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American Apparel: Over rated

Artielives5

By Artielives5
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Artielives5

Artielives5

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I've owned a few American Apparel Garments. A few T-shirts, one of their polos, and hoodie. At first I was really stoked about them, and their attitude about clothing (foremost their pledge to make their stuff in America) But after a while, i noticed a lot of their stuff could use improvement. Their clothes all look good, but they're not always the most comfortable. A good majority of their T-shirts still have seams on the sides, which for a company which only makes blank t-shirts, is unacceptable. Also, all of their T-shirts have seams on the collars, most big T-shirt companies have seamless collars.

It's clear they cut a lot of corners in their clothes. Does anyone else agree? I just think it's about time they make their shit worth all the hype, because, as keen as I am on their business ethics, At the end of the day, I dont want to end up in a shitty Tshirt.

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nanyc

nanyc

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thank you, someone who agrees that aa is just shit. who knew that marketing could spin hype factor on plain tees and make a killing??? i think the dude just saw a buncha trust fund granola hipsters and was like... hmmm lets charge them more for a product which is already on the market, and tell them your wearing "ethics".

yea i have some of their tees, and i'm still bitter that they unraveled on me. lol

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Tisswat

Tisswat

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I like the fit and and they make pretty decent basics. Just like H&M's hoodies for example. Simple, affordable, comrftbl. Some people get a bit carried away.. I don't really understand why the media is all over the brand (apart from AA being a nice marketing case study).

Reporter: "What do you think about western civilization?"

Gandhi: "I think it would be a good idea."

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partytaco

partytaco

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so you've had three hooded sweatshirts from AA and hey have all unraveled? from normal wear and tear? and i'm not saying this is your case but hooded sweatshirts tend to be worn just about everyday by those who own them andi wouldn't consider wearing something like to that extreme normal wear and tear and if they happen to unravel or tear after 100 wears in 3months well then what did you expect...next time but a suit of iron. i had this AA quality discussion with a friend of mine today at brunch because he's a designer for a few clothing labels and while the sizing might be inconsistant their quality is no worse than champion or other premium athletic clothing companies. i have a few vintage champions, a RRL double V, LVC double V, 50's Hanes and also an AA sweatshirt and while the quality of the materials (cotton, thread) isn't as nice as any of those listed I think the AA is just as durable and will hopefully last just as long (although I wear it alot so probably not)and actually the waistband has proven to hold it's elasticity better than almost all of those. Now I don't think they are the be all end all athletic clothier but I don't they do a bad job and honestly most kids that hate I think are just jealous that someone close to their age is making a mint off a simple marketing strategy....and the marketing strategy in my opinion should be the real issue here.

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werdtoyourmoms

werdtoyourmoms

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two of their hoodies have unraveled and they replaced them with no questions. for that they get mad props. i'm about to return this other one i have.

--- Original message by werdtoyourmoms on Jan 2, 2006 10:48 AM

how unraveled did they get?

--- Original message by shagnscoob on Jan 2, 2006 02:50 PM

like, the hood basically came off on the first one, and the pocket started coming off on the second.

korn feat. ice cube

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DC

DC

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love the fit, love the multi color flavor of options. I enjoy the fact that they pay the garment workers a nice wage but the cotton tends to not last. I have acouple hoodies from them which are doing well but my polo's are looking pretty nasty.

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CDG

CDG

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The fit and quality of the actual cotton jersey in the t-shirts is quite nice and much better than basics at the GAP or other such places. That said I do not believe their prices are worth it. I get everything half off because a friend works there and even then I have a difficult time spending the money. The nylon zip up jacket I have is starting to get holes, the cotton isn't prewashed and shrinks a bunch. A friend just got a pair of tights yesterday and today there was a hole in the crotch! The Tyvek jackets get holes in high friction areas really really quickly. I look at the clothes and I can see puckering and warping where the garment wasn't sewn correctly. There are frayed and raw edges, serger stiches running off the sides, and the way some of the clothes are sewn it looks like the pattern pieces are out of registration. It's very poor quality. I like it for it's fit and colors and it is very comfortable, but the prices really should be at least half of what they charge...if that.

good is dead

Edited by CDG on Jan 2, 2006 at 10:55 PM

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tangerine

tangerine

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I have been hearing more and more about problems with the clothing and it sounds like they are having some quality control issues. I personally have not had any problems with the stuff I've bought from them (thermals and hoodies) but it sounds like I may not wear it as often or as hard as some of you.

However, isn't the price/quality issue pretty much explained by the fact that the clothes are not produced in overseas sweatshops, and they are paying their workers living wages and giving them benefits?

