Wear your hoodie - I want to get my money's worth!

My daughter recently declared that she would like an Abercrombie and Fitch hoodie. I’m sure the concept will soon wear thin but, since this is the first time she’s really shown an interest in clothes, I was quite excited. After a quick Google search I established there’s a shop on Savile Row and offered to take her and her friend up to town for a mooch.

Operation Abercrombie comprised my husband, our three year old in a buggy, the two girls and me. It was quite a cold morning so we set a brisk pace from Charing Cross and were glad to finally turn into Savile Row. The girls got increasingly excited as we passed a procession of glamorous looking teenagers with their distinctive A&F (I can’t be bothered to type it any more!) carrier bags and we hurried along counting the door numbers of the shops. We traipsed down one side and back up the other (OK – I know Savile Row isn’t that long but it was cold and we were pushing a buggy!). No sign of A&F. We retraced our steps. No, definitely nothing resembling a trendy fashion emporium. After much aimless wandering we ground to a halt and I risked total social embarrassment (the girls’words) by asking an A&F bag carrier to tell us where the bloody shop was.

Actually we were practically standing outside it. Although, in fairness to mere mortals, we couldn’t have known since there’s no signage. But there were bouncers on the door. And a topless male model who you could pose next to for a photo. We ventured in. Interestingly for a shop, it was almost completely dark. But the powers-that-be at A&F had obviously taken this sensory depravation into account because what they took from our eyes they more than gave back to our ears – in the form of indescribably loud music. We spent our entire trip communicating in a combination of hand signals, exaggerated facial expressions and amateur lip reading.

Eventually we stumbled across the hoodies, only to discover that this lightweight zip-up cardigan was going to cost me £60! My horror obviously showed on my face. My daughter’s friend tried to cheer me up by telling me that if I’d have bought it in America it would have been $60 and therefore much cheaper. This would have been useful information before we had left the house and risked life and eardrums, particularly since my husband travels to America quite often.