Rich Seymour’s stochastic statements.

So, on a whim, after reading the Belly Fat Blues in the LA Times, I decided to book up to Silverlake/Echo Park to meet up with B. Bobby “Foodmagellan” R. After playing Macintosh with him (similar to playing legos) and fixing up my (beater) bike (Note to self, your bike chain is not long enough to actually go through all of the gear combos on your bike, fixie fixie fixie time!!!); I rolled over to the American Apparel store at Alvarado and Sunset.

It was getting cold and my unclean pirate t-shirt was not going to hold me for the ride home. So I decided to try on a N431 windbreaker in citrus (aka yellow, lemon, winning the tour de france). The clerk, Alexis, dared me to buy it, so I did. But see this is all part of a greater story for my friend’s zine in which I go to AA stores and interview the clerks. Thing is, I am the worst interviewer ever. But that’s part of the magic.

Here though, comes the cooler part of the visit. The reason I bought the thing wasn’t really because I was cajoled into it by a salesperson. No, I have proof that I had been after one of these jams since last year, but only recently did they do the deed necessary to get me to plop down the cash (err credit… yikes) to get it. INSIDE POCKETS!

Transcript of American Apparel email follows:

> Subject: Re: Style Feedback: n431
> Date: Fri, 10 Jun 2005 12:29:43 -0700
> Rich,
> I love an inside pocket too! The problem with doing one on the nylon
> windbreaker is that it doesn’t have a liner, and thus the stitching would go
> right through.
> But we are starting to make several jackets with liners, and we could do
> pockets on those. I’ll pass the suggestion onto our head designer, and
> thanks for the feedback. Keep your eyes peeled!
> Cheers,
> [name redacted to preserve anonymity]
> American Apparel Design Team
>
>
> On 6/9/05 12:02 PM, “Richard Seymour” wrote:
>
> > Hello Style Feedback person,
> >
> > Ok, I’ll admit, since I moved out to LA from NYC last summer I haven’t
> > been in one of your stores, so I haven’t seen this design up close, but
> > here is my feedback in general on jackets.
> >
> > An inside pocket would be awesome. (possibly even two inside pockets,
> > but I don’t want to push it)
> >
> > I know you’re thinking, is this guy wearing those dot-com era docker
> > pants with the secret pockets, and I’m not, but man who doesn’t love
> > inside pockets in jackets? You can put whatever one might need for the
> > morning or evening in it.
> >
> > So, even though it runs contrary to the beautiful simplicity of AA
> > designs, I’m throwing it out there. Let me know if you ever make one,
> > because I will run out and get it.
> >
> > Thanks for reading my quickly constructed email and stay cool.
> >
> > -Rich

Here’s the key. The pockets are gigantic, you could put a six pack (of coca cola!) in the pockets of this thing, three cans to a side. They go from the side stitching to the zipper on the inside. Totally awesome. You can fit a small sheaf of paper folded in half in there. The possibilities are endless. Good job American Apparel, you’re not just all about scantily clad youth models. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Plus they have the largest garment factory in all of the United States paying nearly double minimum wage.

posted by Rich at 10:11 am
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