Think I'm lying? Try this: the next time you're in a restaurant or a public place, start looking around, and count the North Face apparel. I think you'll be very astonished by how many people are adorned with this symbol of capitalism: a form of fashion called wilderness chic.
I first became aware of the phenomenon in Belgium, travelling with about twenty Americans all from much more expensive U.S. Universities than I arrived from. I'm standing their in the frigidness of Europe with a micro-thin cotton jacket from Family Dollar while each of them wore (what I later learned) was a $150-$200 fleece, and very warm, North Face jacket. I was familiar with the name prior, I knew it was for "hikers, etc."- but why were they wearing them? Well the answer is, to be cool, to fit in.
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If you know me, I'm as anti-capitalist as they come. I don't give into trends, and I rarely buy name brand clothing. But I wondered, could simply owning a status symbol, something that immediately says to others "I'm in your club", open doors for me? So I decided, especially since I needed one anyways, and since I was trying to re-conform to American culture, to buy a North Face backpack for school. The cost? A staggering $99. I could hear my coupon-clipping father cursing in my head as I swiped my card through the reader. Did it change my life? Probably.
Let me give you an example. The other day, I was walking to E-Lot from UNCG. E-lot is about 1k from the school, through a rather shady part of town on Lee Street. Though I never try to judge the characters I see on the street, on this one occasion I witnessed a young woman randomly talking to herself, acting a bit rabid. At first I was cautious of her as I approached, but then I saw she was wearing a North Face back-pack, and instantly realized that this woman wasn't going to rob me, (though there is what they call the North Face Mafia gang) -no clearly, she has enough money to own North Face, to be a part of the club, she was okay. Suddenly everything was fine, and we had an unspoken understanding as we passed each other, and I flipped her my N.F. gang sign.
As with almost every cultural observation I ever write about, I like to research stuff before I write about it. Rarely am I the only one who thinks about these things. Sure enough, I find this article on CNN about the same phenomenon in Korea. The title of the paragraph: Losers and backbreakers:
North Face jacket wearers can be immediately classified according to the type of North Face jacket they wear. This is apparently a common phenomenon in elementary and middle schools in particular, where the jackets are so popular they have been dubbed "the uniform worn over the uniform," or "backbreakers,"
Oh if I didn't mention, there''s only two types of people in this world. The Wal-Mart Gang, and the North Face Gang. Social economic status has never been easier to understand in America.
