Back in middle school, my wardrobe didn't have much variety when I peered into my closet. I suppose it was much easier for me to coordinate outfits because of the lack of choices that I was faced with. Basically, my drawers and closet had one big idea - Aéropostale. I'll ask you to journey back into your past for a moment or two, and try to remember if you had any Aéro gear in your middle school collection of clothes. Now, you'll never see me looking like I jumped straight out of one their catalogs - I've since rebooted my style. However, we should be thankful to this brand for giving us everything that we needed (and at the time, loved) to survive back-to-school, holidays, summer, and everything in between. It's time to reminisce on the state of my Aéropostale fashion week (or years).
1. The brand name tees.
Don't you love when an outfit prompts someone to ask you where you got it from? With my Aéro tees or tops, I never had to worry about remembering where I purchased it from. I could simply look down, or recite from memory: "Aéropostale!" This store had thought of nearly every font, pattern, and design to make their name stand out. If you wanted cursive, Comic Sans (ok, maybe not), or, my personal favorite, sequined letters - you had it!
2. The sweatpants.
Before I graduated into PINK sweatpants, I was a hardcore fan of the wide array of colored sweatpants that Aéro offered. I had them in teal, grey, purple, grey and teal, pink, pink and grey - you name it. They also had this weird thing going on at the bottom, where they were just kind of there. The hemline liked to flare out really obnoxiously, which made it really difficult for me to tuck them into my UGG boots every Friday.
3. The sweatshirts.
Ah, yes. Aéropostale's answer to its famous sweatpants. Why would you buy anything else to match your jogging outfit besides a sweatshirt that echoed the same color pattern that was on your sweats? This sweatshirts came in hoodie form, pullover form, and loved to have those little baseball ties hanging from the collar. They really went the extra mile by embroidering their brand name across the chest, so it had that 3D effect.
4. The jewelry.
Just when you think that Aéro couldn't fit its brand name anywhere else, they found somewhere to stick in on a piece of jewelry. My personal favorite purchase was a heart and key necklace that broke about two months after I got it. That key is probably still somewhere, and now I'm left with a heart and a keyhole. It probably ended up on the floor of my old science classroom or in my school's cafeteria.
5. The underwear.
Before Aérie stole the thunder, Aéropostale had a a great collection and wide variety of underwear to choose from. The classic impulse buy, it was usually positioned on a tier near the cash register. They always had some deal to make me want to go through the entire pile to find a bunch of pairs to mismatch. Then Aérie took it to a whole new level, good for them.
6. Their 1987 logo.
Forget 1989, 1987 was the year that really mattered. I started noticing that they would find a way to sneak '87 into any piece of clothing that they made. You never even had to question when the birth of Aéro was, because it was as plain as day on your right thigh or your chest. I guess it's okay to be proud of your birth year.
Aéropostale has since gained some new fashion sense, and they are actually making cuter clothes than they ever where when I was in middle school. You have to search a bit harder for their brand name on the clothing, which is demonstrating some much needed restraint. Kudos to you, Aéropostale. RIP to my middle school wardrobe, though.
