Luckily she likes Aeropostale. You can almost always find something on sale there. Plus the lights are on, unlike Abercrombie and Hollister.
Good luck today! (Bring a flashlight?)
today i am doing my best to stay far away from them! agree about delias--love when they have the buy one, get one jeans offer!
we have to find a dress
today......so i am guaranteed HIGH Drama and probably hours at bloomingdales, nordstrom and neimans ...ugh.
oh and shoes too......i cannot stand that i pay more for my daughter's shoes than i do my own and her feet are STILL GROWING (so these shoes will fit until next month)--my son is SO much easier. he doesn't shop. just relies on me to make sure he has clothes that fit.
we have to find a dress
today......so i am guaranteed HIGH Drama and probably hours at bloomingdales, nordstrom and neimans ...ugh. oh and shoes too......i cannot stand that i pay more for my daughter's shoes than i do my own and her feet are STILL GROWING (so these shoes will fit until next month)--my son is SO much easier. he doesn't shop. just relies on me to make sure he has clothes that fit.
< leaving on the 22nd of march...but too lame to figure out the ticker thing again!>
-
chicagoans
- Posts: 1586
- Joined: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:51 pm
- Location: IL
oh I feel your pain!! We spent most of a day a few years ago looking for a Christmas dress. Finally found one at Nordstrom, which she wore 3 Christmas Eves in a row, and never any other time. (That was the last dress she ever agreed to.) I don't get drama, just a very short, emphatic "no" for every skirt and dress I point at. It almost gets funny.loria wrote:we have to find a dress
Band concerts are a pain because they can't wear jeans, so she wears a skirt with leggings. She just can't stand wearing dresses and skirts, which I find frustrating and amusing because she has these great long legs. I'm sure she'll start liking skirts right around the time I want her to completely cover up to quell the teenage hormones.
So far my 11, almost 12, year old son doesn't seem to care what he wears, as long as it's comfortable.
However, yesterday he was commenting on how the haircut he just got isn't quite even, and he can't wear that snowboarding shirt from the Gap anymore because one of his friends pointed out that he doesn't snowboard (he skis....) and he can't ask his best friend from second grade to go to the Boston Aquarium with us because people will think he "LIKES" her..
I can feel it coming and I'm not amused (or prepared) 
However, yesterday he was commenting on how the haircut he just got isn't quite even, and he can't wear that snowboarding shirt from the Gap anymore because one of his friends pointed out that he doesn't snowboard (he skis....) and he can't ask his best friend from second grade to go to the Boston Aquarium with us because people will think he "LIKES" her..
I can feel it coming
and I'm not amused (or prepared) -
sailorgirl
- Posts: 1644
- Joined: Mon Oct 30, 2006 3:03 pm
My sister must have lost her mind some where in the mall!
I thought it was just me.
I have an almost 13 year old great niece. Up until this past Christmas, she was happy with Target, either clothes or a gift card. This year I got the list of Hollister, Aeropostle, etc.
Being a shopper, I looked forward to this new experience. How bad could it be? OMG, I nearly died right in the middle of Hollister when I checked the prices for a 3 inch square t-shirt. It wasn't so much the price, but the lack of shirt. I visited Forever 21 next - the prices weren't as bad, but the styles were - well, not appropriate for a 12 year old. Boy, was I feeling like a fuddy-duddy. Hit Aeropostale next - great sale and was able to find (with the help of one of the tween salesgirls) a sweater and T that would actually cover the necessary parts. The result was a happy hug on Christmas Eve.
Her birthday is later this month when she'll actually be a Teen. I think I'll let her try her luck with a couple of scratch tickets.
I have an almost 13 year old great niece. Up until this past Christmas, she was happy with Target, either clothes or a gift card. This year I got the list of Hollister, Aeropostle, etc.
Being a shopper, I looked forward to this new experience. How bad could it be? OMG, I nearly died right in the middle of Hollister when I checked the prices for a 3 inch square t-shirt. It wasn't so much the price, but the lack of shirt. I visited Forever 21 next - the prices weren't as bad, but the styles were - well, not appropriate for a 12 year old. Boy, was I feeling like a fuddy-duddy. Hit Aeropostale next - great sale and was able to find (with the help of one of the tween salesgirls) a sweater and T that would actually cover the necessary parts. The result was a happy hug on Christmas Eve.
Her birthday is later this month when she'll actually be a Teen. I think I'll let her try her luck with a couple of scratch tickets.
janet
Our daughter is almost 7. Fortunately, she prefers to wear t-shirts from st john to anything else.
However, I was at her school recently and a girl in her class had on low rise jeans and a thong peeking out.
1st grade.
Oh yea...I'm old as hell and I'm 34. Any men here try to buy jeans lately? I'm 6'0 and weigh about 185. I can't find jeans. Hell...clothes are hard to find.
Can't wait to watch Preggo Mc Wifey try to buy summer clothes.
However, I was at her school recently and a girl in her class had on low rise jeans and a thong peeking out.
1st grade.
Oh yea...I'm old as hell and I'm 34. Any men here try to buy jeans lately? I'm 6'0 and weigh about 185. I can't find jeans. Hell...clothes are hard to find.
Can't wait to watch Preggo Mc Wifey try to buy summer clothes.