American Apparel

I’m not at all the customer that American Apparel is trying to appeal to, I’m about 20 years too old and 5 sizes too big, but yet I enjoy shopping here, because I really appreciate the fact that all their clothes are made in non-​sweatshop factories in the USA, and they give living wages to all their employees, and are very LGBTQ friendly.
While their trendy/hipster/80’s throwback clothes look best on older teens at minimum, my tween daughter loves their cute accessories (leg warmers, tights, socks, hair bows, makeup, jewelry, etc.) There’s always friendly, helpful people working there, and they play good music in a clean environment, so we love hanging out here.
Yes, their prices are higher, but so is the quality of their products. And I like knowing that my purchases are supporting something good and meaningful.

I don’t suggest shopping here without a groupon or $ 400 in your pocket. Everything is extremely expensive and I had to search high and low for anything that would be considered normal or acceptable to wear in public. I had a groupon for $ 120, which got me 2 cotton scarves and 2 bottles of nail polish and somehow I still owed them $ 26? What?

I love the idea of American Apparel; I’m just not a fan.
I’ve been twice (with Groupons in hand), and generally speaking, I just can’t find anything I like — and what I do like is normally overpriced. Yes, I know, it’s because the clothes are made in America with some TLC down in LA. But, at the same time, it seems like they’re exploiting that to get folks to shop there.
For example, a hoodie there costs upwards of $ 50. H&M or Old Navy would probably have it for less than $ 30. Does that make it bad? No, of course not… but there comes a certain point where price has to compete, and it’s really shooting the store in the foot.
Having said all that… the Plaza store is pretty jam-​packed; there’s honestly not much room to wander around the place. The staff tends towards the trendy and hip but with some Midwestern sensibility; more friendly than their LA counterparts, I’m sure.
I haven’t worn my duds from there enough to give a review on their durability, but I will say that I have printed T-​shirts from other places that use AA T’s, and they hold up pretty well. Take that for what you will.
Overall — the store appeals to a niche crowd. And, sadly, that niche ain’t me. That doesn’t make it bad; it just makes it… not me.

Look, despite my overall size (6’5″, not skinny), I’m a fashionable man on the go. I like what I like, and most of the time shop online. However, when procrastination gets the best of me, I would like to buy the item I want, whatever that may be, in a physical brick and mortar store.
I was looking for some light grey suspenders to match a plaid ben sherman tie, and it dawned on me that American Apparel had such things.
So off I went.
I walk inside, and I know I’m in for a trip. Standing behind the counter we have a guy dressed like Gilligan (in the same sized clothes), but he’s 6’2″. Next to him is some 80’s pseudo porn star /​soccer mom hybrid; mom jeans and a see through shirt.
I walk around looking for the suspenders in question. Despite being made in america, I’m pretty appalled at the pricing structure in general, overt sexism /​chauvinism /​douche-​baggery aside.
I go up to the counter, and ask giant gilligan where the suspenders are. He begrudgingly showed me into the back corner of the store. Since I was in a time crunch, I decided that $ 18 for aluminum and elastic was an acceptable price for suspenders, but only because I needed them for the next day.
Well here we are, less than a month out, and my supposedly better quality made in america hipster brand suspenders are no longer functional. The elastic had begun to fray, which was irritating, but not as irritating as the clasps failing. I literally dodged a light-​grey-​elasticized-​aluminum projectile hurling towards my face.
oh, and good news, sexy mom jeans told me that there are absolutely no returns on accessories. Good times.

I’ve been in American Apparel before and never cared much about it. The only thing that caught my eye was their vintage sunglasses. I went into American Apparel a month ago because I wanted a pair of round sunglasses, kind of like Ozzy Osbournes sunglasses. I walked in the store and the employee is just standing behind the desk. She doesn’t say good morning or can I help you? She looks at me and looks back down. I make my way to their sunglasses that is locked up and I see a couple I would like to try on. I’m standing there… and standing there… and no one comes over to see if I want to try on a pair!!! Still a little ticked off about getting no sort of greeting… I just walk out.

I will start out by saying that I, like some reviewers, actually know what American apparel is about and the «sweatshop» references have no merit. If you would like to write an actual review, you should probably research what you are writing about. Just an idea. Oh and because they use American labor, their costs are much higher than say Wal-​Marts or Forever 21’s. But we aren’t debating good business practices so here is my review.
I waited over 6 months before i went into this store because i was scared. Who wouldn’t be? The glitter leggings and borat style body suits could scare anyone. But after i went a few times (i try not to immediately dismiss a store after shopping in it once) i really got into it. They have AWESOME leggings, i wont go anywhere else for them. I do agree, sometimes the quality is an issue but you would be hard pressed to find a store without that problem. The location is strange, i would agree, westport would be an awesome location. The staff is always friendly to me and offers to check back stock for my size or call me when they receive it in. Overall I love this store and always walk out with a great new piece to spice up my wardrobe and recently that was tye dye leggings.

