Now, whenever I have been particularily lazy about fashion stuff for a while, one of the first places I always check is the Forever 21 site. It's huge, they have cute stuff, it is a good representation of the current trends in most stores, etc. I've never felt the slightest bit bad about shopping at Forever 21. Heck, I'm still a (relatively) young woman, not a teenager, no, but it's cool. I have issues, don't we all? I was ok with my F21 love.
Until I started thinking about the new Forever 21 sister store that opened up at the Beverly Center here in LA this month - Heritage 1981. This was supposed to skew more toward my age demographic, a little older, a little more professional I guess? I hadn't had a chance to get to the store, but I figured I would check out some offerings online. Hmmm...I thought. There is some cute stuff here, some nice sweaters and tops. What I really liked on the site was the vast array of cute sweater vests:
All of these are cute, reasonably priced (between 20-25 bucks) and perfect for winter. Cool. But was I captivated? Was I plotting my trip immediately, and imagining all the wonderful places I could wear these? Not really... they WERE nice sweater vests, but is this what age appropriate means? No more fashion passion? Sensible sweater vests? I began to feel a bit uneasy...
Next, I thought I would check out Forever 21's other sister store, Twelve by Twelve, which also has a store in LA that I haven't been to yet (although, unlike Heritage 1981, I'm not sure exactly what Twelve by Twelve's "niche market" is supposed to be, besides female). So I went over to their website, and... it was weird. Some of the stuff was ok, but (like Heritage) the selection was MUCH smaller than F21, and the weirdest thing was, the clothing looked cheap. I think it might just be that their photo stylist or whatever wasn't doing a very good job, but the clothes just seemed to be hanging off this white mannequin, alone, sad and uninteresting. I thought these pieces were ok:
Cute enough, right? But these were, imo, the best offerings on the whole site, and I wasn't in love with any of them either (that jacket is pretty close to awesome, though). AND these were pricier than F21's similar items ($35-55, approx). What is going on, I thought? Have I lost my taste for fashion? Is this what is supposed to excite me? I only had one option - I would now go to Forever 21's website and see what this forbidden teenage fashion was that was previously so superior and age appropriate in my mind. So I did.
And you know what? I found TONS of cute stuff. For the late 20's gal, like me. I didn't have to search too hard, in fact, I had to weed out my list a bit. Look at all this stuff:
SO MUCH CUTER, and most of it would be great at the office, while the two short, swingy dresses would be totally great at a holiday party! All reasonably priced, and FINALLY my heart went pitter pat in the excited way that I remember! I was scheming as to how many of these wonderful pieces I could actually afford this month! I was imagining myself in them in various places, laughing or reading or some such activity and looking so chic. Ahhhh..... that is what I'm talking about people!
Oh, and I saw this:
THE CUTEST winter vest I've ever seen, and something I would most likely accost a group of blind, mute, orphans for. Ok, maybe not, but I REALLY love this vest! And $33? YES!!!!!
So, in conclusion, I say this to you. I shop at Forever 21. I will continue to shop at Forever 21. Perhaps I am delusional, but I don't feel the least bit inappropriate about it. So there. HA! I will go shop and be victorious in gorgeous new duds.