Welcome to Let’s Get a Room, a series where editor Eliza Huber heads to the dressing room to try on pieces from your favorite retailers, buzzy items, and new collections. Think of this column as a detailed guide to the pieces that are actually worth buying and the ones that, unfortunately, looked better online—no returns necessary.
When I really think about it, I’m 99% sure that Abercrombie was the first store I ever went in on my own. I’m 100% sure of the first piece I ever bought there, 1. because I wore it at least four times a week for years, and 2. because it was my first time ever buying a clothing item with my own money. They were dark-wash skinny jeans with zippered hems from the Kids store at my local, suburban-Chicago mall. I saved up for them for weeks.
For the next half a decade or so, I was obsessed with Abercrombie, wearing it from head-to-toe every time I had a casual-dress day at my elementary school (we wore uniforms) and in pieces once I got to middle school and was allowed to dress as I pleased. By the time I entered high school, though, my interest in the brand’s signature aesthetic had waned as I started wanting to look older and more like the models I saw in fashion magazines and designer advertising campaigns. In turn, I stopped visiting its stores. In fact, I didn’t step foot in one for close to ten years.
Given my childhood infatuation, my excitement couldn’t be contained when I started noticing that Abercrombie was going in a different direction a few years back—a more timeless, elevated, and style-forward direction. It grew even more when I was invited to preview its new New York City flagship store, positioned on Fifth Avenue, adjacent to Ferragamo, Cartier, and the Museum of Modern Art. (Chic, I know.) Like a kid in a candy store, I immediately started grabbing pieces that unlike the ones I remembered from my tween days, looked utterly sophisticated and grown up. Below, check out all 14 of the ones I brought into the dressing room. I promise, if you too haven’t immersed yourself in the Abercrombie world since you were young, you won’t believe that these are from the same brand.