They are caught between trying to produce the clothes for something resembling market prices, while paying much more for the cost of production. Something has to give, and apparently they have chosen to accept quality issues rather than raise their prices or renege on their American-made, living-wage promise. The other alternative of course is to lose money and go out of business but I don't think we can expect them to intentionally do that.

Some of you are in the business, is this an unreasonable analysis?

ask a cassowary

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wooster

wooster

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i work in manufacturing (though not clothing). doing u.s. made high volume is impossible today if you want to be price competitive. it is just incredibly cheaper to source stuff overseas, and, ironically, almost always the quality is what you specify. want to spend an extra penny, you get high quality, want to spend a penny less and you can specify mediocre quality. unhappy with the quality? source somewhere else on the next buy.

aa talks about vertical integration keeping their cost of goods down, but i don't see how that could really do all that much. so yes, basically if they pay their workers more, they're going to have to charge more for the product. that said, i suspect they make a very, very healthy margin on their retail sales. probably their wholesale costs more accurately reflect the profit margin they have to make to remain in business. i suspect the extra money they are pulling down by being successful in retail is what is fueling their expansion.

personally i own a lot of aa, i love the cotton they use, and the fit is ok for me. i could care less about the price: $5 vs. $15 is just not a big deal. but quality control does truly suck. some of what i have gotten is just truly unbelievable by today's standards: got a henley with the hem stitched randomly, a long sleeved tshirt where one sleeve rotated completely sideways or something when it shrank, sizing is inconsistent between batches, etc., etc. basically i'll only buy the simple stuff now.

i think they could easily do much better quality control within the confines of their pricing structure, but i think quality control (again, i'm talking about high volume) is more about company attitude than cost of goods. either the management has to care (and generally be hard-assed about it) or workers have to care (which often translates on some level, unfortunately, into a fear of loosing one's job). getting a "living-wage" is not going to translate into doing a better job than what management expects; it's still relatively little money to live on in LA and much less than what you can see the kids in mgmt are making.

basically, i just don't see how you're going to get high quality standards out of your employees when the president goes around giving interviews about how he likes to masturbate frequently. but i'm sure it's a fun place to work. i hope it works out for them.

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horriblyjollyjinx

horriblyjollyjinx

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I only have a tank and a tshirt from AA but they're both holding up well. I like their stuff because its simple and well fitting, but I feel that it's a bit over priced for me since I have to order online, and because the prices are a bit higher in Europe. Anyone with a wholesale account wanna hook me up? :icon_smile_shy.gif

I definitely would buy more of their products if they had a store in Sweden. btw, AA is pretty big with the indie/emo/hipster crowd, no?

SOME GIRLS ARE BIGGER THAN OTHERS

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nairb49

nairb49

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AA is just a big fad, the guy is a marketing genius who sold the concept at the exact right time when everyone suddenly "realized" how terrible they were by buying non-organic and non-fair trade products.

I don't think AA is even close to worth the price, and I don't think he or the workers actually give half a shit about their cause.

nairb49

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poly800rock

poly800rock

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its not for men,,only really skinny young girls who want to show off there camel toes with those cotton booty shorts.. i gave a girl i know a $200 gift card to there..best 200 bucks i ever spent

--- Original message by Bukkake on Jan 2, 2006 07:45 AM

best fucking quote i ever heard, used to date a girl that bought all her undies there, and i concur.

tons of stuff for sale now on ebay: corpus, Rag & Bone, Helmut Lang, levi's premium, Gap, vintage etc.

http://search.ebay.com/_W0QQsassZtriggerkid

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shagnscoob

shagnscoob

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AA is just a big fad, the guy is a marketing genius who sold the concept at the exact right time when everyone suddenly "realized" how terrible they were by buying non-organic and non-fair trade products.

I don't think AA is even close to worth the price, and I don't think he or the workers actually give half a shit about their cause.

--- Original message by nairb49 on Jan 3, 2006 07:53 AM

i dont think your giving AA a fair review, rather than jumping on the anti-AA bandwagon.
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Ryan

Ryan

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i like the fit of AA stuff, however the quality is very inconsistent. so like many other people have said, I only buy it because I pay almost 50% off of retail.

if you notice, the marketing doesn't really focus on its homegrown roots anymore. I wish I still had the link to this article that basically explained why AA isn't all that different than alot of other companies..

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shagnscoob

shagnscoob

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i like the fit of AA stuff, however the quality is very inconsistent. so like many other people have said, I only buy it because I pay almost 50% off of retail.

if you notice, the marketing doesn't really focus on its homegrown roots anymore. I wish I still had the link to this article that basically explained why AA isn't all that different than alot of other companies..

--- Original message by Ryan on Jan 4, 2006 07:30 AM

what other companies sell the same variety of colors and fits, as well as the insane amount of styles and concepts they have?
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