Chicago Weekend Fun!

I was alerted that the former Virgin Megastore Music Store on Michigan Avenue has been silently changed into a hip young teen clothing store called XXI. And even though these are the roman numerals for 21, they don’t pronounce it Twenty One. They said “Hello Welcome to X-X-I”. Literally. I guess I am not the only one sketchy on the roman numerals anymore. The feel is like an early Express at around 1994-ish crossed with Bebe and  with more of what I can only assume are clubbing clothes. People excited about all this new stuff and they can’t get enough of it. It was very crowded at the lunch hour.

It is a new clothing store from Forever 21, which is either re-branding or branching out. They have super-cheap women’s clothes but there is a huge caveat. If you want the $12.99 dark denim jeans, the babydoll tops and strappy dresses you have to be really young, and really thin.

This isn’t really a surprise. I have a love hate relationship with H&M for the same reason. I love that they produce super cheap fashion forward clothing, but I can’t wear any of it. I normally wear a size 12 and nothing there fits. The large is like an 8 and after that you’re out of luck. I do understand though that by 18 years old you haven’t had 32 years to slowly get calorie creep or get off the fashion bus at 1998.

That brings me to the other problem with stores like this; these styles are either fugly or things I wore as a teen back in the 1980′s. I don’t really have any affection for the dropped sleeve diagonal stripe tops or big black polka dots on green, wide belts or high waisted pleated pants. Why are they bringing these things back? And why are the dresses and T-shirts all the same length? They aren’t long enough to be a dress nor short enough to be a t-shirt. I am so confused. Even with leggings these tops would be indecent on someone like me.

The other problem with this store is that it is huge. There are 3 levels and no real division of clothing type or organization by section. Things are either matched by color or by some other reason that escapes me. I find that there is no standard for finding anything and you end up roaming the store for hours unsure which European size will fit. Apparently a 12 is a 30 in their jeans, although there weren’t any there in that size. There were some fancier dresses upstairs in a corner, although none were even close to knee length, and a small men’s section that was just as confusing as the women’s. (mostly because it was in a women’s store)

I did like the accessories though. Somehow buying some big dangly earrings doesn’t seem so intimidating. (most from 5-10 dollars a pair) But all their shoes were sold out and the necklaces and headbands were a but gaudy over the top. There were a few other dazed and confused over 30 women in there too and we all left empty handed. Oh well, I guess another store gets my money then.