Go here to start dressing like a hip crayon or to move to the trendier, darker side of sesame street. A friend once said, «this is where you go to buy your girlfriend some freaky shit». That may or may not be your cup of tea. In any event, the guy that started this clothing line appears to have things together in the «sweatshop fashion industry» (jk). Still, I am guilty of owning some things from this store and the garments have only faded/​shrunk a little, so far.
The models look angry but the clothes make you look happy.

I like AA for some things. No the quality isn’t perfect… but it’s not too bad either. (I have learned to hang dry stuff from here). Their cotton sweatshirts and tees are the softest I have felt almost anywhere… very comfortable. It is a little strange that they sell the exact same stuff all the time and will probably never have to change their stock. But that is a good thing too… their stuff doesn’t go out of style! This location is pretty small, and the Plaza location is out of place… I agree that Westport would have made more since as a location.
The staff can be bitchy. My friend tried to return a sweatshirt for an exchange the day after X-​mas last year and the girl asked for the receipt. He said that he didn’t have one cause it was a present. she replied ‘I’M SURE!’ In a really bitchy tone. Did they import their employees from LA too?
(BTW, their stuff is not made is a sweat shop… it’s made in the US, in a warehouse in LA… that is a big part of their whole image)

The place may LOOK like a sweatshop… but at least all the clothes arent MADE in a sweatshop like whatever cheap, trendy clothes you prefer

What in the hell??? What is this place? It looked like an 80s sweat shop when I walked in– the racks are white plastic-​coated metal and the walls are bare-​boned. It is the kind of decoration you’d find in the back of the local sporting goods store, not some national chain that has clothes occasionally worn by celebrities. Colleen is very right– the quality is ridiculous, given the prices. $ 35 for a shirt that has the words «see-​through» in the style name? Yes, I like my shirts to be see-​through. Thank goodness American Apparel came along and offered me some to buy.
Most of the stuff is just plain in basic colors, which you can appreciate when building a basic wardrobe. However, some of the stuff is downright ugly that left me wanting to take a picture with my cell phone so all my friends can laugh along with me. Besides some sweet sequined body suits and leggings, they also had a bag big enough that I could literally fit inside of (if you need a bag that big, maybe you need to start downsizing). However, my most favorite t-​shirts would have to be the ones that just had an uppercase and lowercase letter on it, like this: «Aa». They were called ‘Helvetica’ tees, or some other font name. Wow, I really want a shirt that has 2 letters on it.
I have a feeling that even the true hipsters wouldn’t come into this store. They are definitely trying to hard to win over the bohemian-​shiek kids, and all it does is come off as desperate. The ONLY things I would consider buying here are their scarves and sunglasses– but then again, I didn’t look at the prices, so maybe not.

Some of you reading this are going to be like «Finally! Someone’s ripping this place… ahahahahha!» And some of you will be like «Hey, I actually like unisex clothing!» I don’t mean to offend — only to express my irritation, growing ever so strongly from the time I spent living across the American Apparel off Broadway in Greenwich Village.
American Apparel: home of the neon leopard body suit. The prices aren’t high, but neither is the quality. The fabric is so cheap that the word ‘shrinkage’ was invented here. I bought a simple, cute little gray dress here last fall and after a few washes by winter I had to give it to my shortest friend because on me it had become the definition of ‘indecent exposure’.
I would be lying to write that American Apparel didn’t offer a few appealing dresses and shirts — most notably, the $ 42 little black dress you can play with and where 32 different ways (that’s pretty amazing and I love wearing it… I just fear washing it too much for reasons mentioned above). They have some simple things in many colors, basics, things anyone can pull off.
But then it gets… existential … you know what I’m talking about… cotton spandex jersey unitard?! UNITARD?! Cotton spandex jersey strapless ruched bodysuit?! BODYSUIT?! Thick-​knit jersey short-​alls?! SHORT-​ALLS?! Velour romper?! ROMPER?!
I couldn’t write this stuff — I just spent two minutes surfing their website (please view attached photos of sed clothing).
In particular, the Plaza location is an error of sorts — a better move would have been across the street from Bunker in Westport. May I remind readers that AA is right next to Standard Style Boutique and Brooks Brothers (where most of its clientele would surely mock American Apperel-​ed individuals being the antithesis of these Plaza customers and all).
The staff was friendly enough when I visited but they didn’t trust me and my messenger bag, instantly demanding I set it up front so that I wouldn’t make off with the whole of their unisex poplin neck tie collection… OH DAMN!
During my infrequent other visits, I can’t help but be haunted by the memories of all the twenty-​something men in the village in the springtime wearing the same thin gray or white deep v-​neck t-​shirt like robots. And to mine and every woman’s horror, if there happened to be a slight chill, it was like nipple-​city popping through! I don’t condone male fashion that makes nipping for men look cool… no way in hell.