Summer work at American Apparel

Summer jobs can be a total bore. Luckily, I was able to make some fashionable fun out of mine this year while working for American Apparel in New York City.

American Apparel is a considerably large company in the fashion world. Although their stores are not huge, they have a relatively large selection of clothing, filling up the store with colorful, basic styles, and some not so basic styles.

The company is very selective with their employees; you must have the American Apparel look. For someone to be hired, they must send in a resume with two pictures of themselves, one from the waist up and one full body picture. The district managers and the CEO of the Company, Dov Charney, will then look at your application and will most likely base your employment on your pictures; not so much your resume.

I've heard a number of bad things about working for American Apparel throughout the years. Charney has gotten into major trouble with the government and has been sued quite a few times for provocative photography on the websites and advertisements. Therefore, I was incredibly hesitant to start working there. However, I am a broke college student that was in need of money, so I took the job and looked at it as it was an honor to have been hired.

The store I worked at was located in the Upper East Side on 64th Street and Lexington Avenue. The Upper East Side is one of the richer neighborhoods in Manhattan; therefore I was expected to dress a certain way. On the first day on the job, I was given an allowance to get an outfit to wear and immediately I felt the pressure of getting their look right.

Through the years, American Apparel has slowly changed the style of their clothing. When they first started, they were all about the basic clothing. They sold regular cotton t-shirts, crew necks and v-necks in an assortment of colors. They then started moving into an 80's look with bright neon colored clothing, scrunchies, and even leg warmers. This summer, they changed once again into a more classy, sophisticated, "high fashioned" line.

American Apparel came out with a lot of mesh material clothing such as button ups and jumpsuits. They are known for their lace body suits, bandeaus, cropped tops, and high waisted pleated pants, which are all a part of their new classy line.

The Upper East Side is known for more well dressed people. When on the Subway going into Manhattan, you can immediately point out the people going uptown and the ones going downtown. Being in the Upper East Side store, we were required to look even classier; we were not allowed to just wear their t-shirts.

As I shopped around the store to find myself another outfit, I picked out an older pattern of a cropped tank with a tribal-like print and immediately placed it back on the rack when my keyholder said, "That's not very Upper East Side…You know?"

Working retail is not the most exciting job. There are times the store will become extremely dead, not one customer at all. There are also the occasional crazy, mad rushes when the store will be flooded with shoppers. My favorite time was when there would be a couple of customers scattered around the store. I noticed that when the store is moderately paced, customers are more comfortable in asking you for help because there's no craziness around.

It's a wonderful feeling when you know that you have helped a customer pick out an outfit they love. While on the clock, you're required to wear American Apparel head-to-toe to show different ways of wearing their clothing. There were days where a customer will really love your outfit and will buy your whole complete outfit! Being able to sell your whole entire outfit is a really great feeling as well.

American Apparel has expanded a great deal recently and has gained much more respect in the fashion world. Their clothing has been seen in numerous magazines and fashion blogs; advertisements are seen all over the city. In the end, although the policies were unbelievably strict, it was amazing to be a part of an ever-booming fashion line.