Introduction: For my project, I studied the store fronts on popular teen clothing stores. I wanted to see what kinds of things the companies used to attract teens into their stores. I also recorded what kinds of emotions I felt looking at these stores, and what sort of feelings they want you to feel. Since shopping is a big part of my life, I thought it would be interesting to look more closely at most of the stores I shop at.
Investigation: To evaluate the stores, I went to the Mall of America and sat in front of the stores, and observed and recorded the following:
- Lighting; color, brightness, placement
- Mannequins; size, color, gender, position
- Posters; models, settings
- Windows; placement, size, shades/no shades
- Music; volume, genre, bass or treble
I was trying to go to popular stores that teens were drawn to at the mall, so I looked at where most teens were in front, of in a store and observed those. These were the stores I evaluated:
- Gilly Hicks
- Abercrombie
- Aeropostale
- Zumiez
- Forever 21
- Pacsun
- Pink
- Garage Canada
- American Eagle
Five of the six stores played pop music, one played house music, and three of the stores played alternative music.
Most of the mannequins were in relaxed positions, and were all white and had the same body type.
I found some very interesting things at each of the stores I went to look at. At Forever 21, the storefront looked sort of old fashioned with worn and dusty looking bricks. Floor to ceiling windows with square metal frames, and pastel lighting shinned down on shiny bald mannequins of different colors. They mannequins were in contorted positions and they all had thick chains around their necks. This gave the store an edgy futuristic look that was supposed to be unique and different. Then, I looked at Victoria's Secret's Pink, which had a completely different impact on me. The pictures on the walls were very suggestive, but were made to look innocent and preppy. The whole front was pink and white polka dots, and it had a crest that looked like one from a private school.
Suppose you were thirteen or fourteen, and looked into these stores. One of them makes you feel like you're edgy and bad, and one is innocent and preppy. You look at the pictures on the walls, and you see beautiful models with perfect blonde bombshell hair, and you think, "I want to be like them." The clothes look pretty normal, sweatpants and t shirts, a lot of lounge clothes that make you feel laid back and pampered when you wear them, which is another surprising thing I noticed about almost everyone of the stores.
I looked at a store call Gilly Hicks and a store called Abercrombie. Both stores had thick shades covering the windows, and low lighting. You could see crystal chandeliers hanging inside, and the lighting was inly focused on their clothes. Loud bassy music was playing inside, mostly pop or house music. I thought the place had a secretive vibe to it, like a hide away in a bedroom. It was made to look really fancy, again, to make you feel pampered. Definatelly using sex appeal to get teens to come inside. I think teens are at an age where sex appeal is more exposed, so the stores take advantage of that and use it to attract them. Think about if you were a teen, seeing all these stores. All the stores that I evaluated were basically just stereotypes about teens in stores that are used to draw their attention. There's the preppy stores, the skater stores, the alternative stores. The media is just using what they think teens like to do, and exaggerating it. There's stores that look literally like clubs and bars that are just for clothes.
Values: My thoughts on this is that teens should be aware of whats around them, and not get sucked in by the media, they don't have to give up shopping, but to just be aware, and know when you've become completely dependent on brands and fashion. The stores shouldn't tell you where to go, you should decide.
Sources:
www.zumiez.com/
www.gillyhicks.com/
www.aeropostale.com/
www.forever21.com/
www.abercrombie.com/
www.ae.com/
shop.pacsun.com/
www.vspink.com/
www.garage.ca/
You had many interesting points in your research and you clearly explained what you found and how you thought it might influence teens. I was curious about one of your lines--"The media is just using what they think teens like to do." Do you think it is what kids like to do? Do you think it influences what teens think they should like to do?
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